Miss Iraq Pageant Winner Crowned For First Time In More Than 40 Years

For the first time in more than 40 years, Iraq has crowned a Miss Iraq beauty pageant winner.  Shaima Qassim, a 20-year-old economics student from Kirkuk, clinched the shimmering gold-and-crystal crown Saturday after outshining more than 150 candidates -- and overcoming death threats that reportedly caused many others to drop out. Since the pageant’s last winner in 1972, the event had been canceled amid unrest in the Middle East. Over the years, other pageants had been held under different na...