Free condoms are what some Carnival revelers seem as a fortune of good luck, may put a dent in the Brazilian economy.

The Brazilian government plans to distribute 25 million free condoms in an effort to promote safe sex during the country's Carnival holidays

A U.N. report released Tuesday shows hunger and malnutrition kill nearly 6 million children a year, and more people are malnourished in sub-Saharan Africa this decade, than in the 1990s.

Many children die from treatable diseases, namely: diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria and measles, according to the report by the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization

According to statistics from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 20-percent of all cosmetic procedures performed last year, an increase from 14-percent in 2000.

Hispanics lead minority racial and ethnic groups in the number of procedures at 8.5-percent followed by African- Americans, 6.2 percent; Asians, 4.6 percent; and other non-Caucasians, 1.1 percent

The British government reports that the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found in a parrot that died in quarantine after being imported from South America. According to Britain's agriculture ministry, the spread of the virus means the country is now at greater risk.

The parrot, imported from Suriname, was part of a batch of 148 birds that arrived on September 16th. They were held with another group of birds from Taiwan

British scientists are conducting tests to determine where a parrot infected with bird flu contracted the disease. It has been established the parrot had the H5 strain of bird flu, but it's unclear where it became contaminated.

The H5 strain is different from the deadly H5N1 strain that has claimed more than 60 lives and millions of birds and livestock since December 2003. The bird came from South America, and was held with 216 birds from Taiwan