Taken from the Safe House at 6am today – fine..

Scarlett Johansson And Van Wilder Split – Wow, and there we were, more than happy with just that sunset. Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson, one of Hollywood’s most beautiful and zealously private couples, have decided after “long and careful consideration” to end their two-year marriage, they announced on Tuesday. So the saying is true… no matter how beautiful or desirable a particular woman might be, there is somebody tired.. [popeater]

Julian Assange Granted Bail. Gets Another 48 Hours – The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, is to remain in jail after the Swedish authorities decided to challenge a decision by a British court to grant him bail on allegations of rape in Stockholm. A judge in London granted Assange £240,000 bail with strict conditions, including a curfew and the surrendering of his passport. The judge told Assange he would remain in jail until a hearing at a higher court within 48 hours. [guardian]

Michael Moore Posted Bail For Julian Assange – On Tuesday morning, Moore posted information on his website as to why he chose to support Assange and contribute to his bail.”I am publicly offering the assistance of my website, my servers, my domain names and anything else I can do to keep WikiLeaks alive and thriving as it continues its work to expose the crimes that were concocted in secret and carried out in our name and with our tax dollars,” he said. [cbsnews]

Kate Middleton Reiss Engagement Dress Causes Frenzy – The official engagement photos of Prince William and Kate Middleton released on December 12 caused a flurry of media interest. Of particular interest was the white Reiss dress that Middleton wore. Capitalizing on the frenzy, the label announced on Monday that it will re-release the dress. The “Nannette” dress, which retails for $325, will re-launch in stores next month. Go get ’em, girls! [luxuo]

Dead Smoker’s Family Awarded $71Million – A Massachusetts jury today ordered cigarette manufacturer Lorillard Inc. to pay $71 million in damages to a dead smoker’s family for allegedly seducing the Boston woman decades ago into smoking Newport cigarettes.The Suffolk Superior Court jury awarded compensatory damages of $50 million to the estate of Marie Evans and $21 million to her son, William Evans. Click to find out why. [boston]

Top YouTube Videos Of 2010 – A student’s video rant over an attack on his sister has become YouTube’s most-watched video of the year. Antoine Dodson, who lived in the impoverished neighbourhood of Lincoln Park in Alabama, unleashed an angry, but comical tirade at a local news reporter which has since been turned into a song by a New York duo. Follow link to watch the ‘Antoine Dodson’ video as well as the others that made the top 10 list. [dailymail]

Zuma Paints Himself Into An Ever-Tighter Spot Over Zapiro Cartoon – President Jacob Zuma’s legal team has filed papers with the Johannesburg High Court, suing Avusa and Zapiro over the rape of Lady Justice cartoon – yes, that one. But as the SA Human Rights Commission ruling that was made on this very matter shows, Zuma has no leg to stand on. And what exactly do they disagree with Zapiro over anyway? [dailymaverick]

Paris Says Nicole Did Invite Her To Wedding, But She Had Other Plans – Richie had a lavish affair by most accounts, with over 150 guests, a ‘winter’ theme and an elephant, but avian Paris was off in Vegas. According to E! Online, Paris was invited but begged off because of a scheduled birthday party for a friend, which was filmed for Paris’ reality show. US Weekly claims that Paris wasn’t invited because Nicole worried that she would steal her thunder. [celebitchy]

The Holy Grail Of Flirting – “Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day?,” asked Shakespeare. Now, women of the world have replied: “No, just tell me I have beautiful lips.” A new survey of online flirting by dating website Badoo.com has found that the best Internet chat-up line for men to use is: “You have beautiful lips.” “We have found the Holy Grail of flirting,” said Badoo Director of Marketing Lloyd Price. [reuters]

Elin Nordegren Dating South African – Elin is finally getting over Tiger Woods by growing close to a hunky student. The Swedish former model, 30, met the 35-year-old South African at college in Florida where both are studying. A pal said: “There’s been kissing and cuddling but I don’t know if it’s gone further.”Mum-of-two Elin divorced Tiger in August, walking away with £100million. [thesun]

Americans Spend Equal Time On Internet As They Do Watching TV – For the first time ever, the average American spends as much time online as watching TV offline — about 13 hours a week, according to a report.Over the last five years, the amount of time spent watching TV has increased about 5%, but the time spent surfing the Web has grown 121%, Forrester Research said in an annual report about online consumer habits. Welcome to the future. [latimes]

Fifa’s Sepp Blatter In The Dwang For Gay Joke – Fifa president Sepp Blatter is at the centre of more controversy after suggesting that homosexual supporters should “refrain from any sexual activities” during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Current laws mean drinking alcohol in public is forbidden, while bars and nightclubs are almost non-existent. Another issue could be public affection, and gay groups fear problems in a country where homosexuality is illegal. [telegraph]

Silvio Berlusconi Survives Second No-Confidence Vote – Silvio Berlusconi’s rightwing government has survived a second of two votes of confidence in the Italian parliament, beating off a censure motion in the lower house by three votes. As Berlusconi loyalists and rebels brawled in parliament, tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators poured through the centre of Rome. [guardian]

Are Divorces The New Weddings? – Anyone who has ever planned a wedding is familiar with the vast swath of products and services that exist which cater to a couple’s every possible whim–including whims they didn’t even know they had. Now that divorce has become a fact of life–a milestone in its own right?–perhaps it was inevitable that it, too, would adopt the commercial trappings that have come to define modern nuptials. Click through for 6 selections from the burgeoning Divorce Industrial Complex. [huffers]

Saturday At Rhubarb Room – You’d think a quiet morning decorating Christmas cookies, sipping lattes and browsing for gifts would leave one somewhat calm and zen-like on a Saturday. Not so. Instead my morning at Rhubarb Room was so inspiring that it sent me into a cookie-baking FRENZY which would only end very late on Saturday evening, and take up the entire day. [capetowngirl]

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