: ''For comments in Wikipedia markup, see Help:Wiki markup#Character formatting and WP:COMMENT.''

A comment is generally a verbal or written remark often related to an added piece of information, or an observation or statement. These are usually marked with an abbreviation, such as "obs." or "N.B.". The term "comment" may have different meanings depending on specific fields of usage:

Computing

Comment (computer programming), information embedded in the source code of a computer program, often explanatory text

Syntax of comments in various programming languages''

Comments in word processing documents

Comments in configuration files

Feedback comment system, a system by which comments can be posted on a website

Engineering

Request for Comments, an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) memorandum on Internet systems and standards

Law

Comments under rulemaking in United States administrative law

Obiter dicta issued by a judge in a court opinion

Public comment is requested by executive public agencies when issuing a Draft Environmental Impact Report and similar documentation.

Public comment is accepted by public agencies- legislative or executive- with regard to specific agenda items at public meetings. They also typically allow general comments on matters which are not on the agenda but are within their jurisdiction.

Music

"Comment (If All Men Are Truly Brothers)", a 1969 song by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band

Publishing and media

Peer review#How it works comments in academic publishing

Comments and notes as law review articles

Comments in newspaper editorials

* Op-ed

See also

Annotation

Commentary (disambiguation)

Footnote

e" arrivato anche il tempo dei "cani" ghi si sente pastor li serve anch un cane. perche solo i "cani" capisconon il tempo; e sano dove portarsi..."

References

de:Kommentar et:Kommentaar es:Comentario (desambiguación) fr:Commentaire nl:Commentaar ja:コメント ru:Комментарий sl:Komentar sv:Kommentar tr:Yorum (anlam ayrımı) uk:Коментар

Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
name	Fares Karam
background	solo_singer
origin	Jezzine, Lebanon
genre	Lebanese, World, Oriental Arabic Levantine
occupation	Singer
years active	1996-Present
website	fareskaram.tv }}

Fares Karam (Arabic: فارس كرم) is a popular Lebanese singer who specializes in the Dabke style and Lebanese music in general, but with a more modernized twist. He has produced many hit singles around the Arab world & other parts of the Middle East such as ''El-Tanoura'' ''(The Skirt)'', ''Shefta'' ''(I Saw Her)'' and ''Neswanji'' ''(Womanizer)''. Throughout his career, he has participated in a large number of concerts, public celebrations, and festivals. Karam has also notably toured South America, USA, Australia and Canada.

Biography

Fares Karam was born in Jezzine,in Southern Lebanon to a modest working-class Christian family. His father was a farmer and his mother worked as a teacher in the local school for their village. . Karam rose to the limelight in the 1990s when he participated in the 1996-7 series of the Lebanese talent show Studio El Fan. His musical style in recent times is linked more closely to Dabke his live band play many of his songs with a large tabal drum. This has helped make his music very popular in Lebanese nightclubs where patrons like to dance the Dabke .

Discography

Shlon (1998)

Janen (2002)

Aktar Min Rohi (2003)

Dakhelo (2004)

Wedni (2005)

Yo'Borni (2007)

Elhamdullah (2010)

Awards

Fares Karam has won many prestigious awards in his artistic career:

Sydney Cedars Club (1999)

Art Lebanon (2002)

Al- nojoum production Australia (2003)

Hollywood, California (2004)

Lions International (2005)

The Arms of Alberta (2005)

Fifteenth Faces Concert (2005)

Festival of Cartage (2006)

References

External links

Official Website: http://www.fareskaram.tv

Contact: http://www.fareskaram.tv/fares/contact.html

Fan Club: http://www.fareskaram.tv/fpg/index.php

Category:Arabic-language singers Category:Lebanese male singers Category:Lebanese Christians Category:People from South Lebanon Category:Rotana artists Category:Living people

ar:فارس كرم es:Fares Karam

Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
name	Rizwan Khan
birth date
birth place	Aden, South Yemen
education	University of Wales Medical Physiology (B.Sc.) University of Portsmouth Radio Journalism (B.A.)
occupation	Reporter and Anchor at Al Jazeera
years active
website	}}

Rizwan "Riz" Khan (born April 1962) is a British television news reporter and interviewer who until April 2011 hosted his own eponymous television show on Al Jazeera English. He first rose to prominence while working for the BBC and CNN.

Life and career

Khan was born in Aden, South Yemen, to a Punjabi father and Gujarati mother. His father's roots hail from Pakistan-administered Kashmir while his mother's roots go back to Kutch, Gujarat. He considers himself as a British Pakistani. Khan moved with his family to London, at the age of four. He attended both Springwell Junior and Hounslow Manor Comprehensive Schools and joined the Air Training Corps, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Medical Physiology from the University of Wales, and then completed a postgraduate course in Radio Journalism at the University of Portsmouth.

In 1987 he was selected for the BBC News Trainee scheme - a two-year BBC training system, usually taking only 6 people per course. Khan progressed to jobs as a BBC reporter, producer, and writer, working in both television and radio, and would later become one of the founding News Presenters on BBC World Service Television News. He hosted the news bulletin that launched BBC World Service Television News in 1991. In 1993, he moved to CNN International, where he became a senior anchor for the network's global news shows. Events he covered included the 1996 and 1999 coverage of elections in India; the 1997 historic election in Britain; and in April 1998 the unprecedented live coverage from the Muslim pilgrimage, the Hajj.

In 1996 he launched his interactive interview show ''CNN: Q&A with Riz Khan'', and he has conducted interviews with guests including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former US Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela, and genomic scientist J. Craig Venter. Khan also secured the world exclusive with Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf following his coup in October 1999. Khan also hosted ''Q&A-Asia with Riz Khan''. These interactive shows put world newsmakers and celebrities up for viewer questions live by phone, e-mail, video-mail and fax, along with questions and comments taken from the real-time chatroom that opens half-an-hour before each show.

Khan hosted his show, ''Riz Khan'', on Al Jazeera English, interviewing analysts and policy makers and allows viewers to interact with them via phone, email, SMS messages or fax. The show came to an end in April 2011.

Khan speaks Urdu and Hindi and also understands other South Asian languages such as Punjabi and Kutchi. He has studied French, and can understand some other European languages, including Swedish.

In 2005 he authored his first book, ''Al-Waleed: Businessman Billionaire Prince'', published by Harper Collins.

In 2011 he authored a preface for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) annual report "Attacks on the Press 2010", which examined working conditions for journalists in more than 100 countries.

References

"Why I'm Joining Al Jazeera", op-ed by Riz Khan, ''The Wall Street Journal'', 13 June 2005, p. A1

"Q&A CNN Anchor: Riz Khan". ''India Today''. February 19, 2001.

External links

Riz Khan's official website

Profile at Al Jazeera English

MySpace Profile

Interview with Baron Dave Romm of KFAI-FM at the Republican National Convention Sept. 2, 2008 and picture

