Beauty contest for earthquake survivors

Caring crimpers have staged a beauty contest for refugees of Italy's L'Aquila earthquake to give recovery hopes a head start.

Stunning Sara Iervolino, 26, was made Miss Tent City in the contest aimed at cheering up victims of the quake, many of which are still living in tents erected by the Italian government.

Organiser, hairdresser Antonello Durastante, said: "These girls have been through hell and back and now they have to live in a tent which doesn't do anything for a girl's self-esteem.

"We want to give them back dignity and beauty."
The G8 summit will be held in L?Aquila next week, after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi changed its venue to the earthquake-hit town to draw international attention to the crisis.