English speakers got their moment in the Carnival sun on Monday as a wild, Beatles-themed street party let them shake it up, baby, with a samba swing to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da."

"Sargento Pimenta," Portuguese for "Sergeant Pepper," is one of more than 400 raucous street parties that spring up throughout Rio de Janeiro during Carnival season. Hundreds of thousands of people turn out for the largest of the "blocos," packed, sweaty open-air dance parties where the crowd sings along to a repetitive medley of Carnival songs — usually in Portuguese, of course.

Sarah Burton, creative director of the Alexander McQueen fashion house, tried Monday to create an enchanted forest in the center of London for the debut offering of the McQ line, aimed at younger, less affluent buyers.

The catwalk was covered with fallen leaves, and a realistic forest was created at one end of the hall at the Old Sorting Office in central London.

Chris Brown and Rihanna are back together, musically speaking.

Two songs featuring the singers hit the Internet on Monday. Brown sings on the remix of Rihanna's sexually charged song "Birthday Cake," and she's on the remix of his upbeat tune "Turn Up the Music."

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki has moved into the top 20 on the NBA career scoring list.

Nowitzki moved into 20th on the list Monday with seven points in the first quarter in a game against Boston.

Warsaw's mayor says all security concerns have been addressed and the stadium that will host the opening match of this year's European Championship is ready to stage its first game.

Poland will play Portugal in a friendly at the National Stadium in Warsaw on February 29.

One man prays to heal the legs he broke in a car accident. An older woman pleads for grandchildren. Another visitor has come to see "God's secretary."

These believers are part of a growing phenomenon in Israel, where hundreds of thousands of people from starkly different backgrounds flock to the tombs of ancient Biblical figures or modern-day rabbis, seeking blessings and claiming they've witnessed miracles.

A day after Kobe Bryant's impassioned tirade about the importance of keeping the Los Angeles Lakers together, they gave a performance that amplified his every point.

Bryant scored 28 points, Andrew Bynum had 14 points and 19 rebounds, and the Lakers roared to a 30-point lead early in the second quarter before holding on for a 103-92 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.

China's National Energy Administration plans to beef up safety at nuclear power plants after months of assessments and inspections in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster.

The administration said in a statement on its website that 13 research and development projects involving the China National Nuclear Corp. and other state-run companies and research institutions should be completed by 2013.

YouTube is enlisting Hollywood's help to reach a generation of viewers more familiar with smartphones than TV remotes.

The online video giant is aiming to create 25 hours of programming per day with the help of some of the top names in traditional TV. The Google-owned site is spreading its wealth among producers, directors, and other filmmakers, using a $100 million pot of seed money it committed last fall. The fund represents YouTube's largest spending on original content so far.

Health officials say the flu season is finally here — the slowest start in nearly 25 years.

Until this month, there weren't enough flu cases in the U.S. to signal the start of the season. This is the latest start to a flu season since the winter of 1987-1988.