After nearly a decade of decline, measles outbreaks in parts of Europe and Africa led to 60,000 more cases worldwide in 2010 over the previous year.

A boost in global efforts to vaccinate people against measles lead to a decline in total cases from 853,000 in 2000 to 278,000 in 2008. In 2009, the figures remained stabled. 2010, however, saw an increase to 339,845 cases of measles, due largely to outbreaks in Europe and Africa.

The biggest increase in measles cases came specifically from Malawi, which had 118,712 cases. Burkino Faso came in second with 51,118, and Iraq pulled in third with 30,328. A couple European nations also came in the top 15, with Bulgaria reporting 22,004 cases and France with 5,048. Vietnam also notably reported 9,491 cases, while the Philippines had 6,368.

The measles outbreaks were mostly linked to low vaccination coverage of the population. In some cases this was due to limited or no access to health services, while in other areas it is due to religious or philosophical objections by parents who oppose vaccinating their children.

The Beckham brood will no longer be inhabiting Los Angeles and are instead fleeing the country for France, at least according to the latest rumors. Last night it was revealed that David Beckham, who came to the U.S. to play with the LA Galaxy soccer team, had signed a deal with Paris St. Germain and that the family will move to the French capital in January.

Le Parisien published the news as an exclusive on it's website, and promised more details in its next edition. The paper claims that after four months of negotiations, Becks approved a year-and-a-half long contract with France's richest club.

Beckham, 36, will earn a an after-tax salary of 800,000 euros per month in Paris, or 4.5 million euros over the entire 18 month period. That's a pretty nice pay day, but is likely only a fraction of what he'll actually take home thanks to marketing deals included in the lucrative contract.

The contract package will also include a new home in Paris for the Beckham family, as well as school places for his sons - Brooklyn, 12, Romeo, 9, and Cruz, 6. PSG's owners, Qatar Sport Investments, has the massive wealth of the Gulf emirate backing them, and are rumored to have offered the Beckhams' "anything they want" in moving to France from the U.S.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of people in Moscow, as well as thousands more in cities across Russia, assembled to demand an end to Vladimir Putin's rule and a rerun of a parliamentary election. These demonstrations mark the biggest opposition protests since Putin first rose to power 12 years ago, and the largest protest rally since the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.

The largest protest was in Moscow, where riot police were ready and watching as protesters shouted and waved flags. The protests showed an outpouring of anger over the December 4 election, which the opposition claims was rigged to favor Putin and United Russia, and to show discontent with the current prime minister three months before Putin tries to reclaim the presidency at the polls.

Former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who now leads an opposition movement that was banned from the election, said to a huge crowd at Bolotnava Square across the Moscow River from the Kremlin:

"Today 60,000, maybe 100,000 people, have come to this rally. This means today is the beginning of the end for these thieving authorities."

Diet fads aren't just an American thing; strange new food phenomenon hit other countries as well, and now thanks to a new fat-rich diet, Norway's entire stockpile of butter has been depleted.

Lars Galtung, a spokesman for Tine, the country's biggest farmer cooperative, sales of butter soared 20 percent in October, and then 30 percent in November as the new low-carb diet swept Norway. He said:

"Norwegians are not afraid of natural fats, they love their butter and cream."

Consumers, however, are none too pleased that butter isn't on store shelves, especially with the holidays. Some stores have reportedly been without butter for weeks. Many blame the Tine for not addressing the butter shortage sooner, and being too slow to acquire butter from other countries.

Others, however, say that the shortage of butter shows a bigger problem with Norway's economy. Experts blame the country's protectionist economic policies for the shortage, saying the butter problems show a huge problem with the market.

The lack of butter in Norway has also made the country the subject of a new crop of jokes. Earlier this week, a Danish morning show offered to send 1,000 packets of butter to help.

Three Italian brothers all suffered heart attacks on the same day. Two brothers died, and one lived.

The third brother was already in the hospital visiting his elderly mother when his heart attack struck, and so he received immediate medical attention.

Guido Garofalo, 45, was the first to pass away while he was out on a family picnic on Sunday on the slopes of Sicily's Mout Etna volcano. His brother Alberto, 53, was so overcome with grief with having seen his brother drop dead that he too suffered cardiac arrest shortly after. Despite of the efforts of first responders on the scene, Alberto also passed away.

The oldest of the brothers, Salvatore, 57, is in stable condition after being treated for a blocked artery at the Garabaldi hospital in Catania, eastern Sicily.

