Venezuelan wins Miss Universe 2008

The much coveted title of Miss Universe 2008 has been won by Miss Venezuela, otherwise known as Dayana Mendoza. The Latin lovely was watched by nearly a billion TV viewers worldwide as she received her crown from last year’s winner, Riyo Mori of Japan, in the Vietnamese resort of Nha Trang. "I am excited. I cried a lot. I am really glad I made it," gushed 22-year-old Mendoza, a model and interior design student. Of course, Miss Universe is more than a mere beauty pageant, and the winner will spend her reign travelling the world to speak out on humanitarian issues. The yearly celebration of the female form, first held in California in 1952, was taken over in 1996 by American real estate tycoon Donald Trump. Alas, disaster befell this year’s Miss USA when she slipped on the runway – the second year in a row that the American entrant has suffered this misfortune.