People: Spain’s Mireia Lalaguna Royo wins Miss World title in China
SANYA, China – Spain’s Mireia Lalaguna Royo was named the winner of the Miss World 2015 competition Saturday night in the southern Chinese island resort of Sanya, an event dogged by controversy over China’s refusal to allow Canada’s entrant to attend.
Sofia Nikitchuk of Russia was the runner-up and Indonesia’s Maria Harfanti took third place in the final following a lengthy competition featuring 114 women.
Lalaguna is a 23-year-old model from Barcelona with a degree in pharmacology who plans to pursue a master’s degree in nutrition.
Not present was Miss Canada, Chinese-born Anastasia Lin, who had been prevented from boarding her connecting flight to Sanya from Hong Kong last month after China refused her a visa.
Lin is an outspoken critic of Chinese religious policy and a follower of the Falun Gong meditation practice, which was outlawed by China in 1999.
She said that after she won the Canadian title, Chinese security agents visited her father, who still lives in China, in an apparent attempt to intimidate her into silence.
Cromwell arrested at protest
WAWAYANDA, N.Y. – Actor James Cromwell was among six people arrested at an upstate New York power plant that is under construction.
The 75-year-old actor, whose work includes “Babe,” “American Horror Story” and “L.A. Confidential,” was arrested Friday after leading a chant among a group of protesters, the Times Herald-Record of Middletown reported.
New York state police say the six protesters who were arrested blocked an entrance to the construction site at the Competitive Power Ventures power plant in Orange County. They were arrested on disorderly conduct charges and ordered to appear in court in January.
Protesters have said they believe toxins from the plant may cause health issues and lower property value in the area.
Cromwell was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor for 1995’s “Babe.”
The birthday bunch
Rock musician Alan Parsons is 67. Actor Joel Gretsch is 52. Singer David Cook (“American Idol”) is 33. Actor Jonah Hill is 32.