Russia in 2011 saw a rise of five percent in the number of new HIV infections to 62,000 cases amid worrying signs that heterosexuals and women are increasingly at risk, its chief doctor said Monday.

"In 2011, 62,000 new infections were recorded in the country," said Gennady Onishchenko, the head of Russia's sanitary protection agency, quoted by Russian news agencies.

Eating a portion of processed red meat daily can boost a person's risk of dying young by up to 20 percent, said a long-running U.S. study of more than 120,000 people released on Monday.

While the research by Harvard University experts offers more evidence that eating red meat increases the risk of heart disease and cancer, it also counsels that substituting fish and poultry may lower early death risk.

Brain and eye problems have surfaced in astronauts who spent more than a month in space, marking a potential setback to plans for longer deep space missions, according to a U.S. study.

The research in the journal Radiology analyzed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of 27 astronauts with an average of 108 days in space, either on space shuttle missions or aboard the International Space Station.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is recovering in Cuba from his second cancer surgery, said Sunday he was in "good general health" and planned to return to Venezuela this week.

"My vital signs and general health are good," the Venezuelan leader said during a meeting with some of his cabinet ministers in Havana, which was videotaped and broadcast by Venezuelan television.

Water problems in many parts of the world are chronic and without a crackdown on waste will worsen as demand for food rises and climate change intensifies, the U.N. warned on Sunday.

Issued on the eve of a six-day gathering on world water issues, the United Nations, in a massive report, said many daunting challenges lie ahead.

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is undergoing radiation therapy for larynx cancer, was released from hospital Sunday following treatment for a lung infection.

"He will continue to take antibiotics until March 16 but he is tending to get better and better," one of his doctors, Roberto Kalil Filho, told Brazil's G1 news website.

A Southern California woman says doctors predicted she would give birth to a big baby boy, but nobody was prepared for just how big.

Jayden Sigler weighed in at 13 pounds, 14 ounces, when the healthy boy was delivered Thursday by cesarean section, the North County Times reported Saturday (http://bit.ly/Amd2Wv ).

"The science simply does not show that 4-MEI in foods or beverages is a threat to human health," the ABA said.

"In fact, findings of regulatory agencies worldwide, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, European Food Safety Authority and Health Canada, consider caramel coloring safe for use in foods and beverages."

A type of bacteria mostly found in raw chicken meat that can cause diarrhea and fever is on the rise in the European Union, according to a report from European food safety agencies published on Thursday.

The report found that cases of Campylobacter rose by seven percent to 212,064 in 2010 -- the last year for which such data is available and the fifth consecutive year of increases in reported cases of the bacteria in humans.

What does birth control really cost anyway?

It varies dramatically, from $9 a month for generic pills to $90 a month for some of the newest brands — plus a doctor's visit for the prescription.