Category:1962 births Category:Al Jazeera people Category:Alumni of Cardiff University Category:Alumni of the University of Portsmouth Category:British Muslims Category:British people of Indian descent Category:English people of Pakistani descent Category:British journalists Category:British television presenters Category:Living people Category:Punjabi people Category:Gujarati people Category:People from Aden

ar:ريز خان he:ריז ח'אן sw:Riz Khan no:Riz Khan

Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
publisher	DC Comics
debut	''All Star Comics'' #8
debutmo	December
debutyr	1941
creators	William Moulton MarstonHarry G. Peter
alter ego	Princess Diana of Themyscira
alliances	Justice LeagueAmazons of ThemysciraDepartment of Metahuman Affairs
partners	Steve TrevorTrevor BarnesNemesisSupermanBatman
aliases	Diana Prince
species	Amazon
powers	Strength, Speed, Movement, EnduranceFlight (only after 1960)Superior Fighting Skills EmpathyHealing FactorResistance to MagicAbility to Discern TruthAccess to Magical Weaponry
cvr image	Wwoman1.jpg
cvr caption	Cover for ''Wonder Woman'' #1 (1942). Art by Harry G. Peter.
schedule	Monthly
ongoing	Y
fantasy	first
superhero	y
multigenre	y
pub series	DC Comics
1stishhead	vol. 1
1stishyr	1942
1stishmo	Summer
endishyr	1986
endishmo	February
1stishhead1	vol. 2
1stishyr1	1987
1stishmo1	February
endishyr1	2006
endishmo1	April
1stishhead2	vol. 3
1stishyr2	2006
1stishmo2	August
endishyr2	2010
endishmo2	July
1stishhead3	vol. 1 cont.
1stishyr3	2010
1stishmo3	August
endishyr3	Present
issues	(vol. 1): 329(vol. 2): 228 (+ 8 Annuals, 1 Special)(vol. 3): 44 (+ 1 Annual)(vol. 1 cont.): 10(as of June, 2011)
main char team	Princess Diana of Themyscira
writers	(vol. 1)William Moulton Marston, Mike Sekowsky, Robert Kanigher, Martin Pasko, Gerry Conway, Dan Mishkin(vol. 2)Len Wein, George Pérez, Mindy Newell, William Messner-Loebs, John Byrne, Phil Jimenez, Greg Rucka(vol. 3)Allan Heinberg, Gail Simone(vol. 1 cont.)J. Michael Straczynski
pencillers	(vol. 1)Harry G. Peter, Ross Andru, Mike Sekowsky, Dick Giordano, John Rosenberger, Jose Delbo, Gene Colan(vol. 2)George Pérez, Chris Marrinan, Mike Deodato, John Byrne, Phil Jimenez(vol. 3)Terry Dodson, Aaron Lopresti(vol. 1 cont.)Don Kramer
inkers	(vol. 1)Mike Esposito, Dick Giordano, Vince Colletta(vol. 2)Bruce Patterson, Andy Lanning(vol. 3)Rachel Dodson, Matt Ryan
colorists	(vol. 2)Carl Gafford(vol. 3)Alex Sinclair
cat	super
subcat	DC Comics
hero	y
sortkey	Wonder Woman
sort title	Wonder Woman
addcharcat1	All-American Publications characters }}

Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' #8 (December 1941). The ''Wonder Woman'' title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986.

Wonder Woman is a Princess of the Amazons (based on the Amazons of Greek mythology) and was created by Marston, an American, as a "distinctly feminist role model whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality to a world torn by the hatred of men." Known in her homeland as Diana of Themyscira, her powers include superhuman strength, flight, super-speed, super-stamina, and super-agility. She is highly proficient in hand-to-hand combat and in the art of tactical warfare. She also possesses an animal-like cunning and a natural rapport with animals, which has in the past been presented as an actual ability to communicate with the animal kingdom. She uses her Lasso of Truth, which forces those bound by it to tell the truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and, in some stories, an invisible airplane.

Created during World War II, the character was initially depicted fighting the Axis military forces, as well as an assortment of supervillains. In later decades, some writers maintained the World War II setting, with many of its themes and story arcs, while others updated the series to reflect the present day. Wonder Woman has also regularly appeared in comic books featuring the superhero teams Justice Society (from 1941) and Justice League (from 1960). Arguably the most popular and iconic female superhero in comics, Wonder Woman is also considered a feminist icon, and she is regarded as extremely physically attractive even by the standards of the superheroine. She was named the 20th greatest comic book character by ''Empire'' magazine.

In addition to the comics, the character has appeared in other media; most notably, the 1975–1979 ''Wonder Woman'' TV series starring Lynda Carter, as well as animated series such as the ''Super Friends'' and ''Justice League''. Although a number of attempts have been made to adapt the character to live-action film, none have yet emerged from "development hell." An animated film was released in 2009, with Keri Russell voicing the title role. In 2011, Adrianne Palicki starred in a failed pilot for a would-be series about the character.

In May of 2011, Wonder Woman placed fifth on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time.

Publication history

Creation

In an October 25, 1940 interview published in ''Family Circle'' titled "Don't Laugh at the Comics", William Moulton Marston described what he saw as the great educational potential of comic books. This article caught the attention of comics publisher Max Gaines, who hired Marston as an educational consultant for National Periodicals and All-American Publications, two of the companies that would merge to form DC Comics. At that time, Marston decided to develop a new superhero. ''Family Circle'' published a follow-up article two years later.

In the early 1940s, the DC line was dominated by superpowered male characters such as the Green Lantern, Batman and its flagship character, Superman. According to the Fall 2001 issue of the Boston University alumni magazine, it was Marston's wife Elizabeth's idea to create a female superhero:

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Marston introduced the idea to Gaines, co-founder of All-American Publications. Given the go-ahead, Marston developed ''Wonder Woman'' with Elizabeth, whom Marston believed to be a model of that era's unconventional, liberated woman. Marston was also inspired by Olive Byrne, who lived with the couple in a polygamous/polyamorous relationship. Both women served as exemplars for the character and greatly influenced the character's creation. Wonder Woman debuted in ''All Star Comics'' #8 (December 1941), scripted by Marston and with art by Harry G. Peter.

Marston was the creator of a systolic-blood-pressure-measuring apparatus, which was crucial to the development of the polygraph (lie detector). Marston's experience with polygraphs convinced him that women were more honest and reliable than men and could work more efficiently.

"Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world," Marston wrote. Although Gloria Steinem placed Wonder Woman on the first standalone cover of ''Ms.'' in 1972, Marston, writing in an earlier time, designed Wonder Woman to represent a particular form of female empowerment. Feminism argues that women are equal to men and should be treated as such; Marston's representative of femininity is a 6-foot-tall Amazon wielding a golden lasso that forces obedience on those it encircles. In Marston's mind, women not only held the potential to be as good as men but to be superior to men.

In a 1943 issue of ''The American Scholar'', Marston wrote:

During this period, Wonder Woman joined the Justice Society of America as the female member, albeit as the group's secretary, since the custom was that characters who had their own comic books would hold only honorary membership.

Evolution of the character

Initially, Wonder Woman was an Amazon champion who wins the right to return Steve Trevor — a United States intelligence officer whose plane had crashed on the Amazons' isolated island homeland — to "Man's World" and to fight crime and the evil of the Nazis.

During the Silver Age, Wonder Woman's origin was revamped, along with other characters'. The new origin story increased the character's Hellenic and mythological roots: receiving the blessing of each deity in her crib, Diana is destined to become "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury."

At the end of the 1960s, under the guidance of Mike Sekowsky, Wonder Woman surrendered her powers in order to remain in Man's World rather than accompany her fellow Amazons to another dimension. Becoming a mod boutique owner, the powerless Diana Prince acquired a Chinese mentor named I Ching. Under I Ching's guidance, Diana learned martial arts and weapons skills and engaged in adventures that encompassed a variety of genres, from espionage to mythology.

Because of the popularity of the ''Wonder Woman'' TV series, the character later returned to her superpowered roots in ''Justice League of America'' and to the World War II era in her own title.

Following the 1985 ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' series, George Pérez, Len Wein, and Greg Potter relaunched the character, writing Wonder Woman as an emissary and ambassador from Themyscira to Patriarch's World, charged with the mission of bringing peace to the outside world.

In August 2010 (issue #600), DC Comics replaced the character's iconic stars-and-stripes singlet with a blue jacket, red and gold top and dark pants, retaining only her tiara and lasso.

Powers and abilities

Pre-Crisis

Originally, Wonder Woman owed her abilities to the goddess Aphrodite creating Amazons superior to men, with Diana being the best of their kind.

