FRANCE:The fiercely competitive world of French beauty pageants is not known for sparking philosophical debate between bishops and politicians, let alone a threatened uprising on an exotic ocean island. But the pre-Christmas contest for Miss France 2008 has caused a row over blasphemy, race and colonial prejudice after it emerged that the winner once posed in a bikini as Jesus on a crucifix.
The Miss France competition attracts about 10 million viewers and this month a panel of celebrities, aided by a public vote, gave the crown to Valérie Bègue (22), a mixed race business student from the Indian Ocean island, Reunion. She returned to a hero's welcome by the 800,000 inhabitants of the island off Madagascar, which, like Guadeloupe and Martinique, is considered as much part of France as the Côte D'Azur. But the mood soured when photographs were sold to a French magazine last week showing Ms Bègue posing as Christ on a crucifix in a pink bikini.
The head of France's Miss World committee, Geneviève Fontenay, said Ms Bègue should quit: "She's in Reunion and she should stay there."
Reunion this weekend rose up in revolt. The public jammed radio phone-ins to accuse mainland France of racism and disdain towards islanders. Politicians demonstrated in the island's capital. Public figures, including a member of parliament from president Nicolas Sarkozy's party, signed a letter demanding a public apology for the insult against the islanders.
Ms Bègue, pleading that the photos were a "mistake of youth", has refused to resign.