Rio's roving street bands keep Carnival free, fun

RIO DE JANEIRO – Nuns in hot pants, nuns in full habits and even nuns with bushy mustaches — the motley band of costumed revelers gathered to celebrate the first day of Carnival, joining one of the growing number of roving street bands that take over Rio de Janeiro during the five-day party.

The "nuns" are all followers of the Carmelitas, a group started in 1991 by friends who gathered for soccer and drinks just outside a convent of Carmelite nuns. Jokes about the sisters escaping to join the party gave rise to the band, which parades twice: at the beginning of Carnival, when the nuns supposedly escaped the convent join the fun, and on the last day, when they returned to their cloistered existence.

"We're keeping the tradition, remembering the first nuns who jumped the fence," said Eliete dos Santos, 25, who was out with five other costumed "sisters" as the partying began Friday.

While the public face of Rio's Carnival is the famed two-day parade of samba groups, which can each spend more than $5 million on extravagant costumes and floats, its heart lies in these roving groups of irreverently costumed, mostly inebriated partiers who create a free, open-to-all street Carnival. Their cavorting is likely to hit a fever pitch Saturday.

Vonn clinches 4th consecutive downhill title

TARVISIO, Italy – Here's a measure of Lindsey Vonn's strength in the downhill: She no longer bothers to celebrate the season-long championship.

She won the downhill crown for the fourth consecutive year Saturday by finishing second to Sweden's Anja Paerson. A day earlier, Vonn clinched her second straight super-combined title. She now has 11 World Cup championships for her career, with another possibly on the way in Sunday's super-G.
This latest title hardly prompted a ski-dancing display in the snow as was the case Saturday. Instead, Vonn appeared upset when she crossed the line a distant 0.73 seconds behind. Still, she wasn't about to take this milestone for granted, especially in a season in which she left the world championships because of the lingering effects of a concussion.

Obama offers deeper cuts, appeals for budget deal

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says he's willing to make deeper spending cuts if Congress can compromise on a budget deal that would end the threat of a government shutdown.

Obama's appeal for common ground came Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address, but lacked specifics on how to bridge the $50 billion gulf that divides the White House and Democratic budget proposal from the deeper reductions offered by Republicans.

Court martial recommended for Fort Hood shooting suspect

HOUSTON (Reuters) – A U.S. Army official has recommended that the Army major charged in the 2009 shooting rampage at a Texas Army base face a court martial and possible death penalty charges, the Army said on Friday.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a 40-year-old Army psychiatrist who U.S. officials linked to a radical Muslim cleric in Yemen, is charged in a shooting spree at Fort Hood that killed 13 people and wounded 32 others on November 5, 2009.

Colonel Morgan Lamb, a Fort Hood brigade commander, forwarded his non-binding recommendation to Lieutenant General Robert Cone, the Fort Hood commander who will have the final word on setting a possible court martial.

Cuban trial of U.S. aid contractor resumes

HAVANA (Reuters) – The trial of an American aid contractor facing up to 20 years in jail for his work in a U.S. program promoting political opposition in communist Cuba moved into a second day on Saturday with more testimony and possibly final arguments expected.

Alan Gross, 61, was an active participant in his own case in the trial's first day on Friday, making what the Cuban government described as a "free declaration" and mounting what his U.S. attorney called a "vigorous defense."