Miss World 2007 Winner Crowned

Miss China won the Miss World 2007 in her home country on Saturday.

23-year old Zhang Zilin was the pre-contest favorite.

An estimated 2-billion people world-wide watched her being crowned in Sanya, China.

Miss Angola came second and Miss Mexico third at the beauty pageant.

The event was held in the Beauty Crown Theatre but preliminary events had been held since the contestants arrived on November 2nd.

The contestant from the United States was Minnesota native Abigail McCary. She won the Miss Sports title in preliminary rounds.

Her Miss World biography lists her motto as "A life without cause is a life without effect."

The Miss World competition is organized geographically and a finalist was selected from each region of the world.

Source: MyFoxNy.com

World AIDS Day raises awareness

Today is World AIDS Day: the United Nations says 33 million people are infected with the HIV virus which can cause the disease.

The figures indicate that Indonesia currently has the world's highest rate of increase in new cases. Indonesia's first ever campaign against HIV/AIDS, which will encourage the use of condoms, is being launched today.

China is also marking World AIDS Day, with even the Miss World pageant, taking place at a Chinese resort, being used to raise HIV/AIDS awareness.

Earlier this week, the Chinese government announced that it will open a centre for research into the disease. For many years, China has viewed HIV/AIDS as a foreign problem which did not greatly affect the country.

Source: Radio Netherlands