An Australian tabloid has raised heckles in the Philippines by claiming Australian “ownership” of Miss Universe winner, the reigning Miss Philippines Catriona Gray.
The paper ran a front page story featuring the headline “Miss Universe Philippines” with the “Philippines” crossed out and replaced by “Queensland” in the wake of Gray’s victory at the competition’s final in Thailand on Tuesday, beating competitors from 93 other countries, including Australia.
Gray was born in Cairns, Australia, to a Scottish father and a Filipina mother. She was schooled in Australia and moved to Manila to work as a model on completing her education.
The story quickly attracted ire on social media from across the archipelago, with a picture of the front page attracting over 20,000 shares, and almost 30,000, mostly angry, reactions on Philippine Facebook page PGAG.
MJ Sarillo pointed out that, as the child of a Scottish father and Filipina mother, the Australian paper had little grounds for claiming the victory as an Australian one, concluding in righteously indignant capitals that Gray is: “NOT AN AUSTRALIAN, nor HALF-AUSTRALIAN.”
Joyce Quinto, meanwhile, was forced to note that the paper seemed less inclined to “Australianise" Gray when she failed to win the Miss World title, again representing the Philippines, in 2016 having made the top five.
For her own part, Gray seemed in little doubt as to who she was representing in the competition. Following her victory, she told her 1.2m Facebook followers: “Philippines, what an amazing honour it has been to carry your name across my chest.”
Abu Dhabi-based Filipina teacher Bella Biad told The National: "I don't mind the Australians trying to share in some of the glory of the win, that's ok. But I really take offence at them crossing The Philippines out in the headline, that's not."
If nothing else, the sudden desire to claim Gray as a full-blooded Australian represents a welcome shift in attitude for the Australian tabloid press when it comes to the portrayal of immigrants, natives, or anyone of a non-Anglo Saxon ethnicity.
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Catriona Gray lands in the Philippines – in pictures:
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Dubai World Cup draw
1. Gunnevera
2. Capezzano
3. North America
4. Audible
5. Seeking The Soul
6. Pavel
7. Gronkowski
8. Axelrod
9. New Trails
10. Yoshida
11. K T Brave
12. Thunder Snow
13. Dolkong
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Company%20profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills