Some Interesting Buildings

1. The Crooked House ( Sopot , Poland )

2. Forest Spiral – Hundertwasser Building ( Darmstadt , Germany )

3. The Torre Galatea Figueres ( Spain )

4. Ferdinand Cheval Palace a.k.a Ideal Palace ( France )

5. The Basket Building ( Ohio , United States )

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6. Kansas City Public Library ( Missouri , United States )

7. Wonderworks (Pigeon Forge , Tennessee , United States )

8. Cubic Houses ( Rotterdam , Netherlands )

9. Hang Nga Guesthouse a.k.a Crazy House ( Vietnam )

10. Chapel in the Rock ( Arizona , United States )

11. Dancing Building ( Prague , Czech Republic )

12. Calakmul building a.k.a La Lavadora a.k.a The Washing Mashine ( Mexico , Mexico )

13. Kettle House ( Texas , United States )

14. Manchester Civil Justice Centre ( Manchester , UK )

15. Nakagin Capsule Tower ( Tokyo , Japan )

16. Mind House ( Barcelona , Spain )

17. Stone House ( Guimares , Portugal )

18. Shoe House ( Pennsylvania , United States )

19. The UFO House ( Sanjhih , Taiwan )

20. The Hole House ( Texas , United States )

21. Wall House ( Groningen , Netherlands )

22. Guggenheim Museum ( Bilbao , Spain )

23. Bah’ House of Worship a.k.a Lotus Temple ( Delhi , India )

24. Container City ( London , UK )

25. Erwin Wurm: House Attack ( Viena , Austria )

26. Wooden Gagster House ( Archangelsk , Russia )

27. Solar Furnace ( Odeillo , France )

28. Dome House ( Florida , United States )

29. Beijing National Stadium ( Beijing , China )

30. Civic Center ( Santa Monica )

31. Mammy’s Cupboard ( Natchez , MS , United States )

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32. Pickle Barrel House (Grand Marais , Michigan )

33. The Egg ( Empire State Plaza , Albany , New York , United States )

34. Gherkin Building ( London City , UK )

35. Nord LB building ( Hannover , Germany )

36. ” Druzhba Holiday Center ( Yalta , Ukraine )

37. Fuji television building ( Tokyo , Japan )

38. UCSD Geisel Library ( San Diego , California , United States )

39. Ripley’s Building ( Ontario , Canada )

40. Agbar Tower ( Barcelona , Spain )

Spears and Ghalib ‘back together’

Britney Spears and paparazzo Adnan Ghalib have been spotted together, sparking speculation they have rekindled their bizarre romance.

The 26-year-old pop star broke their on-off relationship last month after checking out of the Los Angeles UCLA medical centre where she was having treatment for bipolar disorder.

Ghalib was seen driving into Spears’s gated property in Beverley Hills over the weekend, before they both emerged with Spears behind the wheel.

They returned to the mansion minutes later.

Spears’s parents reportedly disapproved of their daughter’s relationship with Ghalib, a former Birmingham resident.

Her father, Jamie Spears, was granted conservatorship of the star’s assets last month amid renewed fears for the singer’s mental health.

The pop star was previously paying Ghalib a comfortable wage as her personal assistant, chauffeur, defender and live-in companion, according to reports.

She also bought him a new Mercedes to drive her around in.

Female mayor fired for pics in bra and panties

The Mayor of the small town Arlington, Oregon Carmen Kontur-Gronquist has been stripped of her duties because of the above picture that a relative posted on a Myspace page.

Via Foxnews:

Voters in Arlington, population about 500, voted narrowly on Monday night to recall Carmen Kontur-Gronquist.

The tally was 142-139. City officials said the recall is effective Tuesday.

Kontur-Gronquist said the pictures of her in black bra and panties were taken for use in a contest about fitness, but a relative posted them on MySpace in hopes it would improve the social life of the single mother.

They predated her election, but she said she saw no reason to take them off the popular Web site once elected three years ago. Later, she closed access to them.

Opponents said it wasn’t fitting for the mayor to be so depicted. They said they also disagreed with her on issues about water and the local golf course.

Mediaoutrage- SMH that she didn’t take the pics down after she was elected. We’re willing to bet that 499 of those votes to remove her were from women. Women don’t want their men at home using the vaseline and fantasizing about anyone but them, so you know that little scrawny ass blond hair thing was getting the boot.

An extraordinary encounter with Musharraf

As Pakistan votes tomorrow in its postponed elections, Jemima Khan is granted a rare interview with Pervez Musharraf, the country’s beleaguered leader

‘Since you were so kind as to greet us in London at Downing Street last month, the President would like to return the favour,” announces Major-General Rashid Qureshi, President Pervez Musharraf’s PR man over the phone. Only in Pakistan could the government’s head of spin be a retired major-general. He is referring to my last encounter with the President on 28 January – when, along with a 2,000-strong, placard-waving, slogan-jeering mob, I protested on the main road outside 10 Downing Street while Musharraf discussed democracy with Gordon Brown over lunch inside. On the way in he waved at us. Clearly he’s a man who is not afraid of confrontation. Much to the justifiable fury of every journalist in Islamabad, he has now granted me an exclusive half-hour interview despite or perhaps because of the fact that I have recently described him as one of the most repressive dictators Pakistan has ever known.

On the way to the Camp Office in Rawalpindi, I cross the bridge and pass the petrol station, which mark the spots of two recent attempts on the life of the now deeply unpopular President. I have a horrible fear that, bamboozled under the spotlight of his renowned charm, I may start to simper. My ex-husband, one of the President’s most vocal critics, has already told me he thinks this is all a terrible idea. “It will be misinterpreted in Pakistan. Besides, you’ll be too soft on him,” he said.

The Camp Office turns out to be an old colonial building which used to be the HQ of the northern command under the British. With its delicately carved, wooden, double-height ceilings, sweeping central staircase, marble floors and ornate carpets, it’s not hard to see why the President chose this as his private office in Rawalpindi. His residence is just up the driveway.

A dozen straight-backed men in uniform – red waistcoats over starched cream kurtas – are ready to greet me outside. The President, I’m informed, is not quite ready so I am led to the staff office for a “tea break” with a group of army officers who make up his presidential office team. Musharraf’s personal assistant, a dashing, grey-haired, light-eyed naval commander, and a jovial head of security, also a young army officer, joke that the delay is just an excuse for them to do a little preparatory brainwashing.

A bright yellow cake, some intimidating-looking chicken vol-au-vents and chai (milky tea) are wheeled in. Major Qureshi, Musharraf’s Alastair Campbell, tucks in happily and regales me for an hour with stories about Soviet-era Pakistani military triumphs and the magnanimity and general excellence of his boss. “Any country in the world would like to have this person as their leader,” he tells us proudly.

After an hour I am shown into a huge sitting room, divided in the middle by a latticed wood screen to segregate ladies from men at more formal functions. Musharraf enters. The last time I saw him in the flesh he was in his full army regalia. Somehow his civilian clothes have diminished him. I find his brown business suit and dainty penny loafers which have replaced the sturdy army boots almost unsettling. He seems to have lost both height and swagger. And his body language seems just a touch defensive. The immaculate hair also troubles me. Boot-polish black, artfully grey at the temples, it shows signs of some work.

I start the interview on an unfortunate note. “Given that the last time you saw me, I was protesting outside No 10, I’m grateful that you’ve granted me this opportunity. It’s quite a coup.” Bad word. There’s a moment’s silence while it hangs in the air.

The President, it turns out, is very disappointed in me. For a moment I think I have been called to his office for a sound ticking-off. “I was disappointed. Very disappointed,” he says. “I was disappointed because you ought to be knowing our environment … what Pakistanis are like … what is our society. Well, it’s acceptable if a person has never visited Pakistan and doesn’t know Pakistan to have ideal views [presumably, he means idealistic views]. But I thought you ought to be knowing what Pakistan is … This is not an ideal society.”

He goes on. Mindful that I have only limited time and that there’s a man in uniform sitting at the back of the room already checking his watch before I’ve even asked my first question, I politely interrupt. I remind him that when I first met him he too was an idealist. There is strange symmetry to this visit. I last met Musharraf three days before the last elections in 2002. And now here I am, five and a half years on, three days before elections on Monday. Back then, especially when Musharraf first came to power, I was a somewhat naive supporter. Selfishly, I was relieved when he succeeded came to power by military coup on 12 October 1999. Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister he deposed, had tried to have me jailed on trumped-up, politically motivated charges of smuggling – a non-bailable offence in Pakistan.

I suspect it was to intimidate my ex-husband, who at that time was a noisy critic. I had scarpered to London before I could be arrested and was able to return with my two children to Pakistan six months later only after Musharraf seized power and the charges against me were duly dropped. More importantly, though, Musharraf took over with the express aim of cleaning up Pakistani politics. He despised the corrupt politicians as much as anyone. He immediately set up his own national accountability bureau and declared that his mission was to hold the corrupt accountable.

I’m also disappointed, I tell him. The corrupt got off scot-free. And now it looks as though he will shortly be doing business with the very same politicians he wanted to get rid of.

Disarmingly he agrees – something he does a lot of. And I sense it’s genuine rather than appeasement. He argues that he had no other choice but to deal with the existing leaders of the main parties. This is a little disingenuous. The national reconciliation ordinance which he passed in October 2007 effectively guaranteed lifelong immunity from prosecution to corrupt politicians such as Benazir Bhutto, her husband Zardari and others, and enabled her to return to Pakistan to contest elections. He asks if he is being recorded. I say yes. He hesitates, then answers tellingly, “Yes, I agree with you [that charges should not have been dropped]. But then Benazir has good contacts abroad in your country, who thought she was the future of the country.”

I press him further. Surely even in spite of pressure from outside, given his feelings about the effects of corruption on Pakistani politics, those charges should never have been dropped. There should have been a proper judicial process.

I put this to him. “No,” he replies, “because they would have all joined and then I would have been out.” At this point he looks a bit wild eyed. He quickly adds that, of course, being in power has never been his ultimate goal. How much easier it would be, he adds wistfully and a touch unconvincingly, if he’d just resigned to play golf.

A uniformed bearer offers fruit juice and warm roasted almonds. I down my juice in one gulp, then worry it may have looked unseemly. In the past four years I’d forgotten that Pakistani women are expected to overplay their femininity. I’m lounging like a bloke and downing pomegranate juice like lager.

Often he fails to see the irony in his own words, which can be unintentionally comic. Several times I have to suppress a smile. When confronted with the suggestion, for example, that he will have to work with a coalition government consisting of some the most infamous crooks in Pakistan, he responds with great sincerity, “I’m not running a martial law here. What can I do?” He adds, “My role as a president is simply the checks and balances – the seatbelts … a sort of father figure to the Prime Minister but I won’t have to see him for weeks.”

The image he paints of himself as a benign, legitimised dictator is at odds with the recent Human Rights Watch report that accuses his regime of hundreds of enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, harassment, intimidation and extrajudicial killings

Later when I point out that his old opponent Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), has vowed that if elected he will reinstate the judges who were unconstitutionally deposed by Musharraf, he retorts incredulously, “It is not a dictatorship here! How can you reinstate judges if you become prime minister? How?” This rhetorical question comes from a man who on 3 November dismissed 60 per cent of the superior court judges, including three chief justices, in anticipation of their ruling against his re-election as President while still head of the army. Many remain under house arrest.

He seems to be someone who feels painfully let down and misunderstood. This is particularly the case when he talks about my ex-husband, Imran. “You know, I liked him. But he is the most unrealistic person. I wanted to support him.” He mentions him a few times in the interview. And the strange thing is, I detect hurt. President Musharraf, dictator, despot, guardian of the West against al-Qa’ida – and all I can see are the wounded eyes of a betrayed lover when he talks about my ex. Under his regime, in the past year, Imran has been held under house arrest, jailed, then released and has had his movements restricted. Hell hath no fury like a general scorned.

I change the subject. Last time I visited him here in Rawalpindi he gave me a spookily accurate prediction of the imminent election results, which suggested information more than insight. Who will win this election? His answer is definitive. The PML-Q (the party otherwise known as the King’s Party, assembled by President Musharraf himself six years ago to legitimise his “managed” democracy) allied with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement will “certainly have the majority. Whether they’ll be able to form a government is a question mark.” This contradicts all the recent opinion polls, which have shown that the popularity of his favoured party is right down, at just 12 per cent. I point out this out to him.

He dismisses the polls. They are biased, conducted by local organisations that are against him. “They have been abusing me right from the beginning and you will never get good results from them.”

He seems increasingly paranoid. “The media have let me down … The NGOs are against me. I don’t know why. I think I have been the strongest proponent of human rights …” In fact, the only people who are not against him, according to him, are the Western leaders who he says are “absolutely supportive” and “express total solidarity”.

I don’t doubt Musharraf’s bravery or even his initial good intentions. Nor is anyone underestimating the scale of the problems that Pakistan faces today.

If anything, the impression is one of amateurishness and of a naivety that would be endearing if it had not been so profoundly damaging to his country. And in recent months he has become belligerent with local journalists. In London last month a respected Pakistani editor was castigated for asking about Rashid Rauf, the escaped terror suspect, and the fact that many believe he was deliberately freed by the police. Such impertinent journalists “should be roughed up”, he was alleged to have told the assembled crowds in response.

When I ask about the deposed chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, who is still under house arrest, he denounces him as “the scum of the earth – a third-rate man – a corrupt man”. And the lawyers’ movement? The lawyers have vowed to continue protesting on the streets and boycotting the courts until the deposed judges are reinstated and the constitution is restored to its pre-3 November status. “With hindsight,” he replies solemnly, “it was my personal error that I allowed them to go and express their views in the street… We should have controlled them in the beginning before it got out of control.” To those more used to seeing beards and white robes at protests, the images of suited, bookish-looking lawyers fighting off police batons were a memorable spectacle.

Musharraf mentions democracy a great deal. He seems sincere. He is genuinely likeable. But it seems he just can’t help himself. You can take the general out of the army but not the army out of the general. It reminds me of the Aesop fable about the scorpion and the frog. The frog gives the scorpion, who cannot swim, a lift across the river. Halfway across, the scorpion stings him. “Why did you do that?” asks the frog. “Now we’ll both die.” “I’m a scorpion; it’s my nature.”

As I leave he presents me with a clock inscribed “from the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan”. It seems an inauspicious gift from a man whose time may be up. He shakes my hand. “It will be the saddest day for Pakistan if Benazir’s crooked widower is in power by Monday,” I say. As the President walks away, he looks back. “At least we part on agreement.”

Special report in tomorrow’s ‘Independent’

Baloch Struggle

Baloch Girls Protest aginst human rights violations of Pakistani Government in Balochistan

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Bhutto’s political will released

The Pakistan People’s Party has released the political will of former leader Benazir Bhutto in which she backs her husband to be party leader. The PPP originally disclosed the contents of the document shortly after her assassination in December.

A PPP spokesman said they were now releasing it to end speculation about its contents.

Analysts say the document could enhance the political position of Ms Bhutto’s widower, Asif Zardari.

Mr Zardari is currently in charge of the party. Their 19-year-old son Bilawal is the titular head.

‘Decide what is best’

The handwritten, one-page letter dated 16 October says that Asif Ali Zardari should be interim leader until a new permanent party head is appointed.

Asif Zardari – repeatedly accused of corruption

Mr Zardari took over the leadership of the party after Ms Bhutto was killed.

She died in a suicide bombing and shooting attack in Rawalpindi while campaigning for elections in December.

“I would like my husband Asif Ali Zardari to lead you in this interim period until you and he decide what is best,” Ms Bhutto’s letter states.

“I say this because he is a man of courage and honour. He spent eleven and a half years in prison without bending despite torture.

“He has the political stature to keep a party united.”

The letter – written two days before Ms Bhutto’s return to Pakistan from exile and 12 weeks before her assassination – urged Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) supporters to continue the struggle for change.

“I fear for the future of Pakistan. Please continue the fight against extremism, dictatorship, poverty and ignorance,” she wrote.

‘Foil controversies’

At a press conference to announce the release of the will, PPP spokeswoman Sherry Rahman said that “some enemies wanted to create chaos in the party by spreading false speculation about the contents of the will”.

“That is why the party high command has decided to share the will with the public and the media to foil all such controversies and keep the party united,” she said.

Ms Bhutto’s killing on 27 December while leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi led to a six-week delay to parliamentary elections now scheduled for 18 February.

Correspondents say Mr Zardari is a controversial figure in Pakistan, where he has faced repeated accusations of corruption.

PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said that the release of the will was not being done to strengthen Zardari’s position within the party.

He said that the party would formally decide who was the party’s long term leader after the election results are known.

AN OPEN LETTER TO BENAZIR BHUTTO FROM GHAZALA MINALLAH(please circulate)

Ms BHUTTO, A FREE JUDICIARY BUT DETAINED JUDGES???

Dear Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto,

I was absolutely shocked and amazed at your latest statement regarding the judiciary. How could you, of all people, say that you believed in an independent judiciary BUT that personalities did not matter? If personalities did not matter then why was Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry removed? Why were some judges locked up whereas others were not? If personalities did not matter then why is Musharraf waging a personal war against the CJ? You do not have to be a genius to figure out the reason. How can you separate the personalities from the institution? What you have on Constitution Avenue right now is a besieged and helpless building. The unfortunate but harsh truth is that right now we are a besieged nation as well.

Ms. Bhutto, I am writing to you because your statement has shocked and disturbed me to the extent that I feel I have no option but to reach out to you in this manner. I would like to remind you, since you seem to have forgotten, that you too were the victim of a corrupt judiciary. If Justice Iftikhar had been the CJ of the Supreme Court at that time then perhaps your father would never have been hanged. Had the entire bench been like the present one then there would have been a unanimous judgment. But the judgment was not unanimous – it was a 4 to 3 split – just one judge too many on the wrong side. One more upright personality on the right side and our history would have been different. So yes, personalities certainly do matter.

Ms. Bhutto, I am writing to you in desperation because I am the daughter of Late Justice Safdar Shah, who was one of the three dissenting judges. When Mr., Bhutto was the Prime Minister my father was CJ of the Peshawar High Court. Both these headstrong personalities did not get on with each other, and because of Safdar Shah’s constant criticism and disagreement regarding the reforms and policies being introduced by the PM, the latter had him prematurely retired by introducing the 5^th Amendment. After the coup, when Gen. Zia took over, and Mr. Bhutto was charged and convicted of Conspiracy to murder by the Lahore High Court, he appealed to the Supreme Court. Gen. Zia wanted Mr. Bhutto dead and he did his best to manipulate the bench. It soon became obvious as to WHY  Safdar Shah had recently been appointed as judge of the Supreme Court . Having the typical mind-set of  a dictator, Zia was sure that he would  be vindictive and take revenge. But, he was wrong and the rest is history. WHY? Because three of the judges had the courage to say NO, and did not give in to the threats and pressure exerted on them. So yes Ms Bhutto, personalities do matter. Had Justice (retd) Wajiuddin’s father , the late Hon.Waheeduddin not been prematurely retired on extremely dubious medical grounds , history could have been different, No one can dispute the fact that the judgment was wrong since Justice (retd) Nasim Hassan Shah  confessed on a talk show on TV a few years ago that the judges were threatened and pressurized into giving that judgment. Yes Ms. Bhutto, they were, and I am a witness to that fact.

