Miss Earth 2022 contestants to watch, from first Miss Palestine to Miss Lebanon

Next month, hopeful beauty queens from around the world will descend on the Philippines, hoping to leave with a new title — Miss Earth 2022.

Founded in 2001, Miss Earth is an annual international pageant that advocates for conservation and environmental awareness.

The pageant, which is owned by Carousels Productions, had its winner last year, author and model Destiny Wagner from Belize, crowned virtually during an online event on November 21, beating hopefuls from 79 other countries.

Each Miss Earth winner becomes the spokeswoman for the Miss Earth Foundation and the United Nations Environment Programme and commits to working with the World Wildlife Fund.

As well as contributing to environmental protection programmes, the Miss Earth competition also aims to showcase various tourist destinations, while participants “compete on beauty and knowledge of environmental issues”.

Entrants must be single, childless women between the ages of 18 and 28, measuring at least 1.6 metres (five feet, four inches) in height and possess “beauty of face and proportionate body structure”.

From Palestine to Lebanon, here are the Miss Earth 2022 contestants to look out for.

Palestine

Nadeen Ayoub was named Miss Palestine 2022 in June and will make history as the first person to represent Palestine in the Miss Earth contest later this year. Ayoub is a fitness and health coach and entrepreneur, and has a large social media following.

She has also worked with several humanitarian organisations and, in particular, is working towards raising awareness for environmental issues in Palestine.

“I am very happy to announce that I have been chosen as Miss Palestine 2022 and will represent Palestine in the Miss Earth competition as the first contestant from Palestine in the history of this competition,” she said on social media after winning the title. “My goal this year is to contribute to change in the field of environmental concern in Palestine. I am excited to start this new journey and raise the name of Palestine in the world.”

Iraq

Jihan Majid, 20, will represent Iraq in this year’s Miss Earth. The dentistry student from Wasit placed second runner-up in the recently concluded Miss Iraq 2022 pageant. She was crowned by Miss Iraq 2021 Maria Farhad.

Lebanon

Model Ayah Bajouk will be the Miss Earth candidate for Lebanon. She was crowned in July by Sawsan Elsayed, journalist and owner of the Miss Lebanon organisation. Bajouk wore a metallic dress by Lebanese designer Hanadi Abboud for her crowning.

The beauty queen has close to 90,000 followers on Instagram, although she is yet to share many details of her pageantry journey.

Tunisia

Imen Mehrzi is Miss Earth Tunisia 2022. The beauty queen is a singer, actress, engineer and television host, and has more than 100,000 subscribers on YouTube.

She was one of the first representatives to be crowned for this year’s Miss Earth contest back in February, after representing Kairouan at the national pageant.

Iran

Mahrou Ahmadi was crowned Miss Iran 2022 in September. The beauty queen, 24, will be the second Iranian representative at the Miss Earth competition, following Hima Zaker last year, who competed in the virtual edition during the pandemic.

After being crowned amid ongoing protests over women’s rights in the country, Ahmadi said: “I stand with the women of Iran. This is for us.

"I want to thank my family, all of you, and [Miss Iran] for giving me this title,” she wrote on social media. “I am now an ambassador of Iran. I will always represent you and I’ll be your voice upon the world, in every journey and endeavour.”

India

Vanshika Parmar, 19, was crowned Miss India Earth in September and will become the first candidate from the state of Himachal Pradesh to represent her country at the pageant.

Parmar, a student at Miranda House, University of Delhi, said she was “brimming with gratitude” after winning.

“My dearest Divine Family, I have run out of words to express my gratitude towards you for your futuristic foresightedness,” she wrote on Instagram. “Thank you for sharing me into what I am today- from a passionate 18-year-old girl to an ambitious, iron-willed and purposeful 19-year-old young woman.”

Philippines

Representing the host nation is Jenny Ramp, who was crowned Miss Earth Philippines in March. The Filipina student is from Santa Ignacia, Tarlac, and is currently studying for a bachelor's degree in psychology at Holy Angel University in Angeles City, Pampanga.

She described being crowned as her “biggest honour”.

“I’ve always dreamed of being a part of something big. And now my heart is filled with bliss and abundance knowing that I have fulfilled this dream. It still feels like I’m dreaming when I say that I am Jenny Ramp, your Miss Philippines Earth 2022,” she said in an Instagram post.

“I always knew that this was something close to my heart. Standing on that stage with such a timely purpose of advocating about important environmental causes, I knew I wanted my voice to be heard: to not only be a spokesperson of today, but for the future generations to come."

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What is Folia?

Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.

Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."

Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.

In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".

There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.

While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."

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What is a robo-adviser?

Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.

These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.

Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.

Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.

Who was Alfred Nobel?

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.

In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.

French business

France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.

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What are the influencer academy modules?

Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
Cinematography, shots and movement.
All aspects of post-production.
Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
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Neil Thomson – THE BIO

Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.

Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.

Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.

Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.

Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.

Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.

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