Miss Czech Republic is new Miss Earth

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MANILA, Philippines, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A 23-year-old beauty from the Czech Republic won the Miss Earth crown Saturday in the Philippines.

Tereza Fajksova's court includes Miss Philippines, Stephany Stefanowitz, as Miss Earth Air; Miss Venezuela, Osmariel Villalobos, as Miss Earth Water; and Miss Brazil, Camila Brant, as Miss Earth Fire, The Times of India reported. Fajksova was crowned in Manila by her predecessor, Olga Alava of Ecuador.

The big news out of this year's pageant came from Miss Russia Natalya Pereverzeva, 24, who took her homeland to task in an essay posted on the Miss Earth website. Pereverzeva made it into the final 16 contestants.

In her answer to a question about what makes her proud of her country, Pereverzeva began by saying Russia is "all that I have, all that I love." But she then said the country allows the few to enrich themselves at the expense of others and said Russia is corrupt.

"My Russia is a beggar. My Russia cannot help her elderly and orphans," she said. "From it, bleeding, like from a sinking ship, engineers, doctors, teachers are fleeing, because they have nothing to live on."