Ms. Bhutto, our paths crossed briefly and both of us were victims of a corrupt judiciary which colluded with a Military Dictator. But I am not writing this letter to lament about our plight, since nothing we went through can possibly compare to the torture and torment you and your family went through .Have you forgotten the times when you visited your father in prison? Have you forgotten the humiliating tactics those heartless tyrants subjected you and your family to? Have you forgotten the last time you went to visit him in prison and were not able to hug him? Whenever I think about that grave injustice, which was nothing but a judicial murder, my heart goes out to you and what you suffered then and have suffered since. That is precisely why I am at my wits end and cannot understand WHY you cannot value the importance of independent judges.

Ms.Bhutto, do you think you are invincible? Are you so blinded that you cannot or will not acknowledge the truth? Does it never occur to you that some day you might have to face those judges in the present Supreme Court.? Well let me please spell it out. With independent judges you get a verdict you deserve, whereas with the present kind of farce you get a judgment dictated by the intelligence agencies or the dictator himself. Do you honestly not know or are you honestly not aware of the grave injustice going on? Does it not send a chill up your spine  that if the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court   can be tossed around by Musharraf  it could very well be you  as well ?For God’s sake Ms. Bhutto , WAKE UP .You owe it to your father as well as to the nation  to defend the judiciary and fight for its independence.

My father continued to be persecuted even after the judgment and we were forced to leave the country. But I will never forgive or forget those responsible for the torment my father went through during his last years. He died an unhappy man and was never able to get over the fact that he was not able to prevent the cold-blooded murder of an innocent man. And that innocent person was your father for God’s sake! I have vowed that I will continue to fight for the independence of the judiciary come what may! I was confident and certain that once you were back you would definitely take up this battle and lead the nation towards sanity.

Ms. Bhutto, is it not obvious to you WHY Musharraf wants Justice Iftikhar out of the way? Ask the families of the ‘missing persons’, who for the first time were being heard and for the first time they could see a light at the end of the tunnel.  Everyone knows who is responsible but no one before this CJ had the courage to take up the matter. Ask the countless downtrodden people who had discovered that they could have direct access to the CJ through Suo Moto notices. Ask 2 and 3 yr old Aneela and Tasleem from Naudero Feroze in Sindh , ask 4 yr old Shaneela or 6yr old Munni or 8 yr old Marina from Mardan what this Chief Justice has done for them. These innocent little girls were the victims of jirga decisions according to which they were to be handed over to the enemy as a symbol of truce .It was Justice Iftikhar who took serious notice of this barbaric custom and passed strict orders to the local authorities to prevent this atrocity from carrying on. It was during the tenure of this CJ that serious environmental disasters were averted .Who took notice of the New Muree Project? Who took action in the Dungi ground case? Who prevented Shah Sharabeel from converting a public park in sector F-7 Islamabad into a multi-million commercial project? Ask the poor people living in the adjacent Christian colony what that decision meant to them. Sharabeel has taken up arms against the CJ since this decision because for that class of people the slum dwellers are a low life who do not deserve any special attention. I can go on and on about the cases in which the  SILENT CRIES OF THE DOWNTRODDEN of our society  were being heard by a sympathetic judge for the first time. Ms. Bhutto, these are the Suo Moto notices which Musharraf said were a waste of time in his speech justifying the emergency. If personalities did not matter then why is Musharraf so threatened by this man? On any and every occasion he gets he attacks and tries to malign the CJ with a vengeance. His abnormal hatred for the man has exposed the truth. He knows very well that this man was the biggest hurdle in his plans to destroy what is left of our country. The coup was against the judiciary, the ‘emergency’ was created to sack the CJ and the other conscientious judges. Musharraf needs to be told that we are not a nation of imbeciles and that everyone is aware of the truth and the depth of the situation. We all know that the  ‘crisis ‘  in Swat or the threat of terrorism had NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the sacking of the CJ and the locking up of him and the other judges.

