Meryl Streep remains a wonder. With her voice riding precariously up and down the scales like a tipsy soloist, Streep brings aplomb and gusto to her sympathetic comic take on the august mother hen of TV cooks, Julia Child, in the new "Julie & Julia." The performance goes well beyond caricature in its expressivity and exhilarating idiosyncrasy. It's another feather -- an ostrich plume -- in the actress's bountiful cap. It's too bad that "Julie & Julia," which alternates the ...

In his inauguration speech at the Iranian parliament, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had something to say for almost everyone -- his supporters, his opponents and those he called "enemies" without naming names. He hailed what he called an "epic election" but didn't go into the turmoil of the past two months that ensued. No word on the reformist movement calling the vote rigged or demonstrators who chanted for weeks slogans such as, "Death to Ahmadinejad." No mention of those who demanded ...

If you'd like to get a sense of how we're emerging from our nationwide housing malaise, sit down at Jillian and Aaron Roberts' kitchen table. As 2-year-old twins Lennon and Miles run by — those divots in the table are their doing — the couple explain that when they first started looking to become homeowners back in 2006, there was little they could afford. "Even a modest home was too much for us," says Jillian, recalling the go-go years ...

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn't seem to have many fans left. Just days before his Aug. 5 inauguration to a controversial second term, Iran's President finds himself in a critical struggle over his political future. One thing has led to another: an ill-advised vice-presidential pick, uncharacteristic defiance of the Supreme Leader, verbal fights with influential Cabinet Ministers. The humble son of a blacksmith is easily the most divisive figure in the 30-year history of the Republic. Could his end be just ...

She's been compared to the Dalai Lama, the Chinese Tibetan Buddhist leader, but the name Rebiya Kadeer doesn't ring a bell to many people outside of China. Nevertheless, the world-famous man and the relatively obscure woman share similarities that chime with political relevance. A diminutive northern Virginia resident, Kadeer has emerged as the voice of the restive but relatively unknown Uyghur Muslims, a Turkic-speaking ethnic minority in China, and the group's far-flung diaspora. And like the Dalai Lama, she's revered ...

Got a few grand to spare for a $3,000 phone? Yeah, we didn't think so. Nobody does -- and that's a problem for the makers of luxury phones, such as Motorola, Bang & Olufson, LG and Vertu. After years of chasing the ultra-wealthy with exclusive devices that carry designer logos and promise craftsmanship from materials such as sapphire and stainless steel, luxury phone makers are now pulling back. "The culture has shifted away from conspicuous consumption, so if you are ...

Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage has pretty much got this acting thing down. After all, he started acting at the age of 15 and, well, he's got that Oscar. So he doesn't really need to deliver another gut-wrenching performance to demonstrate his chops. In fact, he can deviate from a traditional film and venture into animated territory. He's voiced animated characters in the past, but in Disney's new 3-D tale "G-Force," Cage lends his voice to a mole. ...

Eleanor Coppola met her husband, Francis in Ireland in 1962. It was on the set of splatter flick "Dementia 13" -- she was the shy set decorator; he was the ambitious rookie director. They began dating and three months later she became pregnant and the couple married. That was 47 years ago and since then the retiring artist has become something of a chronicler of the extraordinary Coppola family, which includes her flamboyant Oscar-winning husband, daughter, Sophia and ...

Tuvalu, the fourth smallest nation on the planet, has announced it aims to be totally powered by renewable energy sources by 2020. Located between Hawaii and Australia, the tiny Pacific nation is one of the world's climate change hotspots and many believe it is already seeing the negative affects of rising sea levels. The highest elevation on the island is just 4.5 meters (14.8 feet), and king tides have become increasingly damaging over the past 10 years, threatening ...

Somali pirates released a German cargo ship Saturday that they have held since May, the German Foreign Ministry said. The suit alleges white officers post on and moderate the privately operated site, Domelights.com, both on and off the job. Domelights' users "often joke about the racially offensive commentary on the site ... or will mention them in front of black police officers," thus creating "a racially hostile work environment," according to lawyers for the all-black Guardian Civic League, the lead ...