The Golden Age Wonder Woman was later updated by Marston to be able to will a tremendous amount of brain energy into her muscles and limbs because of her Amazon training, endowing her with extraordinary strength and speed. According to her first appearance, she is stronger and more agile than a hundred of the best human athletes. In ''Sensation Comics'' #6 (June 1942), she is able to tear a steel door off its hinges. In one of her earliest appearances, she is shown running easily at 80 mph. In the same comic, she jumps from a building and lands on the balls of her feet. She can even type at a rate of over 160 words a minute during a test given to her. It was implied, and ultimately confirmed, that ''any'' woman who underwent Amazon training would gain superhuman strength. The TV series took up this notion, and in the first episode of ''Super Friends'', Diana states to Aquaman, "...the only thing that can surpass super strength is the power of the brain." In early ''Wonder Woman'' stories, Amazon training involves strengthening this ability using pure mental energy.

Her powers would be removed in accordance with "Aphrodite's Law" if she allowed herself to be bound or chained by a male. In the television series, her magic belt allowed her to retain her powers when she was not on Paradise Island; removing it weakened her.

With the inclusion of Wonder Girl and "Wonder Tot" in Diana's back-story, writers provided new explanations of her powers; the character became capable of feats which her sister Amazons could not equal. ''Wonder Woman'' (vol. 1) #105 reveals that Diana was formed from clay by the Queen of the Amazons and was imbued with the attributes of the Greek and Roman gods by Athena — "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Hermes, and stronger than Hercules." and Martian.

Depending on the writer, Diana's invulnerability and power varied greatly according to the needs of the story. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, Robert Kanigher, for example, portrayed Wonder Woman as being so strong that she, after standing atop her hovering plane and lassoing it with her magic lasso, was able to effortlessly lift Themyscira out of the way of an approaching tsunami using just one hand. She was able to make a coin into a bridge with her strength, or drill through a mountain within seconds, as well as hurl spaceships with enough accuracy she could bowl over a whole fleet. Her fingernails could cut through a steel door. She was even able to flip straight over while nearly paralyzed, and split a tree falling on her with her Amazonian boots. Kanigher showed Wonder Woman as a preteen able to lift whales, push a ship away from a whirlpool, and also as a toddler able to blow so hard on her birthday cake that she sent it into orbit.

In the Silver and Bronze ages of comics, Wonder Woman was able to further increase her strength. She was unable to remove her bracelets without going insane. In times of great need, however, she would do just that, in order to temporarily augment her power tenfold. Since she would become a threat to friend and foe alike, she would use Amazonian berserker rage only as a weapon of last resort.

Before ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' there were two Wonder Women: the first one lived on Earth-Two; the second, on Earth-One. The first canonical appearance of the Earth-One Wonder Woman is ''Wonder Woman'' (vol. 1) #80 (February 1956). Their first published meeting is ''Justice League of America'' (vol. 1) #100 (August 1972); however, their earliest meeting within the DC continuity is ''Wonder Woman'' (vol. 1) #228 (February 1977), which takes place in 1943, prior to the events of the ''Justice League of America'' story.

Post-Crisis

Wonder Woman's body is a mystical creation made from the clay surrounding Themyscira. Through divine means, her disembodied soul was nurtured in and retrieved from the Cavern of Souls. Once the soul was placed into the body, it immediately came to life and was blessed with metahuman abilities by six Olympian deities.

Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and fertility, blessed Diana with strength drawn from the Earth spirit Gaea, making her one of the physically strongest heroes in the DC Universe. She has been observed assisting in preventing large chunks of the Moon from crashing onto the Earth, supporting the weight of bridges, or hefting entire railroad trains. Although stated as at least somewhat physically weaker and slower than, for example, Power Girl, Diana's superior warrior training more than makes up for it, and through this along with strength drawn from the earth itself, she is able to overpower either Kara, or her counterpart Supergirl., and hold her own against beings such as Superman and Captain Marvel. Furthermore, unlike most of her contemporaries in Man's World, Diana is willing to use deadly force, which gives her more options to deal with opponents as circumstances dictate.

While not invulnerable, she is capable of withstanding great concussive force, shrugging off high-powered rifle fire with some pain but little injury, being knocked through a building, and even surviving a warp-core explosion. She is durable enough to survive the rigors of space until she runs out of breath. While her superhuman strength affords her great resistance to blunt-force trauma, her skin can be cut by weapons if they are sharp enough. Her muscles do not produce lactic acids, giving her great stamina. This allowed her to once battle a clone of Doomsday.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, blessed Diana with great beauty and a loving heart.

Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, granted Diana great wisdom, intelligence, and military prowess. Athena's gift has enabled Diana to master over a dozen languages (including those of alien origin), multiple complex crafts, sciences and philosophies, as well as leadership, military strategy, and armed and unarmed combat. She can mimic voices, although it is more difficult for her to mimic a man's voice. More recently, Athena bound her own eyesight to Diana's, granting her increased empathy.

Artemis, goddess of the hunt, animals, and the Moon, graced Diana with the Eyes of the Hunter and Unity with Beasts. The Eyes of the Hunter ability gives Diana a full range of enhanced senses, including enhanced sight and hearing. Unity with Beasts grants her the ability to communicate with all forms of animal life and to calm even the most ferocious of beasts.

Hestia, goddess of hearth and home, granted Diana "sisterhood with fire, that it might open men's hearts to her." This power has been shown to control the "Fires of Truth," which Diana wields through her lasso, making anyone bound by it unable to lie. This ability also grants her resistance to both normal and supernatural fire.

Hermes, the messenger god of speed, granted Diana superhuman speed and the ability to fly. By concentrating, Diana can mystically defy the laws of gravity and propel herself through the air to achieve flight. She is capable of flying at speeds approaching half the speed of light. She is swift enough to deflect bullets, lasers, and other projectiles with her virtually impenetrable bracelets. Her brain can process information at an incredibly fast rate.

Diana possesses the ability to relieve her body of physical injury and toxins by becoming one with the Earth's soil and then reforming her body whole again. During John Byrne's run, it was stated that this is a ritual so sacred that it is used only in the most dire of circumstances.

She is able to astrally project herself into various lands of myth. Her physical body reacts to whatever happens to her on the mythical astral plane, leaving her body cut, bruised, or sometimes strengthened once her mind and body are reunited. She can apparently leave the planet through meditation, and did this once to rescue Artemis while she was in hell.

Skills

All versions of Diana depict her as a masterful athlete, acrobat, fighter and strategist, trained and experienced in many ancient and modern forms of armed and unarmed combat, including exclusively Amazonian martial arts. In some versions, her mother trained her, as Wonder Girl, for a future career as Wonder Woman. From the beginning, she is portrayed as highly skilled in using her Amazon bracelets to stop bullets and in wielding her golden lasso. She is a superior warrior who has beaten Batman, Big Barda, and Black Canary in sparring matches. The modern version of the character differs from her compatriots in that she is willing to use deadly force when she deems it necessary.

Weapons

Diana has an arsenal of powerful god-forged weapons at her disposal, but her signature weapons are her indestructible bracelets and the Lasso of Truth.

Her bulletproof bracelets were formed from the remnants of Athena's legendary shield, the Aegis, to be awarded to her champion. The shield was made from the indestructible hide of the great she-goat, Amalthea, who suckled Zeus as an infant. These forearm guards have thus far proven indestructible and able to absorb the impact of incoming attacks, allowing Wonder Woman to deflect automatic weapon fire and energy blasts. Diana can also slam the bracelets together to create a wave of concussive force capable of making Superman's ears bleed.

The Lasso of Truth, or Lariat of Hestia, was forged by Hephaestus from the golden girdle of Gaea. It is virtually indestructible; the only times it has been broken were when truth itself was challenged, such as when she confronted Rama Khan of Jarhanpur, and by Bizarro in Matt Wagner's non-canonical ''Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity''. In ''Sensation Comics'' #6 (June 1942), Hippolyta claims that not even Hercules can break it. The Lasso burns with a magical aura called the Fires of Hestia, forcing anyone within the Lasso's confines to be truthful. It also at one time had the power to force anyone caught to obey any command given them, even overriding other kinds of mind control; this was effective enough to defeat strong-willed beings like Captain Marvel. Diana wields the lasso with great precision and accuracy and can use it as a whip or noose.

