HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Two African contestants will miss this year’s Miss Universe competition in Puerto Rico because of visa restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration, while two others are struggling to obtain visas.
Representatives from Zambia and the Republic of Congo have withdrawn from the pageant, which takes place this month in the U.S. territory, after failing to secure visas. Contestants from South Sudan and Zimbabwe are still awaiting theirs.
The United States has imposed sweeping travel restrictions affecting dozens of countries, many of them in Africa, under proclamations issued during Trump’s second administration.
Last December, the administration expanded restrictions to additional countries, including Zambia and Zimbabwe, while maintaining a full suspension of entry for nationals of the Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
“She earned her crown, she earned her title, and she deserves the opportunity to represent the nation she proudly serves,” Miss Universe Zambia organizers said in a statement this week announcing the withdrawal of their representative, Mubanga Pamela Hatyoka.
In the Republic of Congo, Georgina Kambongo made history when she was crowned the Central African country’s first Miss Universe representative. National organizers say her inability to travel to Puerto Rico is linked solely to Trump’s travel restrictions.
“American visa challenges have delayed that journey, but the fight is not over,” Zimbabwe’s representative, Roseanna Hall, said in a social media post. “After months of preparation, I am not giving up. I remain confident that God who began a good work in me will bring it to completion.”
In South Sudan, organizers said contestant Adut Deng’s participation remained uncertain despite months of efforts to secure the necessary travel documents and approvals.
“South Sudan deserves to be seen, heard, and represented. Our queen carries the hopes, dreams, beauty, and resilience of a nation,” organizers said in a statement.
The competition’s 75th edition is expected to attract up to 120 contestants. Delegates began arriving in Puerto Rico on Sunday for rehearsals and other preliminary activities.
A national costume competition is scheduled for Nov. 21, followed by swimsuit and evening gown segments the following day. The winner will be crowned on Nov. 24.
FILE - Contestants take part in the final round of the 74th Miss Universe Beauty Pageant in Nonthaburi province, Thailand, on Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)
BERLIN (AP) — It was the sound of e-silence.
No Microsoft Outlook email chimes, no Teams message pings, no new notifications and, very possibly, no work getting done.
Microsoft 365 teetered on the edge of becoming Microsoft 364 as the global outage stretched from Thursday into, ironically (or fittingly, depending on your personal outlook), Friday the 13th. The disruption has impacted an unknown number of netizens, but the total could be as high as 450 million — the figure the tech giant touts as the number of paid customers of the Microsoft 365 apps.
Many of us were doing the same thing: Refresh, refresh, refresh.
But what really happens when an essential workplace tool goes quiet and the silence is heard around the world?
Sadly, it seems, the extended break online did not mean that we went outside — or even offline. Thousands used the 21st century technology of social media to complain about the 20th century invention of email. Memes sprang up across the internet as brands like airlines rushed to capitalize early Friday on an unexpected long weekend.
“Emails can wait. The world has been waiting long enough,” Air India wrote on X. “Consider this your cue to plan that getaway.”
The airline's post featured a photo with a view out an airplane window with the quip, “A change of outlook we'd highly recommend.”
But the UK arm of discount grocery chain Aldi suggested staying home, writing “Microsoft being down is the equivalent of an adult snow day right?!” on Facebook.
Burger King instead opted for a message directed at Microsoft: “whoever’s troubleshooting and working on the outage rn…take your time. go out and get a Whopper.”
The World Health Organization, meanwhile, valiantly pitched some healthy offline ideas like taking a break from screens or stretching and walking.
We could do that. We could take advantage of a world and a workday where our inboxes don't demand all of our attention. We could savor the unexpected serenity of an enforced e-silence. We could take a walk! Really, we could.
Or we could stay inside, tethered to our laptops and desktops and smartphones, drafting hot takes instead of emails.
And again: Refresh, refresh, refresh.
For some unfortunate souls, Teams sadly still worked. Others were forced to pivot to alternate forms of communication.
“Having meetings on WhatsApp now instead,” one Redditor wrote.
“My boss pointed out the program that has our training on still works,” someone else posted.
Still more turned to other screens for entertainment: “Feet up on the sofa, coffee in hand and playing a bit of xbox, wonderful start to the day,” another said. “Hopefully outlook is down for the remainder of the day.”
But the outage also brought a nostalgia not seen since the 1900s.
“It’s actually been quite fun in the office," another Redditor wrote. "It feels like a bit of a social event — everyone is chatting, we’ve ordered breakfast in, planning a pub visit this afternoon if it continues. Is this what the 90s felt like?”
But for many of us, the Internet Age is all-consuming. Even if our ears got a break for a few hours from the constant dings and pings of notifications, our fingers remained ready to reply-all at a moment's notice.
Refresh, refresh, refresh.
The Associated Press uses several Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive. The outage gave Dazio some peace and quiet to write this report.
AP journalist Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
The sign of Microsoft is photographed at an office building of the company, in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
A computer screen shows the Microsoft support page in London, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
A person walks by a Microsoft logo and sign outside the Microsoft Visitor Center at the company's headquarters Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Redmond, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
