NEWS

Newly crowned Miss Iraq receives threatening phone call: Join ISIS or else

Iraq's new beauty queen received a threatening phone call on Tuesday telling her to join the ranks of ISIS or she will be kidnapped, according to a report by the Kuwaiti daily al-Watan. Shayma Qassim, 20, won the first beauty pageant to be held in Iraq in 40 years on Saturday. According to the report, following her win, Qassim received a threatening phone call in which she was warned that if she refused to join the ranks of the Islamic State movement she would be kidnapped. (more…)

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NEWS

Baghdad holds Miss Iraq pageant for the first time in 43 years

When I first heard of these, I thought to myself, hmmm no bikini section? At least there is a development in freedom! (CNN)When Shaima Qasim was crowned Miss Iraq this weekend, she not only triumphed over the other women in the competition but over threats against her life. The pageant was the first to be held in Baghdad in 43 years. "Iraq needed this," pageant director Ahmed Leith said. "The situation is weak here, and we wanted to celebrate this the same way other countries like Lebanon and others do. To have a sense of normalcy." (more…)

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