t's Carnival or Mardi Gras time again and the Brazilian government is busy handing out condoms to revelers to promote safe sex and most of all to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS.

The Brazilian health ministry targets to distribute 19.5 million condoms all over the country during the five-day carnival, this is almost double the number of condoms distributed last year. And they have condoms in good supply, since the Brazilian government purchased one billion condoms last year

Despite the liberal times, teaching one's own children about the birds and the bees is still a difficult task for many parents. To help them deal with this embarrassing situation, British Labour MP Chris Bryant is proposing coming out with sex advice packs which fathers and mothers may consult when their sons and daughters reach nine.

A similar booklet that will include the topics sex, relationships and contraception may also be offered to pre-teener Britons as part of the school curriculum. The novel, but potentially controversial proposal, is part of the state's effort to curb teenage pregnancies

Newly homeless youth are likelier to engage in risky sexual behavior if they stay in nonfamily settings because they lack supervision and social support, a new study shows.

Researchers defined homeless youth as those who have been away from home for a period between one day and six months. Homeless settings include friends' homes, abandoned buildings or the streets

The state of Minnesota will ban the use of mercury in makeup and skin lightening creams starting 2008.

Minnesota is the first U.S. state to prohibit the deliberate inclusion of mercury in beauty cosmetics such as mascara, eye liners and beauty balms, according to The Associated Press

A new HIV/AIDS prevention campaign to be launched early 2008 will likely generate another controversy in the largely Catholic country, Brazil. A joint Health and Education Ministries program will result in the installation of condom dispensing machines in 100 public schools.

To push for youth participation in the program, the two government agencies and the United Nations sponsored a nationwide contest for students to design the condom dispenser. Three finalists were selected on Friday