As early as the 1950s, Wonder Woman's Golden Tiara has also doubled as a dagger and a throwing weapon, returning to her like a boomerang. Its sharpness and mystical nature proved enough to cut even Superman.

In other media

Video games

Wonder Woman is a playable character in the 1995 game ''Justice League: Task Force'' for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis; the 2006 game ''Justice League Heroes'' for the PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox, and Nintendo DS; and the 2008 game ''Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe'' for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Wonder Woman is also playable in the Game Boy Advance games ''Justice League: Injustice for All'' (2002) and ''Justice League: Chronicles'' (2003), both based on the Justice League animated series, while she appears as a summonable "striker" character in ''Justice League Heroes: The Flash'' for the Game Boy Advance. Wonder Woman appears as a non-playable character in the MMO ''DC Universe Online'', for the PlayStation 3 and PC.

Books

Wonder Woman has appeared in many books. In their Archive Editions line, DC reprinted the complete run of ''All-Star Comics'' from the 1940s. The series comprises 12 volumes. Wonder Woman is featured beginning in the third volume, #2. (The first volume was numbered "0".) (See the Collected editions section below.)

The character has been written about in such titles as ''Seduction of the Innocent'' by Frederic Wertham, ''The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia'' by Phil Jimenez, and ''Wonder Woman: Amazon. Hero. Icon.'' by Bob Greenberger. Wonder Woman has also been referred to in ''StarForce'' and ''Star Log'' magazines, and in Terry Moore's series ''Strangers in Paradise''.

TV series

An ABC television series called ''The New Original Wonder Woman'', which later moved to CBS as ''The New Adventures of Wonder Woman'', starred Lynda Carter in the title role and aired for three seasons from 1975–1979. The costume was designed by Hollywood designer Donfeld. Some of the early episodes were broadcast in 1975 as specials before the TV show became a weekly series in 1976.

A made-for-television movie called ''Wonder Woman'' was written and produced by John D. F. Black in 1974, a year before Carter popularized the role, and featured a Wonder Woman-''type'' heroine played by the blonde Cathy Lee Crosby. This Wonder Woman, however, had no super-human powers; her approach was closer to that of James Bond and Modesty Blaise, and she did not resemble the dark-haired amazon people identify as Wonder Woman. The TV movie fared well in the ratings, but the ABC television network decided to give Douglas S. Cramer permission to pursue his approach. He did so through Warner Brothers Television, which had become DC Comics's parent company and full owner; this included full ownership of the Wonder Woman copyright. Cramer's more closely resembled the comic-book version, and it resulted in Carter winning the lead role in the subsequent weekly series, which became a ratings success. Crosby's incarnation of Wonder Woman has a one-panel cameo in the comic book ''Infinite Crisis'' #6 (May 2006) as part of an alternate Earth.

Animated film

A direct-to-video animated film adaptation of Wonder Woman was released on March 3, 2009, on DVD and Blu-ray Disc as part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series produced by DC Comics animation veteran Bruce Timm and released by Warner Bros. The film stars Keri Russell as Wonder Woman and is directed by Lauren Montgomery. It features Russell's ''Waitress'' costar, Nathan Fillion, as Steve Trevor, as well as Alfred Molina, Rosario Dawson, and Virginia Madsen. The DVD sold 102,890 copies in its first week, ranking number 5 on the DVD sales chart in America.

Undeveloped projects

Announced television projects

In 1990, ''Comics Scene'' magazine announced a new syndicated Wonder Woman series to be produced and distributed by Warner Bros. In a letter column in ''Wonder Woman'' (vol. 2) #41, then-editor Karen Berger responded to a reader inquiry by saying that a pilot had been approved. However, no pilot was produced.

In the late 1990s, a new Wonder Woman project was announced for television. The 1990s success of ''Xena: Warrior Princess'' prompted interest in another live action Wonder Woman series, given the similarities between the two characters. For this fourth attempt, Deborah Joy LeVine was tasked with writing the premise and pilot. LeVine had created the moderately popular ''Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. The basic premise had Diana living in modern-day Los Angeles, where she worked as a professor of Greek mythology at a local college. This series advanced far enough that some casting calls were initially made. Ultimately, the project never moved beyond these early stages and a pilot was never produced.

Live-action film

In January 2001, producer Joel Silver approached Todd Alcott to write a ''Wonder Woman'' screenplay, with Silver Pictures backing the project. Early gossip linked actresses such as Angelina Jolie, Beyoncé Knowles, Sandra Bullock, Rachel Bilson, Nadia Bjorlin, and Catherine Zeta-Jones to the role of Wonder Woman. Leonard Goldberg, speaking in a May 2001 interview, named Bullock as a strong candidate for the project. Bullock claimed that she was approached for the role, while wrestler Chyna expressed interest. Lucy Lawless, who had turned down the role in the past, indicated that she would have been more interested if Wonder Woman were portrayed as a "flawed hero." The screenplay went through various drafts written by Alcott, Jon Cohen, Becky Johnston, and Philip Levens. By August 2003, Levens was replaced by screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis.

{{epigraph |quote=Besides [Wonder Woman's] great origin story, there's nothing from the comics that felt right 100 percent, no iconic canon story that must be told. Batman has it made — he's got the greatest rogues gallery ever, he's got Gotham City. The Bat writes himself. With Wonder Woman, you're writing from whole cloth, but trying to make it feel like you didn't. To make it feel like it's existed for 60 years, even though you're making it up as you go along. But who she, and what the movie, is about, thematically, has never been a problem for me. But the steps along the way, it could be so easy for them to feel wrong. I won't settle. She wouldn't let me settle. |cite=Joss Whedon in November 2006, explaining the delay in developing a proper script. }}

In March 2005, Warner Bros. and Silver Pictures announced that Joss Whedon would write and direct the film adaptation of ''Wonder Woman''. Whedon's salary was reported to be $2 to $3 million. Since Whedon was directing ''Serenity'' at the time and required time to research Wonder Woman's background, he did not begin the screenplay until late 2005. According to Joel Silver, the script would cover Wonder Woman's origin and include Steve Trevor: "Trevor crashes on the island and they go back to Man's World." Silver wanted to film ''Wonder Woman'' in Australia once the script was completed. While Whedon stated in May 2005 that he would not cast Wonder Woman until he finished the script, Charisma Carpenter and Morena Baccarin expressed interest in the role.

After nearly two years as script-writer, Whedon had not managed to write a finished draft. "It was in an outline, and not in a draft, and they [studio executives] didn't like it. So I never got to write a draft where I got to work out exactly what I wanted to do." In February 2007, Whedon departed from the project, citing script differences with the studio. Whedon reiterated: "I never had an actress picked out, or even a consistent front-runner. I didn't have time to waste on casting when I was so busy air balling on the script." Whedon stated that with the ''Wonder Woman'' project left behind, he would focus on making his film ''Goners'', but said, "I would go back in a heartbeat if I believed that anybody believed in what I was doing. The lack of enthusiasm was overwhelming."

A day before Whedon's departure from ''Wonder Woman'', Warner Bros. and Silver Pictures purchased a spec script written by Matthew Jennison and Brent Strickland. Set during World War II, the script impressed executives at Silver Pictures. However, Silver has stated that he purchased the script because he did not want the rights reverting; while the script has good ideas, Silver does not want the ''Wonder Woman'' film to be a period piece. By April 2008, Silver had hired Jennison and Strickland to write a new script set in contemporary times that would not depict Wonder Woman's origin, but explore Paradise Island's history.

Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO spoke about ''Wonder Woman'' in 2010, saying that a film is currently in development, along with films based on her counterparts The Flash and Aquaman. Nicolas Winding Refn has expressed interest in directing the film.

