Brad Pitt gets top billing in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," but Austrian actor Christoph Waltz may have turned in the most memorable performance as a Nazi "Jew Hunter." Waltz, a 52-year-old veteran of German television, was hardly known outside of Europe, until now. Tarantino, insisting on actors with geographic origins similar to their characters, chose Waltz to play a complex and unforgettable villain: Nazi Col. Hans Landa. Landa mixes charm, humor and intelligence with great cruelty and opportunism ...

South African teenager Caster Semenya won the women's 800 meters gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, just hours after the sport's governing body asked for the 18-year-old's gender to be verified. Semenya crushed her rivals by streaking away to secure victory in a time of one minute 55.45 seconds -- the best time in the world this year. Defending champion Janeth Jepkosgei of Kenya took the silver with Briton Jennifer Meadows claiming bronze. However, the race was ...

Politicians know there are plenty of ways to spice up a dull election campaign. Organize a rousing rally. Bring out the celebrity endorsements. Or maybe, just show a little cleavage? That's Vera Lengsfeld's election strategy, at least. The 57-year-old candidate for Germany's Christian Democratic Union has the country abuzz over her provocative campaign posters, which feature photos of her and CDU compatriot Chancellor Angela Merkel in low-cut tops, accompanied by the slogan: We Have More to Offer. Lengsfeld, ...

Japan has joined the growing number of major economies that are back in black. Japan's economy grew 3.7 percent on an annualized basis from April to June this year, the first time the world's second largest economy has seen positive growth in 15 months. The announcement of preliminary figures by Japan's Cabinet Office comes after France and Germany surprised economists last week by posting 0.3 percent growth for the second quarter of the year. The news that Japan has rebounded ...

Once lost, virginity can never be replaced — but modern medicine now offers women a near-perfect physical simulation of their lost innocence. Hymenoplasty, the surgical reconstruction of the hymen broken during a women's first experience of intercourse, or, increasingly, during demanding exercise or as a result of a collision or fall by women who've never had sex, has prompted a growing number of young betrothed women in France to make a last-ditch attempt to avoid the humiliation, repudiation, and ...

Record-holder Paula Radcliffe stepped up her bid to run in the marathon at the world athletics championships next Sunday with victory on her competitive return to action. The British runner, who is hoping to win back the title she won the last time she competed at the event in Helsinki in 2005, triumphed in the New York City half-marathon for the third time on Sunday morning. It was the 35-year-old's first race since winning the full marathon in the same ...

Triple Olympic champion and world 100m record holder Usain Bolt has said he wants to emulate the great Jesse Owens at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin. Owens famously won four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and Jamaican Bolt is aiming to follow the American legend's lead by claiming gold in the 100m and 200m as well as the 100m relay. Speaking on the eve of the championships, Bolt told reporters: "This is going to be a huge ...

A Libyan man convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, is dropping his appeal, the Scottish Court Service said Friday. The move may be part of a deal convicted bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi is seeking with Scottish authorities to be released on compassionate grounds. Al-Megrahi, 57, is suffering from terminal prostate cancer. He is serving a life sentence for bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, which killed 270 ...

Rafael Nadal returned to singles action Wednesday at the Rogers Cup in Montreal but his comeback lasted just 36 minutes as his opponent, David Ferrer, was forced to withdraw with injury. World No. 2 Nadal -- playing his first singles match since losing in the fourth round at the French Open -- was leading 4-3 by a break in the first set of the second round clash when fellow Spaniard Ferrer was forced to quit with a knee injury. Nadal, ...

The usual way to test the economic pulse in a downturn is to go for a stroll down Main Street. Perhaps we should take to the high seas instead. There may be no better measure of the reach, depth and potential duration of the global economic slowdown than the fast-sinking fortunes of the shipping industry. From the historic docks of Rotterdam to China's booming trading hub of Ningbo, troubling symptoms abound. The Baltic Dry Index, which tracks the cost ...