Miss World

The Miss World competition is usually held in the country of the previous year's winner. Accordingly, in 2002 the competition was slated for Nigeria. This choice was controversial, as a woman, Amina Lawal[?], was awaiting death by stoning for adultery in Nigeria. A newspaper editorial suggesting that Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, would not have objected to the immodesty of the pageant resulted in riots in which over 200 people were killed. Because of these riots, the 2002 pageant was moved to London. A fatwa urging the beheading of the woman who wrote the offending words, Isioma Daniel, has been issued.

Title holders

External links and references

• Guardian story: The beauty myth: As contestants flee and Nigeria counts its dead, it is now impossible to argue that Miss World is harmless fun (http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,846816,00)
• Miss World website (http://www.missworld.org/)