A lissom young Greek brunette, Isabelle Darras, was elected Miss Europe in Kiev late on Saturday in a beauty contest marred by scandal. Nine of the 39 candidates for the title, including the Irish representative, Michelle Murphy, refused to compete because of unsatisfactory lodgings in a presidential sanatorium on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital.
They complained to the organisers of "dirty sheets" in their hotel and "ants found in their dessert".
The winner received her award from the French actor, Alain Delon.
An international peace conference ended in the Czech Republic this weekend with a gala concert during which messages of peace and love were read by actors Gregory Peck, Lynn Redgrave and James Earl Jones.
President Vaclav Havel and the Jewish writer Elie Wiesel organised and co-chaired the three-day conference entitled Forum 2000, which was broadcast live on Czech television late Saturday.
Numerous Nobel Peace Prize winners attended the forum, including the Dalai Lama, former South African president, F. W. de Klerk, former Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias Sanchez, and former Israeli prime minister, Shimon Peres.