MORE 'FRIENDS': Fans of "Friends" got an unexpected Christmas present this week: the news that their favorite show is coming back for a 10th season. Not that the agreement with the show's creative team and its cast -- Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc -- came cheaply, The New York Times reported. Some industry estimates calculated that NBC could end up paying as much as $240 million for the 10th season.

DATING DAMON: Matt Damon and his current steady, Odessa Whitmire, are only dating -- despite published reports that they are to be wed. "The rumor that he's getting engaged has been fabricated over the past couple of weeks, but it's not true," said the actor's publicist, Jennifer Allen. "He is dating Ms. Whitmire, but he is not engaged." On Monday, New York Post columnist Victoria Gotti said that at a Manhattan benefit the previous Wednesday, the "Good Will Hunting" Oscar winner "broke the news to friends as Whitmire's 3-carat diamond sparkled."

BERMUDA SHORTS: Michael Douglas, 58, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, 33, are planning to move to Bermuda to raise their children, the New York Daily News reported. "We've decided to make that our base," Zeta-Jones told the newspaper's Rush & Molloy gossip column. Why Bermuda? "My husband's mother is Bermudian," said Zeta-Jones, referring to Dianna Darrid, whose clan has been on the island since it was settled by the British in the 17th century. "We have an instant family and friends."

SPEARS SUES: Britney Spears, 21, has sued the Los Angeles-based footwear company Skechers USA Inc. for more than $1.5 million, claiming that it used her to plug its own roller-skate line rather than skates that she had designed, Reuters reported. Skechers executives could not be reached for comment. Her suit claims that her endorsement helped Skechers's sales but that she was only partially compensated for it and that her deal to sell Britney Brand skates and accessories unraveled because of Skechers's inability to find a manufacturer and a means to market her line.

CLASH LOSS: Joe Strummer, 50, leader of legendary '70s punk band The Clash, died at his home in England on Sunday, the BBCreported . Although it appears that the musician -- whose real name was John Mellor -- fell victim to a heart attack, an autopsy is being performed to confirm the cause of death. Strummer, who was born in Turkey to a British diplomat father, formed The Clash in the mid-'70s, and the band signed with CBS Records for $200,000.