At carnival, samba is serious business
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Armies of shirtless men pushed opulent floats toward Rio's samba stadium Sunday for the centerpiece of Brazil's carnival celebrations, a hard-fought samba dance competition.
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Religious groups led the city's gay pride parade on Sunday, lending gravity to an often outrageous event that also featured a jumble of drag queens in feather boas, marching bands, motorcycle-riding lesbians, rugby players and samba dancers.
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Space ships, galleons and castles on wheels clogged Rio de Janeiro's streets on Sunday as the city prepared for Carnival's climax.
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Surfing has become a status sport, and vacation packages, instruction, equipment and real estate are big business.
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The final weekend leading up to Mardi Gras has been a boon for hotels, restaurants and bars, with business generally brisker than last year, the first Carnival since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.
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Police say at least half a million people are expected to attend the main day of the 43rd Notting Hill Carnival.
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Even the pouring rain couldn't put a damper on this country's famed carnival as tens of thousands of revelers took to the streets Saturday, dancing to the sound of samba drums on the second day of the annual celebration.
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Rich and poor alike flocked to Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome on Monday night to gape at the fantastic Carnival parades -- but they saw them from different points of view.
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With a large turnout on Monday's finale, more than a million revellers will have attended west London's Notting Hill Carnival, a three-day celebration of Caribbean culture and music, police say.
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As the Notting Hill Carnival enters its final day, police say they are pleased with how it has gone so far. About 250,000 people took to the streets on Sunday - more than double the first day last year - to celebrate 40 years of the west London event.
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Tens of thousands of revelers jammed the streets of Rio de Janeiro to celebrate the city's world-renowned carnival, putting aside the violence that has cast a shadow over the city in recent weeks.
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A Brazilian samba group struck back at a decision banning its use of a float depicting the Holocaust by parading Monday in Rio's carnival with a float loaded with gagged men and women.
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Rio de Janeiro's carnival jury has announced this year's winner and also demoted another samba school for nudity.
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Underworld figures fixed the results of Rio de Janeiro's carnival parade this year, according to Brazilian police. Press reports suggest that top criminals used bribes and a hitman to buy and intimidate members of the carnival jury.
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Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather in the streets of west London for the Notting Hill Carnival.
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London&#39;s colourful Notting Hill Carnival, one of the world&#39;s biggest street parties, has got off to a relatively peaceful start with eight arrests for minor offences on Sunday.
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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil  - Rio de Janeiro erupted  to the beat of drums on Sunday night as the half naked dancers  from the city's samba schools showed off their skills to win  what promised to be the most expensive Carnival yet.