According to FoxNews.com, Warner Bros. is indeed developing a film which is slated for release in 2013, and according to Warner Bros., the villain of the film will be an entirely new one. ''X-Men'' producer Lauren Shuler Donner told Scifiwire.com that she is campaigning to produce the ''Wonder Woman'' film. ''Batman Begins'' and ''The Dark Knight'' writer David S. Goyer is rumored to be involved with the film as a director or a writer.

Justice League film

A film about the superhero team the Justice League was slated for a 2009 release before being put on indefinite hiatus in April 2008. It was based upon the DC Comics publication ''Justice League'', which has included a number of superheroes at various times, Wonder Woman among them. Producer Joel Silver said in 2007 that that due to the impending release of ''Justice League'', the Wonder Woman film would be placed on moratorium.

Jessica Biel was approached for the role of Wonder Woman in the ''Justice League'' film but declined it, while Missy Peregrym, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Teresa Palmer, Shannyn Sossamon, Beyoncé Knowles, and Christina Milian expressed interest. Eventually, Australian supermodel Megan Gale was cast. In early January 2008, production of the film was delayed because of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. When asked whether the film would still affect the solo ''Wonder Woman'' movie in April 2008, Silver said it would not, because the ''Justice League'' film had been put on indefinite hold. In August 2008, however, director George Miller and actress Megan Gale confirmed that the film was still on, with a plan to resume filming in 2009. In an article in ''The Wall Street Journal'', Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov expressed studio interest in the production of a Justice League film but confirmed that the project that had been in development had been shelved.

Collected editions

! Title !! Material collected !! ISBN
Wonder Woman Chronicles, Vol. 1	''All Star Comics'' #8, ''Sensation Comics'' #1–9, ''Wonder Woman'' #1
Wonder Woman Archive Edition, Vol. 1	''All Star Comics'' #8, ''Sensation Comics'' #1–12, ''Wonder Woman'' #1
Wonder Woman Archive Edition, Vol. 2	''Sensation Comics'' #13–17, ''Wonder Woman'' #2–4
Wonder Woman Archive Edition, Vol. 3	''Sensation Comics'' #18–24, ''Wonder Woman'' #5–7
Wonder Woman Archive Edition, Vol. 4	''Sensation Comics'' #25–32, ''Wonder Woman'' #8–9
Wonder Woman Archive Edition, Vol. 5	''Sensation Comics'' #33–40, ''Wonder Woman'' #10–12
Wonder Woman Archive Edition, Vol. 6	''Sensation Comics'' #41–48, ''Wonder Woman'' #13–15
Showcase Presents Wonder Woman, Vol. 1	''Wonder Woman'' #98–117
Showcase Presents Wonder Woman, Vol. 2	''Wonder Woman'' #118–137
Showcase Presents Wonder Woman, Vol. 3	''Wonder Woman'' #138–156
Diana Prince: Wonder Woman, Vol. 1	''Wonder Woman'' #178–184, ''Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane'' #93
Diana Prince: Wonder Woman, Vol. 2	''Wonder Woman'' #185–189, ''Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane'' #93, ''The Brave and the Bold'' #87
Diana Prince: Wonder Woman, Vol. 3	''Wonder Woman'' #190–198, ''World's Finest'' #204
Diana Prince: Wonder Woman, Vol. 4	''Wonder Woman'' #199–204, ''The Brave and the Bold'' #105
Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Gods and Mortals	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #1–7
Wonder Woman, Vol. 2: Challenge of the Gods	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #7–14
Wonder Woman, Vol. 3: Beauty and the Beasts	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #15–19, ''Action Comics'' #600
Wonder Woman, Vol. 4: Destiny Calling	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #20–24, ''Annual'' #1
Wonder Woman: The Contest	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #0, #90–93
Wonder Woman: The Challenge of Artemis	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #94–100
Wonder Woman: Second Genesis	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #101–105
Wonder Woman: Lifelines	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #106–112
Wonder Woman: Paradise Lost	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #164–170, ''Secret Files'' #2
Wonder Woman: Paradise Found	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #171–177, ''Secret Files'' #3
Wonder Woman: Down to Earth	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #195–200
Wonder Woman: Bitter Rivals	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #201–205
Wonder Woman: Eyes of Gorgon	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #206–213
Wonder Woman: Land of the Dead	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #214–217, ''The Flash'' #219
Wonder Woman: Mission's End	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 2, #218–226
Wonder Woman: Who is Wonder Woman?	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 3, #1–4, ''Annual'' #1
Wonder Woman: Love and Murder	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 3, #6–10
Wonder Woman: Amazons Attack!	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 3, #11-13
Wonder Woman: The Circle	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 3, #14–19
Wonder Woman: Ends of the Earth	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 3, #20–25
Wonder Woman: Rise of the Olympian	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 3, #26–33
Wonder Woman: Warkiller	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 3, #34–39
Wonder Woman: Contagion	''Wonder Woman'' vol. 3, #40–44

Merchandise

On January 28, 2011, Warner Bros. Consumer Products announced that DC Comics's iconic heroine Wonder Woman will team up with MAC Cosmetics to create a Wonder Woman makeup collection that will be available in MAC stores in the spring of 2011. The collection includes blush, eye shadow, eyeliner, lip gloss, lipstick, mascara, mineral powder and nail polish.

See also

Alternative versions of Wonder Woman for ''Elseworlds'' and other characters to bear the title

Amazons (DC Comics)

Darna

Diana Prince

List of Wonder Woman enemies

List of Wonder Woman supporting characters

Orana (DC comics)

Portrayal of women in comics

List of female action heroes

Woman warrior

Wonder Woman in literature

References

External links

Wonder Woman Official website at DC Comics.com

Origin story of Wonder Woman at DC Comics.com

Carol A. Strickland's Wonder Woman site

AmazonArchives.com

Wonder of Wonders

Wonder Woman Wiki

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da:Wonder Woman de:Wonder Woman es:Mujer Maravilla fa:زن شگفت‌انگیز fr:Wonder Woman ko:원더 우먼 it:Wonder Woman he:וונדר וומן la:Mulier Mirabilis hu:Wonder Woman nl:Wonder Woman pl:Wonder Woman pt:Mulher-Maravilha ru:Чудо-женщина simple:Wonder Woman sh:Wonder Woman fi:Ihmenainen sv:Wonder Woman tl:Wonder Woman th:วันเดอร์วูแมน tr:Wonder Woman uk:Диво Жінка zh:神奇女俠

Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
name	Imran Khan Niazi
birth date	November 25, 1952
birth place	Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
party	Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
spouse	Jemima Khan (1995 - 2004)
children	2 (Sulaiman Isa and Kasim)
residence	Lahore
occupation	Politician, philanthropist
religion	Islam
website	http://www.insaf.pk/ }}

playername	Imran Khan
country	Pakistan
fullname	Imran Khan Niazi
living	true
dayofbirth	25
monthofbirth	11
yearofbirth	1952
placeofbirth	Lahore, Punjab
countryofbirth	Pakistan
batting	Right-handed
bowling	Right-arm fast
role	All-rounder
international	true
testdebutdate	3 June
testdebutyear	1971
testdebutagainst	England
testcap	65
lasttestdate	7 January
lasttestyear	1992
lasttestagainst	Sri Lanka
odidebutdate	31 August
odidebutyear	1974
odidebutagainst	England
odicap	12
lastodidate	25 March
lastodiyear	1992
lastodiagainst	England
club1	Sussex
year1	1977 – 1988
club2	New South Wales
year2	1984/85
club3	PIA
year3	1975 – 1981
club4	Worcestershire
year4	1971 – 1976
club5	Oxford University
year5	1973 – 1975
club6	Lahore
year6	1969 – 1971
columns	4
column1	Test
matches1	88
runs1	3807
bat avg1	37.69
100s/50s1	6/18
top score1	136
deliveries1	19458
wickets1	362
bowl avg1	22.81
fivefor1	23
tenfor1	6
best bowling1	8/58
catches/stumpings1	28/–
column2	ODI
matches2	175
runs2	3709
bat avg2	33.41
100s/50s2	1/19
top score2	102*
deliveries2	7461
wickets2	182
bowl avg2	26.61
fivefor2	1
tenfor2	n/a
best bowling2	6/14
catches/stumpings2	36/–
column3	FC
matches3	382
runs3	17771
bat avg3	36.79
100s/50s3	30/93
top score3	170
deliveries3	65224
wickets3	1287
bowl avg3	22.32
fivefor3	70
tenfor3	13
best bowling3	8/34
catches/stumpings3	117/–
column4	LA
matches4	425
runs4	10100
bat avg4	33.22
100s/50s4	5/66
top score4	114*
deliveries4	19122
wickets4	507
bowl avg4	22.31
fivefor4	6
tenfor4	n/a
best bowling4	6/14
catches/stumpings4	84/–
date	26 June
year	2008
source	http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/1/1383/1383.html CricketArchive }}

Imran Khan Niazi (Punjabi, Pashto, }}) (born 25 November 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Pakistani cricketer, playing international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century and being a politician since the mid-1990s. Currently, besides his political activism, Khan is also a philanthropist, cricket commentator and Chancellor of the University of Bradford.