The brothers also have a sister who lives in Rome. She suffers from the same congenital heart disease, and the Corriere della Sera reports that she has not yet been told about the brothers' deaths for fear of the news sparking cardiac arrest in her as well.

An Italian jury charged with deciding whether to overturn Amanda Knox's murder conviction and allow her go home to Seattle, or send her back to prison, has reached a verdict. The six jurors and two judges were set to announce their decision at 3:30pm ET.

Knox's murder conviction was partially overturned. She was acquitted on all charges except defamation, and the sentence for that would be 3 years, which she has already served. Knox and Sollecito are now free.

Knox will return to prison tonight to collect her things.

Knox and her ex-boyfriend/co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito were brought to the court in seperate vans to hear the decision. Knox's family left the hotel together and headed to the court to hear the decision that her stepfather, Chris Mellas, said they'd been waiting on with a mixture of "dread and hope."

The Kercher family also made its way to court, and made it clear that they believe Knox and Sollecito are guilty.

The verdict comes just hours after Knox and Sollecito made desperate pleas for freedom, insisting that they did not kill her British roommate, Meredith Kercher.

Knox, 24, has spent the last four years in prison and is serving a 26-year prison term. Her appeal has lasted nearly a year. She told the court:

Virtus Bologna, an Italian basketball team, has made numerous contract offers to Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant. As far-fetched as it sounds, Bryant may actually soon be playing basketball in Italy. He recently stated that it was "very possible" that he will play in Italy during the NBA lockout, adding that Italy is like home because he spent part of his childhood there.

According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Kobe said of the Virtus Bologna contract offer:

"It's very possible. It would be a dream for me. There's an opportunity that we've been discussing over the last few days. It's very possible and that's good news for me."

Virtus said that the latest discussions are centered around a $2.5 million deal for 10 game over 40 days from Oct. 9 to Nov. 16. The deal would also allow Bryant to return to the Lakers immediately if the lockout were to end.

Bryant, 33, spent a few years in Italy when his father, Joe Bryant, played on five teams from 1984-91. His father also once owned a small part of Olimpia Milano.

Bryant said:

Vladimir Putin, Russia's top leader from 2000 to 2008, is seeking to regain his title as President. On Saturday, Putin agreed to run for the Russian presidency in 2012, virtually ensuring his return to office. In addition, the United Russia party approved Putin's proposal that current president Dmitry Medvedev take over Putin's role as prime minister.

During Putin's reign last decade, he was widely criticized for his steely command, which many in the West said was a retreat from democracy. Constitutional powers have also extended the presidential term from four years to six, and as such, Putin is likely to have even more power in this position.

Putin's nomination at a congress of the United Russia party put an end to months of speculation about whether he would seek to return to the Kremlin or allow the milder Medvedev to seek another term in 2012.

The United Russia party has such an overwhelming presence in Russian politics that the election of Putin to president and Medvedev's switch to prime minister is virtually guaranteed. Putin's personal popularity is very strong among Russians, and genuine opposition parties have been marginalized.

On Thursday, the French government announced that it was banning praying outside, and officials pledged to enforce the ban beginning on Friday. On Friday, hundreds of Muslims defied the ban, praying on the streets in the neighborhood of La Goutte d'Or, reported Le Parisien newspaper.

French interior minister Claude Gueant insisted that he had nothing against Islam, but wanted it out of the public eye as France was a secular state. Gueant added:

"Street prayers must stop because they hurt the feelings of many of our compatriots who are shocked by the occupation of the public space for a religious practice."

Gueant warned that while officials would try to persuade people to pray in mosques, Muslims that continued to pray in the street would be arrested. French Muslim leaders were angered by the ban, who said that Muslims only prayed outside because of a lack of space in mosques in France.

In April, France enacted laws prohibiting students from wearing headscarves in schools and banning women from wearing the full Muslim veil known as the niqab in public.

Last week a Russian plane crashed, killing 44 people on board, many of whom were members of a popular hockey team. 2 people survived, one crew member and one of the hockey players. That hockey player, Alexander Galimov, has since died from the severe burns that covered about 90 percent of his body, despite the best efforts of the doctor in the Vishnevsky burn unit.

The chartered Yak-42 jet crash crashed on Wednesday outside the western city of Yaroslavl. 37 players, coaches and staff of the local Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey club perished. The only other survivor was crew member Alexander Sizov, who was moved out of intensive care and into a general ward at Moscow's Skilfosovsky hospital.

Galimov, unlike many of the other members of the team, was a native of Yaroslavl. His death is likely to hit the city hard, where his team's strong performance was a source of great price. Galimov was also a product of the Lokomotiv youth program.