Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins has inadvertently sparked a crime spree in her Australian hometown and civic leaders have had enough.

A potential audience of two billion people will be able to vote for Miss World this year for the first time, it emerged today.

Irish fans will have to wait a little longer to catch a glimpse of their new Miss World after her homecoming was delayed today.

IRELAND’S Rosanna Davison remains the 4-1 hot favourite to triumph at tonight’s Miss World final in China.

MISS IRELAND, Rosanna Davidson, is the new favourite to beat off the pack of 106 lovelies vying for the coveted Miss World title in China’s southern Hainan province.

Lynda Duffy, the Irish entrant in the Miss World pageant will finally get the chance to compete for the title when the festival gets under way in London later today.

MISS World officials yesterday vigorously denied the beauty pageant had caused last week’s violent riots in Nigeria that left over 200 people dead.

Miss Ireland will today arrive in Britain later today, having departed Nigeria with the other Miss World contestants after rioting.

The Miss World pageant in Nigeria was cancelled last night after rioting over newspaper reports on the event killed around 100 people and injured 500.

A Miss America contestant has quit after confessing to being Canadian.

MISS UNIVERSE, Oxana Fedorova, has been sacked after less than four months amid rumours that she is pregnant.