OBAMA'S DATE WITH MISS ISRAEL

Amid a flurry of political engagements, Barack Obama, America's first black president, has invited Israel's first black beauty queen to dine with him. 21-year-old Yityish Titi Aynaw, an immigrant from Ethiopia who was an unknown face till about a month ago when she was crowned miss Israel, will attend the state dinner hosted by Israeli President Shimon Peres for Obama today. In an interview to a local TV channel, Titi described Obama, 51, as a role model for her and the chance to see him as a dream coming true.

"It's a huge honour for me to meet him. I know his life story and I know he is a strong man and he is a role model for me, and I am very very excited to meet him," she said. Asked what is she going to talk about with the US President, it seems she would narrate her own life story and the story of her acceptance in the Israeli society. "I am going to tell Obama that I was born in Ethiopia and I came to Israel and the Israelis helped me feel at home and they helped me overcome," Titi said. "It was hard in the beginning to be here, and my friends in Israel helped me. They taught me Hebrew and they helped me with everything here, the culture and the Hebrew, everything". "My life has changed now and I feel amazing and proud to represent Israel," she said with a glee on her face. Asked if she fears that First Lady Michelle Obama will get jealous with her talking to her husband, she responded, "No, I am not worried." "She is a beautiful woman and she looks like a model, really...I don't think she will be jealous," she responded.