India's Harnaaz Sandhu crowned the 70th Miss Universe, a pageant that was touched by politics and the pandemic.
In the end, only Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country with close ties to the Palestinians, did not send a representative, citing the global Covid-19 situation. The South African government, which also strongly supports the Palestinian cause, withdrew support for the country’s representativeover her participation.
Sara Salansky, an official with the Israeli Tourism Ministry, said the country was selected to host the contest earlier this year because of Israel’s successful coronavirus vaccination program., which forced Israel to close its borders to foreign tourists late last month. Throughout the run-up to Sunday’s contest, all contestants were tested for the coronavirus every 48 hours and required to obey strict mask requirements.
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