Khan played for the Pakistani cricket team from 1971 to 1992 and served as its captain intermittently throughout 1982-1992. After retiring from cricket at the end of the 1987 World Cup, he was called back to join the team in 1988. At 39, Khan led his teammates to Pakistan's first and only World Cup victory in 1992. He has a record of 3807 runs and 362 wickets in Test cricket, making him one of eight world cricketers to have achieved an 'All-rounder's Triple' in Test matches. On 14 July 2010, Khan was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

In April 1996, Khan founded and became the chairman of a political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice). He represented Mianwali as a member of the National Assembly from November 2002 to October 2007. Khan, through worldwide fundraising, helped establish the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre in 1996 and Mianwali's Namal College in 2008.

Family, education, and personal life

Imran Khan was born to Shaukat Khanum (Burki) and Ikramullah Khan Niazi, a civil engineer, in Lahore. A quiet and shy boy in his youth, Khan grew up in a middle-class Niazi Pathan family with four sisters. Settled in Punjab, Khan's father descended from the Pashtun (Pathan) Niazi Shermankhel tribe of Mianwali in Punjab. Imran's Mother Shaukat Khanum (Burki's) family includes successful hockey players and cricketers such as Javed Burki and Majid Khan. Khan was educated at Aitchison College, the Cathedral School in Lahore, and the Royal Grammar School Worcester in England, where he excelled at cricket. In 1972, he enrolled to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Keble College, Oxford, where he graduated with a second-class degree in Politics and a third in Economics.

Marriage to Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith

On 16 May 1995, Khan married English socialite Jemima Goldsmith, a convert to Islam, in an Islamic ceremony in Paris. A month later, on 21 June, they were married again in a civil ceremony at the Richmond register office in England, followed by a reception at the Goldsmiths' house in Surrey. The marriage, described as "tough" by Khan, produced two sons, Sulaiman Isa (born 18 November 1996) and Kasim (born 10 April 1999). As an agreement of his marriage, Khan spent four months a year in England. On 22 June 2004, it was announced that the Khans had divorced because it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan" .The marriage ended amicably. Imran has regular access to his children and his relationship with his ex-wife is friendly. Khan now resides in Bani Gala, Islamabad, where he built a farmhouse with the money he gained from selling his London flat. He grows fruit trees, wheat, and keeps cows, while also maintaining a cricket ground for his two sons, who visit during their holidays.

Cricket career

Khan made a lacklustre first-class cricket debut at the age of sixteen in Lahore. By the start of the 1970s, he was playing for his home teams of Lahore A (1969–70), Lahore B (1969–70), Lahore Greens (1970–71) and, eventually, Lahore (1970–71). Khan was part of Oxford University's Blues Cricket team during the 1973-75 seasons. At Worcestershire, where he played county cricket from 1971 to 1976, he was regarded as only an average medium pace bowler. During this decade, other teams represented by Khan include Dawood Industries (1975–76) and Pakistan International Airlines (1975–76 to 1980-81). From 1983 to 1988, he played for Sussex.

In 1971, Khan made his Test cricket debut against England at Birmingham. Three years later, he debuted in the One Day International (ODI) match, once again playing against England at Nottingham for the Prudential Trophy. After graduating from Oxford and finishing his tenure at Worcestershire, he returned to Pakistan in 1976 and secured a permanent place on his native national team starting from the 1976-77 season, during which they faced New Zealand and Australia. Following the Australian series, he toured the West Indies, where he met Tony Greig, who signed him up for Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. His credentials as one of the fastest bowlers of the world started to establish when he finished third at 139.7 km/h in a fast bowling contest at Perth in 1978, behind Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding, but ahead of Dennis Lillee, Garth Le Roux and Andy Roberts.

As a fast bowler, Khan reached the peak of his powers in 1982. In 9 Tests, he got 62 wickets at 13.29 each, the lowest average of any bowler in Test history with at least 50 wickets in a calendar year. In January 1983, playing against India, he attained a Test bowling rating of 922 points. Although calculated retrospectively (ICC player ratings did not exist at the time), Khan's form and performance during this period ranks third in the ICC's All-Time Test Bowling Rankings.

Khan achieved the all-rounder's triple (securing 3000 runs and 300 wickets) in 75 Tests, the second fastest record behind Ian Botham's 72. He is also established as having the second highest all-time batting average of 61.86 for a Test batsman playing at position 6 of the batting order. He played his last Test match for Pakistan in January 1992, against Sri Lanka at Faisalabad. Khan retired permanently from cricket six months after his last ODI, the historic 1992 World Cup final against England at Melbourne, Australia. He ended his career with 88 Test matches, 126 innings and scored 3807 runs at an average of 37.69, including six centuries and 18 fifties. His highest score was 136 runs. As a bowler, he took 362 wickets in Test cricket, which made him the first Pakistani and world's fourth bowler to do so. In ODIs, he played 175 matches and scored 3709 runs at an average of 33.41. His highest score remains 102 not out. His best ODI bowling is documented at 6 wickets for 14 runs.

Captaincy

At the height of his career, in 1982, the thirty-year old Khan took over the captaincy of the Pakistani cricket team from Javed Miandad. Recalling his initial discomfort with this new role, he later said, "When I became the cricket captain, I couldn’t speak to the team directly I was so shy. I had to tell the manager, I said listen can you talk to them, this is what I want to convey to the team. I mean early team meetings I use to be so shy and embarrassed I couldn’t talk to the team." As a captain, Khan played 48 Test matches, out of which 14 were won by Pakistan, 8 lost and the rest of 26 were drawn. He also played 139 ODIs, winning 77, losing 57 and ending one in a tie.

In the team's second match under his leadership, Khan led them to their first Test win on English soil for 28 years at Lord's. Khan's first year as captain was the peak of his legacy as a fast bowler as well as an all-rounder. He recorded the best Test bowling of his career while taking 8 wickets for 58 runs against Sri Lanka at Lahore in 1981-82. He also topped both the bowling and batting averages against England in three Test series in 1982, taking 21 wickets and averaging 56 with the bat. Later the same year, he put up a highly acknowledged performance in a home series against the formidable Indian team by taking 40 wickets in six Tests at an average of 13.95. By the end of this series in 1982-83, Khan had taken 88 wickets in 13 Test matches over a period of one year as captain.

This same Test series against India, however, also resulted in a stress fracture in his shin that kept him out of cricket for more than two years. An experimental treatment funded by the Pakistani government helped him recover by the end of 1984 and he made a successful comeback to international cricket in the latter part of the 1984-85 season.

