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In Rio de Janeiro, rather than gather round the Christmas tree, people choose to watch it float. For 10 years, the city has come together once a year to celebrate the holidays and watch the world's largest Christmas tree float in Rio's lagoa -- a small lake that sits behind the narrow strip of land known as Ipanema.

Hundreds of recent trips made by White House officials are underwritten by private entities. According to a report by the Center for Public Integrity, the total spent over one seven-year span totaled nearly $1.5 million.

Drugs to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder prompt continued debate. An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration has recommended "black box" warnings for all, but a second panel, made up mostly of child psychiatrists and pediatricians, says the dangers do not merit such a warning.

Mother Goose made sugar plums famous in the early 16th century. But the nursery rhyme clearly refers to more than just a tasty piece of fruit. Plum had the meaning of something very special, a prize of treasure or loot. In Britain it even came to be used as a reference for a specific amount of money, 100,000 pounds. However it is used, it always refers to something sweet.

The Italian city of Pompeii is one of the best-known reminders of how deadly volcanoes can be. Mt. Vesuvius' eruption in 79 A.D. buried the city, entombing many of the dead in casts of hardened ash. Now, scientists say the destruction was even worse in an earlier incident 4,000 years ago.

The World Baseball Classic, a tournament involving teams from North America, Latin America and Asia, boasts a lot of Major League all-stars and potentially intriguing rivalries. Whether fans embrace the event remains to be seen.

President Bush says he wants to double the number of community health centers that serve the poor and uninsured. But a new study suggests the administration's proposed budget could undermine that goal.

Mining is hugely important to the economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo. But due to a civil war and ongoing conflicts in the east of the country, the Congo's mines now produce just a fraction of their former revenue. All that could change as peace returns and more of the country falls under the control of the central government in Kinshasa.

Michele Norris talks with Corine Hegland, reporter for the National Journal, about the release of transcripts from hearings of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, which reveal for the first time their names, nationalities, and information about their backgrounds. Hegland talks about the documents reveal, and why it's important.

Don Gonyea is traveling with President Bush and talks to Steve Inskeep about the nuclear agreement between the U.S. and India, and the president's visit to a shrine honoring Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi.