Archive for August 24th, 2009
Prince Phillip gaffs again
(TVNZ): The Duke of Edinburgh has put his foot in his mouth again to continue his long tradition of conversational blunders. This time Prince Phillip was at a Buckingham Palace garden party when he struck up a conversation with man by asking what he did for a living. The man said he was a designer, to which the 88 year-old royal replied: "Well, you didn’t design your beard too well did you?" Not the first time the aging royal has left people stunned the Duke once told UK students while visiting China, "If you stay here much longer, you’ll all be slitty-eyed," and asked "Aren’t most of you descended from pirates?" on a visit to the Cayman Islands.
Blogger to sue Google
(Times Online): Google is to be sued for $15 million (£9 million) by an anonymous blogger who was unmasked by the internet search company. Rosemary Port said that Google had failed to protect her right to privacy when the company obeyed a court order to reveal her name after she used her blog to accuse a former Vogue model of being a "psychotic, lying, whoring … skank". Liskula Cohen, 36, won a landmark case in a New York court last week, forcing Google to disclose the online identity of Ms Port, 29, a Fashion Institute of Technology student, who created her "Skanks in NYC" blog a year ago using Google’s Blogger.com program.
Miss Venezuela takes pageant crown for sixth time
(CNS): Stefania Fernandez was crowned Miss Universe 2009 on Sunday night, giving her country its sixth ‘tiara’ in the international beauty pageant. Fernandez, an 18-year-old brunette, became the 58th winner of the title in a show broadcast live around the world from the Atlantis, Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas. It was the second consecutive year that a contestant from the South American country, which is famous for its beauty queens, won the Miss Universe title. Venezuela has produced five previous winners the most of any country. Fernandez was selected out of five finalists chosen from the total field of 83 contestants. The first runner-up this year was Miss Dominican Republic, Ada Aimee de la Cruz.
Miss Australia, the bookie’s favourite, Miss Puerto Rico and Miss Kosovo completed the final line up.
Fernandez received the Miss Universe Crown from last year’s winner, also a Venezuelan, Dayana Mendoza. The beauty pageant saw entries from all over Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, which also faired well with two contestants in the top five. Asia dominated the side shows with Miss China, Wang Jingyao, named Miss Congeniality and Miss Thailand, Chutima Durongdej, won Miss Photogenic.
Dressed in a flowing red gown, Fernandez embraced the runner-up as the announcement was made and received the sparkling tiara, which fell to the floor at one point as Fernandez danced in joy. During a question-and-answer segment with the five top finalists, Fernandez said she believed women have overcome obstacles such as hitting the proverbial glass ceiling. "I feel we have reached the level that men are at," she said.
Following pageant tradition, the top 15 finalists appeared in bathing suits before the final 10 were chosen for the evening gown segment. Pageant co-owner Donald Trump told reporters, "I think this is the most beautiful group of women I’ve ever seen."
Despite being in front of her home crowd, Miss Bahamas, Kiara Sherman failed to make the top fifteen. Nicosia Lawson, Miss Cayman Islands was also excluded from the finalists. However, the Caribbean region was widely represented and Miss Dominican Republic and Miss Puerto Rico made it all the way to the final five.