Once again Ms Bhutto, I beg you to think very carefully about where you are heading. I beg you not to betray your father or the nation. I beg you not to fall into Musharraf’s trap and to boycott the elections. The rigging has already taken place, so why are you allowing yourself to become a party to this farce? I beg you to realize that you are the one holding the trump card right now. If you boycott the election, THEY lose face. But if YOU participate, you not only lose face, you lose the confidence and the faith   the people of Pakistan have in you. Last but not least, you owe it to Bilawal, Bakhtawar, Aseefa and all future generations of our beloved country.

Yours sincerely,  

                                                                                  

Ghazala Minallah

                                                           

D/O Late Justice Safdar Shah

Umar Gul to fly home after another injury

Umar Gul, the Pakistan fast bowler, has broken down while training and will be sent home ahead of the second Test against India beginning in Kolkata on Friday. The team management have asked the Pakistan selectors to send a replacement by Thursday evening but nothing has been confirmed yet.

Gul bowled at full steam in the nets on Wednesday and had apparently recovered fully from the back injury, which had kept him out of the first Test in Delhi.

The recurrence of Gul’s injury is a severe blow to Pakistan’s pace attack. Uncertainty remains over Shoaib Akhtar participation in the second Test. Shoaib, who was Pakistan’s best bowler with six wickets in Delhi, was admitted in a hospital because of a fever and chest infection. He was discharged on Wednesday evening.

Pakistan’s other injury concerns included the captain Shoaib Malik, who was suffering from an ankle injury sustained while playing foot ball after the Delhi Test. Malik had a Grade 1 problem with his right ankle and sat out of a practice session on Wednesday.

Iranian child victim of prostitution

Sold into prostitution aged nine, condemned by an Iranian judge to hang at 18, Leila was saved by a group of human rights activists.

Leila was illiterate but she is now learning to read

“I was nine years old when my mother started selling me. I did not understand what was happening.”

Today Leila is a young woman of 22. For the past two years she has been cared for by a private home for destitute young women in Tehran, Omid E Mehr, which means Hope.

“My mother would say: ‘Let’s go out to buy things, like chocolates’. She would actually trick me. I was a tiny girl. She just took me to places.”

Leila still finds it difficult to talk about the past. But we know that the “places” she speaks of are where she was sold for sex and raped.

Leila became the main source of income for a family of five.

The lawyer who eventually saved Leila’s life, Shadi Sadr, is a controversial figure in Iran. Although she was imprisoned earlier this year for taking part in human rights demonstrations, she is widely respected and frequently quoted in the press.

A girl is considered one of the first commodities or properties that can be traded or sold in the eyes of a parent who is poor in Iran Shadi Sadr Lawyer

Ms Sadr says Leila’s story is not unique.

“A girl is considered one of the first commodities or properties that can be traded or sold in the eyes of a parent who is poor in Iran,” she says.

Ms Sadr says that, in practice in Iran, under the Islamic penal code a father has enormous power over his own children.

“If a father decides to kill his own child he will not be sentenced to death, he will only be sent to prison for a couple of years.”

Temporary wife

Leila lived in Arak, a small town four hours drive south of Tehran – notorious for criminal behaviour and illegal drugs. Most of Leila’s earnings went on illegal narcotics for her family.

According to the United Nations three quarters of the world’s opium seizures take place in Iran and the authorities acknowledge addiction is a serious problem.

