Miss South Africa Crowned Miss World 2014

Miss South Africa, 22-year-old Rolene Strauss, was crowned Miss World 2014 at the pageant’s final in London on Sunday.

Miss Hungary, Edina Kulcsar, was the runner-up and Miss United States, Elizabeth Safrit, came third in the 64th annual competition, contested by women from 121 countries.

Miss South Africa and 2014 Miss World Rolene Strauss.

Medical student Strauss clasped her hands together in surprise and was presented with the sash by the outgoing Miss World, Megan Young of the Philippines to huge cheers in the ExceL exhibition centre.

"South Africa this is for you," Strauss said. "I think I will brace myself for what's about to happen. It's a huge responsibility."
Culled from Yahoo! News news.yahoo.com
Photo Credit: Leon Neal/AFP

Photos: Beauty Queen Rescued From Kidnapper Who Posed as Aliko Dangote on Facebook

The Lagos state Police command has rescued the current Miss Nigeria International 2014 & daughter of an aide to Kwara state Governor, Miss Sa'adat Bibire, who was abducted two weeks ago by a gang of kidnappers who deceived her to come to Warri, Delta state from Lagos after they promised to make her the ambassador of the Aliko Dangote brand.

The gang, made up of students of the Delta state Polytechnic Ozoro, had opened a Facebook account disguising as Aliko Dangote and contacted Sa'adat. They invited her to Warri with the promise to make her Dangote brand ambassador. On getting to Warri, Sa'adat was kidnapped and taken to a place on the outskirts of Ozoro town in Isoko Local Government Area in Delta state. The kidnappers then contacted her family and asked for N20m ransom, which was supposed to be paid into a Malaysian account.

Parading one of the suspects before newsmen, the Lagos state Police commissioner said a manhunt for the kidnappers was immediately launched after they contacted the girls family but only one of them was arrested while the others are currently on the run.

When interrogated, one of her abductors, 23 year old Patrick Ifada (pictured above), said he was lured into the kidnap gang because of the money offered

"I accepted to join the gang because of the money involved. We opened a fake Facebook account pretending to be Alhaji Aliko Dangote and we convinced her to come over to Delta State to meet the businessman. At first, our ransom was N20 million. When they were not forthcoming with the money, we brought it down to N15 million and then N10 million. I was the one staying with the victim in our hideout. We were using the quarters of one of our members, Destiny. We are five in number and I was promised a huge sum. Other gang members are Destiny, Marcus Omajuwa, Ugada and Chuka. We are all students of Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro, ND 1. I was studying Computer Science. She was in our hideout for about two weeks. We asked the Special Adviser to pay the ransom into a Malaysian account that one Fred helped us to set up. None of us raped her. Destiny told us we were only going to make money from her family, and not to assault her" he said

The wife of one of the kidnappers was arrested alongside Patrick.
Culled from LIB www.lindaikeji.blogspot.com

Miss Honduras Shot Dead 'After Fleeing Sister's Boyfriend'

Miss Honduras was fatally shot as she tried to escape her sister's jealous boyfriend, police and reports said, hours after the siblings were found dead beside a river.

Maria Jose Alvarado, 19, who had been due to fly to London to compete in the Miss World beauty pageant, disappeared with her sister Sofia Trinidad Alvarado six days ago after a party, sparking an exhaustive search.

Miss Honduras, Maria ose Alvarado.

La Prensa newspaper reported that police were investigating whether Trinidad's boyfriend, Plutarco Ruiz, shot Sofia Trinidad in the head after he became jealous when he saw her dancing with another man. He then reportedly shot her beauty-queen sister twice in the back as she tried to flee.

Chief detective Leandro Osorio said the bodies of Maria Jose and her 23-year-old sister had been found buried along the banks of the Aguagual River in the town of Arada, in violence-plagued Honduras's northwest.

"We are 100 percent sure that it's them," Osorio said.

Police arrested Ruiz and his alleged accomplice on Tuesday, seizing a Colt-45 pistol and two vehicles.

Boyfriend is main suspect.

Sister's Boyfriend, Plutarco Ruiz.

Security Minister Arturo Corrales said there was "no doubt" that Ruiz was behind the crime and that he had been helped by another man, Aris Maldonado Mejia.

"We think that Plutarco led the crime, materially and intellectually," Corrales said.

Police are investigating additional suspects who they believe tried to help cover up the shooting, including by cleaning and repainting a pick-up used in the crime.
Culled from Yahoo! News news.yahoo.com
Photo Credit: AFP

Miss Nevada Nia Sanchez Crowned as 63rd Miss USA

Newly crowned Miss USA Nia Sanchez, a fourth-degree black belt in the Korean martial art of taekwondo, says that women need to be able to defend themselves as a way to battle the problem of campus rape and that bringing awareness to the issue is very important.

The 24-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada, beat out 50 other contestants from all the states and the District of Columbia on Sunday night for the title of 63rd Miss USA. First runner-up was Miss North Dakota Audra Mari. Sanchez will go on to represent the U.S. at the Miss Universe competition later this year.

In a vibrant red floor-length fishtail gown, Miss Nevada answered judge Rumer Willis' question about the high rate of sexual assaults on college campuses. Willis, the 25-year-old daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, said 19 percent of U.S. undergraduate women are victims of sexual assault and asked Sanchez why she thinks the issue is being swept under the rug and what should be done about it.

Sanchez said women need to take it upon themselves to learn how to defend themselves. After being crowned, Sanchez told reporters she lived for a time in a women's shelter at a young age with her mother and at age 8 took up taekwondo to learn self-defense and build up her confidence.

Miss Nevada USA Nia Sanchez is crowned Miss USA during the Miss USA 2014 pageant.

Erin Brady, of South Glastonbury, Connecticut, the 2013 winner, gave up her crown to Sanchez after a three-hour telecast from the Baton Rouge Civic Center in Louisiana. Besides Mari, the next four runners-up, judged on interviews, evening gowns and swimsuits were: Miss Georgia Tiana Griggs, Miss Louisiana Brittany Guidry, Miss Florida Brittany Oldehoff and Miss Iowa Carlyn Bradarich. All the titles included USA after the state.

Miss North Dakota USA Audra Mari, left, and Miss Nevada USA Nia Sanchez await the final decision during the Miss USA 2014 pageant.

Bradarich got a second chance when the viewing audience gave her the most votes on Twitter in the pageant's first-ever "Save the Queen" option.