³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Four hours before air time. Today's topics: Congo, Iran and Tom Cruise.

What's life like in
Congo's problems are summed up in the . The hospital, stripped of even its metal bed frames, was blackmailing patients for money in a country where everything's been destroyed.

So there's a lot for Congo's new leader to fix. But the election didn't produce a winner, and for the past three days, the capital, Kinshasha, has been teetering on the edge of

Meanhwile, it looks like the UN Security Council is set for a with Iran over its nuclear programme. Why shouldn't there be sanctions against Iran? Lots of opinion about Iran's nuclear programme

And Risky Business? Viacom says it's dropping actor for his strange behaviour. You fans will remember the South Park 'Closetgate' episode and 'couch incident' on the popular talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show of May 23, 2005. Cruise — in the words of The New York Times — "jumped around the set, hopped onto a couch, fell rapturously to one knee and repeatedly professed his love for his new girlfriend."

"C'mon, fire the grinning actor idiot because he's lost his box office appeal, or because his first dollar gross is so exorbitant that no studio has a prayer any more of making money on his motion pictures, or because of any other business reason. And fire him in the usual Hollywood way: with a bland-but-dignified press release about how much these 14 years have meant to both parties, ad nauseum. But, jeez, don't fire him with this lame stuff that Sumner didn't like the way Tiny Tom behaved. If that's true, then no Hollywood studio can ever hire anyone. Drugs, sex, harrassment, mendacity, fraud: Paramount like most major studios has a rich history of horrible behavior by its work-for-hires. I could reel off for you 10 people now with rich studio deals, some at Paramount, who should be in jail or rehab or the Funny Farm but instead are well-paid miscreants."