NEW ORLEANS (AP) — R’Bonney Gabriel, a fashion designer, model and sewing instructor from Texas who competition officials said is the first Filipino American to win Miss USA, was crowned Miss Universe on Saturday night.

Gabriel closed her eyes and clasped hands with runner-up Miss Venezuela, Amanda Dudamel, at the moment of the dramatic reveal of the winner, then beamed after her name was announced.

Thumping music rang out, and she was handed a bouquet of flowers, draped in the winner’s sash and crowned with a tiara onstage at the 71st Miss Universe Competition, held in New Orleans.

The second runner-up was Miss Dominican Republic, Andreina Martinez.

In the Q&A at the last stage of the competition for the three finalists, Gabriel was asked how she would work to demonstrate Miss Universe is “an empowering and progressive organization” if she were to win.

“I would use it to be a transformational leader,” she responded, citing her work using recycled materials in her fashion design and teaching sewing to survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence.

“It is so important to invest in others, invest in our community and use your unique talent to make a difference,” Gabriel continued. “We all have something special, and when we plant those seeds to other people in our life, we transform them and we use that as a vehicle for change.”

According to Miss Universe, Gabriel is a former high school volleyball player and graduate of the University of North Texas. A short bio posted on the organization’s website said she is also CEO of her own sustainable clothing line.

Nearly 90 contestants from around the world took part in the competition, organizers said, involving “personal statements, in depth interviews and various categories including evening gown & swimwear.”

Miss Curacao, Gabriela Dos Santos, and Miss Puerto Rico, Ashley Carino, rounded out the top five finalists.

Last year’s winner was Harnaaz Sandhu of India.

About 30 home windows have been blown out in a children’s clinic in the town of Kherson, subsequent Russia’s an additional assault. Fortunately, no casualties were described.

A overall of 455 young children have been killed and around 897 injured in Ukraine given that the Russian invasion began.

The news coming out of Ukraine more than the weekend underscored the two the devastating scale and the murderous nature of Russia’s ongoing war – at minimum 35 civilians killed in Dnipro when their condominium block was wrecked by a Russian missile.

Yet there were being a lot more positive developments in other places as British Primary Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday pledged to supply 14 Challenger 2 tanks, producing it the initial Western nation to supply the large tanks Kyiv has been calling for.

The subsequent working day there were even more good indicators about the willingness of Ukraine’s Western allies to deliver hefty weaponry.

What took place?

Speaking to German media on Sunday, NATO Secretary Typical Jens Stoltenberg mentioned Ukraine can soon be expecting extra deliveries of hefty weapons from Western nations.

“The the latest pledges for hefty warfare machines are crucial – and I be expecting additional in the close to foreseeable future,” Stoltenberg told the Handelsblatt each day.

“We are in a decisive phase of the war,” Stoltenberg explained. “Therefore, it is critical that we provide Ukraine with the weapons it wants to earn.”

That appears positive, did he say anything at all extra exact?

He did not, but the timing of the feedback is critical. They appear ahead of a meeting this 7 days of the Ukraine Defence Make contact with Team, which coordinates arms provides to Kyiv, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

So there could be bulletins of far more weapons?

It is complicated to say for selected, but the momentum seems to be in the route of NATO nations around the world furnishing weapons that up right until incredibly just lately experienced been off the desk.

Why the hesitancy?

Considering that the starting of Russia’s reinvasion previous yr, NATO nations have been keen to steer clear of giving any weapons that could provoke Russia into a broader conflict beyond the borders of Ukraine.

This has meant weapons deliveries have been reactive to the circumstance on the floor and have tended to only be defensive and aimed at resolving complications Ukraine is previously facing.

A very good illustration is the complex Patriot anti-plane missile process which was only pledged just after Ukrainian cities experienced been suffering for months underneath mass missile assaults.

Giving heavy tanks marks a shift in this pattern, as they would support Ukraine go on the offensive and, in the words of Sunak, to “press Russian troops back again.”

Fourteen tanks does not sound like a lot?

It isn’t and 14 Challenger 2 tanks on their very own are not likely to gain a war, but it’s the change in way that is crucial.

Before this thirty day period, France, Germany and the United States respectively promised so-referred to as “light tanks” – an unspecified selection of French AMX-10 RC, 40 German Marder, and 50 Bradley combating autos.

Germany in particular had been reluctant to deliver preventing autos, but each time just one of the NATO allies pledges a move up in the type of weapons it is sending, other nations around the world can’t then use the “we might provoke Russia” argument and the pressure on them to follow fit boosts.

Has Russia said everything about the tanks?

Of system. Russia’s embassy in Britain warned that “bringing tanks to the conflict zone… will only serve to intensify combat operations, generating more casualties, like amongst the civilian inhabitants.”

This arrived just several hours following a Russian missile destroyed a residential constructing in Dnipro, killing at the very least 35 civilians, which highlights what else is on Kyiv’s wish listing apart from major tanks.

The Ukrainian military explained the block was strike by an Kh-22 Russian missile that it lacked the ability to shoot down.

“Only anti-aircraft missile devices, which in the upcoming may perhaps be supplied to Ukraine by Western companions… are capable of intercepting these air targets,” it mentioned.

Nearly anything else I want to know about?

Stoltenberg also claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had produced a slip-up by attacking Ukraine.

“He overestimated the power of his very own armed forces,” the NATO Secretary Common additional. “We see their missteps, their lack of morale, the management problems, the weak products.” But the Russians “have shown that they are organized to take significant losses to obtain their aims.”