Muslim Model Defends Miss Universe Contest Bid
BBC – RADIO 1 – NEWSBEAT: A model bidding to become the first Muslim to represent the UK in the world final of Miss Universe has been defending her decision to enter.

Shanna Bukhari, who is 24 and lives in Manchester, said she's been sent racist and abusive messages since making it to the beauty contest's UK final.

She believes Muslims in the UK should be allowed to have a western lifestyle.

But Muslim groups have accused her of disrespecting Islam.

Shanna was born in Blackburn and she became a full-time model after finishing her degree.

'Swimwear round'

She said it's her dream to be crowned Miss Universe - but has been told she's going against her religion.

"[I get] comments like 'you're not a Muslim because you're doing this' and it's like - this competition does not make me a bad Muslim at all.

"So it does hurt me to think that people are thinking like that," she said.

One of the main reasons some Muslims are angry is that Shanna would have to appear in swimwear in one round of the competition.

Mohammed Shafiq is from the Ramadhan Foundation, a group that works with young Muslims in the UK - he's against Shanna taking part.

"Islam is very clear that a woman should dress modestly and we do not believe that parading yourself in a bikini is appropriate," he said. » | Anthony Baxter, Newsbeat reporter | Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Airheads Anonymous! Miss Universe Had a 'Lot of Fun' in Guantanamo
Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza. Photo courtesy of The Independent
THE INDEPENDENT: A "relaxing, calm, beautiful place" may not be everyone's description of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the United States holds about 240 prisoners in a detention centre that has drawn condemnation from around the world.

But this was the opinion of reigning Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela, who visited the US naval facility in eastern Cuba this month on a trip organised by the United Service Organisations (USO) which supports US troops.

The Guantanamo Bay base, whose presence Cuba's government has contested as illegal for years, is used by US authorities as a prison camp for foreign terrorism suspects. Critics have condemned it as a symbol of abuses in Washington's war on terrorism launched after the 11 September, 2001 attacks.

Caracas-born Mendoza, 22, who visited the facility between 20-25 March along with Miss USA Crystle Stewart, 27, enthused about her Guantanamo trip as an "incredible experience" in a blog entry posted on the Miss Universe website dated 27 March 27, 2009 (www.missuniverse.com/missuniverse/blog.php).

"It was a loooot of fun!," Mendoza wrote, describing how she and Stewart met US military personnel and took rides around the camp, which is encircled by a barbed-wire fenced, minefields and watchtowers. She said they also visited a bar on the base and the "unbelievable" beach there. >>> Reuters | Tuesday, March 31, 2009