In 1987, Khan led Pakistan to its first ever Test series win in India, which was followed by Pakistan's first series victory in England the same year. During the 1980s, his team also recorded three creditable draws against the West Indies. India and Pakistan co-hosted the 1987 World Cup, but neither ventured beyond the semi-finals. Khan retired from international cricket at the end of the World Cup. In 1988, he was asked to return to the captaincy by the President Of Pakistan, General Zia-Ul-Haq, and on 18 January, he announced his decision to rejoin the team. Soon after returning to the captaincy, Khan led Pakistan to another winning tour in the West Indies, which he has recounted as "the last time I really bowled well". He was declared Man of the Series against West Indies in 1988 when he took 23 wickets in 3 tests.

Khan's career-high as a captain and cricketer came when he led Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Playing with a brittle batting line-up, Khan promoted himself as a batsman to play in the top order along with Javed Miandad, but his contribution as a bowler was minimal. At the age of 39, Khan scored the highest runs of all the Pakistani batsmen and took the winning last wicket himself.

Post-retirement

In 1994, Khan had admitted that, during Test matches, he "occasionally scratched the side of the ball and lifted the seam." He had also added, "Only once did I use an object. When Sussex were playing Hampshire in 1981 the ball was not deviating at all. I got the 12th man to bring out a bottle top and it started to move around a lot." In 1996, Khan successfully defended himself in a libel action brought forth by former English captain and all-rounder Ian Botham and batsman Allan Lamb over comments they alleged were made by Khan in two articles about the above-mentioned ball-tampering and another article published in an Indian magazine, ''India Today''. They claimed that, in the latter publication, Khan had called the two cricketers "racist, ill-educated and lacking in class." Khan protested that he had been misquoted, saying that he was defending himself after having admitted that he tampered with a ball in a county match 18 years ago. Khan won the libel case, which the judge labelled a "complete exercise in futility", with a 10-2 majority decision by the jury.

Since retiring, Khan has written opinion pieces on cricket for various British and Asian newspapers, especially regarding the Pakistani national team. His contributions have been published in India's ''Outlook'' magazine, the ''Guardian'', the ''Independent'', and the ''Telegraph''. Khan also sometimes appears as a cricket commentator on Asian and British sports networks, including BBC Urdu and the Star TV network. In 2004, when the Indian cricket team toured Pakistan after 14 years, he was a commentator on TEN Sports' special live show, Straight Drive, while he was also a columnist for sify.com for the 2005 India-Pakistan Test series. He has provided analysis for every cricket World Cup since 1992, which includes providing match summaries for BBC during the 1999 World Cup.

In November 2009 Khan underwent emergency surgery at Lahore's Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital to remove an obstruction in his small intestine.

Social work

For more than four years after retiring from cricket in 1992, Khan focused his efforts solely on social work. By 1991, he had founded the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, a charity organisation bearing the name of his mother, Mrs. Shaukat Khanum. As the Trust's maiden endeavour, Khan established Pakistan's first and only cancer hospital, constructed using donations and funds exceeding $25 million, raised by Khan from all over the world. Inspired by the memory of his mother, who died of cancer, the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, a charitable cancer hospital with 75 percent free care, opened in Lahore on 29 December 1994. Khan currently serves as the chairman of the hospital and continues to raise funds through charity and public donations. Princess of Wales Lady Diana also visited Lahore in 1996 in order to raise funds for the Cancer hospital.

During the 1990s, Khan also served as UNICEF's Special Representative for Sports and promoted health and immunisation programmes in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

On 27 April 2008, Khan's brainchild, a technical college in the Mianwali District called Namal College, was inaugurated. Namal College was built by the Mianwali Development Trust (MDT), as chaired by Khan, and was made an associate college of the University of Bradford (of which Khan is Chancellor) in December 2005. Currently, Khan is building another cancer hospital in Karachi, using his successful Lahore institution as a model. While in London, he also works with the Lord’s Taverners, a cricket charity.

Political work

Khan entered electoral politics after few years after the end of his professional cricketing career. Since then, his most significant political work has been to bring awareness towards the lack of justice in Pakistan. This movement to bring justice was coupled with awareness in media and harassment of judiciary by President Pervez Musharaf. The public, with the help of lawyers, NGOs and other major political parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, fought a battle on the roads, getting judiciary eventually restored in its much improved (impartial)form . Initially, Imran Khan's politics were not taken seriously in Pakistan. However, his popularity has sharply risen, especially among women and the youth of Pakistan, after the repeated bad governance by the government and interference by US. Recently, Imran Khan has been the only politician who has responded to terrorism allegations on Pakistan. While Khan is viewed as a fundamentalist by some political circles, he has suggested solutions for helping US and NATO forces to fight terrorism while at the same time, not creating more terrorists in Pakistan. Imran Khan is sometimes viewed as a stubborn politician who does not involve others in decision making. However, Imran Khan has openly denied this allegation and claimed that the level of democracy in the executive committee meeting of his party (PTI) is unmatched by any other political party in Pakistan. While many people seem hopeless about Imran's political victory in Pakistan, he has known to someone possessing high level of determination and perseverance, as demonstrated by his cricket and philanthropic career. His political popularity is rising quickly in Pakistan and although the party has only one seat in 2002 elections and kept out of elections in 2008, resulting in no representation in Parliament, Imran Khan is considered as the one of the four major political leaders in Pakistan, especially by mainstream media (others being Asif Ali Zardari, Nawaz Sharif and Altaf Hussain).

On 25 April 1996, Khan founded his own political party called the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) with a proposed slogan of "Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem." Khan, who contested from 7 districts, and members of his party were universally defeated at the polls in the 1997 general elections. Khan supported General Pervez Musharraf's military coup in 1999, but denounced his presidency a few months before the 2002 general elections. Many political commentators and his opponents termed Khan's change in opinion an opportunistic move. "I regret supporting the referendum. I was made to understand that when he won, the general would begin a clean-up of the corrupt in the system. But really it wasn't the case," he later explained. During the 2002 election season, he also voiced his opposition to Pakistan's logistical support of US troops in Afghanistan by claiming that their country had become a "servant of America." PTI won 0.8% of the popular vote and one out of 272 open seats on the 20 October 2002 legislative elections. Khan, who was elected from the NA-71 constituency of Mianwali, was sworn in as an MP on 16 November.. As an MP, he was part of the Standing Committees on Kashmir and Public Accounts, and expressed legislative interest in Foreign Affairs, Education and Justice.

On 6 May 2005, Khan became one of the first Muslim figures to criticise a 300-word ''Newsweek'' story about the alleged desecration of the Qur'an in a U.S. military prison at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Khan held a press conference to denounce the article and demanded that Gen. Pervez Musharraf secure an apology from American president George W. Bush for the incident. In 2006, he exclaimed, "Musharraf is sitting here, and he licks George Bush’s shoes!" Criticizing Muslim leaders supportive of the Bush administration, he added, "They are the puppets sitting on the Muslim world. We want a sovereign Pakistan. We do not want a president to be a poodle of George Bush." During George W. Bush's visit to Pakistan in March 2006, Khan was placed under house arrest in Islamabad after his threats of organising a protest. In June 2007, the federal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr. Sher Afghan Khan Niazi and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party filed separate ineligibility references against Khan, asking for his disqualification as member of the National Assembly on grounds of immorality. Both references, filed on the basis of articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan, were rejected on 5 September.

On 2 October 2007, as part of the All Parties Democratic Movement, Khan joined 85 other MPs to resign from Parliament in protest of the Presidential election scheduled for 6 October, which General Musharraf was contesting without resigning as army chief. On 3 November 2007, Khan was put under house arrest at his father's home hours after President Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan. Khan had demanded the death penalty for Musharraf after the imposition of emergency rule, which he equated to "committing treason". The next day, on 4 November, Khan escaped and went into peripatetic hiding. He eventually came out of hiding on 14 November to join a student protest at the University of the Punjab. At the rally, Khan was captured by students from the Jamaat-i-Islami political party, who claimed that Khan was an uninvited nuisance at the rally, and they handed him over to the police, who charged him under the Anti-terrorism act for allegedly inciting people to pick up arms, calling for civil disobedience, and for spreading hatred. Incarcerated in the Dera Ghazi Khan Jail, Khan's relatives had access to him and were able to meet him to deliver goods during his week-long stay in jail. On 19 November, Khan let out the word through PTI members and his family that he had begun a hunger strike but the Deputy Superintendent of Dera Ghazi Khan Jail denied this news, saying that Khan had bread, eggs and fruit for breakfast. Khan was one of the 3,000 political prisoners released from imprisonment on 21 November 2007.