Human rights lawyers say Leila’s case is not unique

But there are no such statistics on prostitution. The Director of the Omid E Mehr centre in Tehran says it is a growing problem.

“I have entered many homes in the south of Tehran where young girls had to go out and sell their bodies to provide for their father’s drug habits,” says Eshrat Gholipour.

I have also seen several cases of families chaining their own daughter to the homes to stop them from running away.”

I am going to tell you something but please do not be upset. You are going to be hanged Prison warder

Leila’s husband begun selling her for sex to as many as 15 men each night. Two months into the marriage, police raided the house and arrested everyone.

The husband was sentenced to five years in jail for providing a house for illegal sex.

During the course of the criminal investigation, Leila’s brothers had confessed to raping her. They were flogged. For this Leila was accused of incest. A crime punishable by death.

Leila was in a women’s prison when she heard about her own sentence from the warder: “I am going to tell you something but please do not be upset. You are going to be hanged.”

Ms Sadr says the judicial system is deeply conservative and unfair.

“These male judges have not had any training about sexual charges. They all have a chauvinistic point of view and they see the woman as guilty,” she says.

Leila’s brothers later retracted their confessions. Ms Sadr took Leila’s case to appeal and won.

Death sentence

Earlier this year Ms Sadr defended and won the case of 19-year-old Nazanine, sentenced to death for killing a man who tried to rape her. Today she too is a free woman.

There will be so many protests… from the human rights activists that the judges are under pressure not to issue a death sentence” Shadi Sadr Lawyer

According to Amnesty International, 177 people were executed in Iran last year, of these four were women – this year the number is up to five. The real figures could be higher as executions are not always reported.

But Ms Sadr and other Iranian lawyers say that constant human-rights campaigning and publicity is making Iran’s judges more sensitive to public opinion. “There will be so many protests or so much complaints from the human rights activists that the judges are under pressure not to issue a death sentence,” she says.

Tender hope

Today Leila lives in a small flat with a full-time carer paid for by Ms Sadr and the Omid E Mehr day centre.

Marjaneh Halati, who lives in London, is its founder. She says that when Leila arrived she was illiterate and needed to be taught the basics of life.

Leila is rebuilding her life and learning to be independent

“She did not know anything. To the point that she did not know that you wear a pad when you get a period.”

Today Leila is learning to read and earning money as a seamstress.

But Ms Halati also knows that by helping girls like Leila – by boosting their self-esteem and encouraging independence – the centre is treading a fine line.

“We live in Iran and there are certain rules we have to abide by, but it does not mean we cannot tell the girls that they are no different to men. They are individuals,” she says.

Today Leila is free and attitudes may slowly be changing. Iran passed its first child protection laws five years ago.

This spring a new bill drafted by human rights lawyers, is expected to go before Parliament to make prosecutions in child abuse cases easier.

Heroes Episode 02.11: POWERLESS watch online

IT’S HERO VS. HERO AS THE SERIES’ “VOLUME II: GENERATIONS” COMES TO AN EXPLOSIVE, BLOODY FINISH – Deep below Primatech Paper in Odessa, TX, Peter’s (Milo Ventimiglia) reunion with Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) turns violent when the brothers, Matt (Greg Grunberg) and Hiro (Masi Oka) all clash thanks to Adam (David Anders) and his pursuit of the deadly Shanti Virus. After watching his heroic cousin captured by a street gang, Micah (Noah Gray-Cabey) turns to the one person who can help him save Monica (Dana Davis) — his mom (Ali Larter). Meanwhile, Maya (Dania Ramirez) tragically learns how much of a monster Sylar (Zachary Quinto) really is during his kidnapping of Molly (Adair Tishler) and Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy). Meanwhile, Elle (Kristen Bell) decides to play hero to get back into her father’s (Stephen Tobolowsky) good graces. Jack Coleman, James Kyson Lee and Hayden Panettiere also star.

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