His party boycotted the national elections on 18 February 2008 and hence, no member of PTI has served in Parliament since Khan's resignation in 2007. Despite no longer being a member of Parliament, Khan was placed under house arrest in the crackdown by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari of anti-government protests on 15 March 2009.

In April 2011, Khan lead protests over the drone attacks in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan. He and his protesters stayed on the streets overnight to show solidarity with the victims of these drone attacks by the US Military.

Ideology

Khan's proclaimed political platform and declarations include: Islamic values, to which he rededicated himself in the 1990s; liberal economics, with the promise of deregulating the economy and creating a welfare state; decreased bureaucracy and anti-corruption laws, to create and ensure a clean government; the establishment of an independent judiciary; overhaul of the country's police system; and an anti-militant vision for a democratic Pakistan.

Khan has credited his decision to enter politics with a spiritual awakening,"I never drank or smoked, but I used to do my share of partying. In my spiritual evolution there was a block," he explained to the American ''Washington Post''. As an MP, Khan sometimes voted with a bloc of hard-line religious parties such as the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, whose leader, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, he supported for prime minister over Musharraf's candidate in 2002. On religion in Pakistan, Khan has said that, "As time passes by, religious thought has to evolve, but it is not evolving, it is reacting against Western culture and often has nothing to do with faith or religion."

Khan told Britain's ''Daily Telegraph'', "I want Pakistan to be a welfare state and a genuine democracy with a rule of law and an independent judiciary." Other ideas he has presented include a requirement of all students to spend a year after graduation teaching in the countryside and cutting down the over-staffed bureaucracy in order to send them to teach too. "We need decentralisation, empowering people at the grass roots," he has said. In June 2007, Khan publicly deplored Britain for knighting Indian-born author Salman Rushdie. He said, "Western civilisation should have been mindful of the injury the writer had caused to the Muslim community by writing his highly controversial book, ''The Satanic Verses''."

Criticism

During the 1970s and 1980s, Khan became known as a socialite due to his "non-stop partying" at London nightclubs such as Annabel's and Tramp. though he claims to have hated English pubs and never drank alcohol. He also gained notoriety in London gossip columns for romancing young debutantes such as Susannah Constantine, Lady Liza Campbell and the artist Emma Sergeant.

Khan is often dismissed as a political lightweight and a celebrity outsider in Pakistan, where national newspapers also refer to him as a "spoiler politician". Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a political party with its voting stronghold in Karachi, has asserted that Khan is "a sick person who has been a total failure in politics and is alive just because of the media coverage". The Political observers say the crowds he draws are attracted by his cricketing celebrity, and the public has been reported to view him as a figure of entertainment rather than a serious political authority.

''The Guardian'' newspaper in England described Khan as a "miserable politician," observing that, "Khan's ideas and affiliations since entering politics in 1996 have swerved and skidded like a rickshaw in a rainshower... He preaches democracy one day but gives a vote to reactionary mullahs the next." The charge constantly raised against Khan is that of hypocrisy and opportunism, including what has been called his life's "playboy to puritan U-turn." One of Pakistan's most controversial political commentators, Najam Sethi, stated that, "A lot of the Imran Khan story is about backtracking on a lot of things he said earlier, which is why this doesn’t inspire people." Khan's political flip-flops consist of his vocal criticism of President Musharraf after having supported his military takeover in 1999. Similarly, Khan has been a critic of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif when Sharif was in power, having said at the time: "Our current prime minister has a fascist mind-set, and members of parliament cannot go against the ruling party. We think that every day he stays in power, the country is sinking more into anarchy.". In a column entitled "Will the Real Imran Please Stand Up," Pakistani columnist Amir Zia quoted one of PTI's Karachi-based leaders as saying, "Even we are finding it difficult to figure out the real Imran. He dons the shalwar-kameez and preaches desi and religious values while in Pakistan, but transforms himself completely while rubbing shoulders with the elite in Britain and elsewhere in the west."

In 2008, as part of the Hall of Shame awards for 2007, Pakistan's ''Newsline'' magazine gave Khan the "Paris Hilton award for being the most undeserving media darling." The 'citation' for Khan read: "He is the leader of a party that is the proud holder of one National Assembly seat (and) gets media coverage inversely proportional to his political influence." ''The Guardian'' has described the coverage garnered by Khan's post-retirement activities in England, where he made his name as a cricket star and a night-club regular., as "terrible tosh, with danger attached. It turns a great (and greatly miserable) Third World nation into a gossip-column annexe. We may all choke on such frivolity." After the 2008 general elections, political columnist Azam Khalil addressed Khan, who remains respected as a cricket legend, as one of the "utter failures in Pakistani politics". Writing in the ''Frontier Post'', Khalil added: "Imran Khan has time and again changed his political course and at present has no political ideology and therefore was not taken seriously by a vast majority of the people."

Awards and honours

In 1992, Khan was given Pakistan's civil award, the Hilal-i-Imtiaz

In 1983, he had received the President’s Pride of Performance Award

Khan is featured in the University of Oxford's Hall of Fame and has been an honorary fellow of Oxford's Keble College.

On 7 December 2005, Khan was appointed the fifth Chancellor of the University of Bradford, where he is also a patron of the Born in Bradford research project.

In 1976 as well as 1980, Khan was awarded The Cricket Society Wetherall Award for being the leading all-rounder in English first-class cricket.

In 1983, he was also named Wisden Cricketer of the Year

In 1985, Sussex Cricket Society Player of the Year

In 1990, Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year

Khan is currently placed at Number 8 on the all-time list of the ESPN Legends of Cricket.

On 5 July 2008, he was one of several veteran Asian cricketers presented special silver jubilee awards at the inaugural Asian cricket Council (ACC) award ceremony in Karachi. On 8 July 2004, Khan was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Asian Jewel Awards in London, for "acting as a figurehead for many international charities and working passionately and extensively in fund-raising activities. On 13 December 2007, Khan received the Humanitarian Award at the Asian Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur for his efforts in setting up the first cancer hospital in Pakistan. In 2009, at International Cricket Council's centennial year celebration, Khan was one of fifty-five cricketers inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

Writings by Khan

Khan occasionally contributes opinion editorials on cricket and Pakistani politics to British newspapers. He has also published five works of non-fiction, including an autobiography co-written with Patrick Murphy. It was disclosed in 2008 that Khan did not write his second book, ''Indus Journey: A Personal View of Pakistan''. Instead, his the book's publisher Jeremy Lewis revealed in a memoir that he had to write the book for Khan. Lewis recalls that when he asked Khan to show his writing for publication, "he handed me a leatherbound notebook or diary containing a few jottings and autobiographical snippets. It took me, at most, five minutes to read them; and that, it soon became apparent, was all we had to go on."

Books

Articles

Guardian comments, political and cricket commentary by Khan

Telegraph columns, sports articles penned by Khan from 2000 to present

We must address the root causes of this terror, Khan's editorial in the ''Independent'' following the 11 September attacks

Benazir Bhutto has only herself to blame, Khan's 2007 editorial on Bhutto's return to Pakistan

References

Further reading

External links

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Khan's political party

Chancellor: Imran Khan at the University of Bradford

Imran Khan: Pakistan has lost its dignity and self-esteem, Imran Khan, ''The Independent'', 3 May 2011

;Articles

The NS Interview: Imran Khan Mehdi Hasan, ''New Statesman'', 20 August 2010

Imran Khan's revolution, Murtaza Razvi, ''Dawn'', 27 April 2011

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