FROM EMILY MAITLIS
Hello,
BBC Comedy "I only do the radio show to make people laugh and given the subsequent coverage I will stop doing the show." - Radio 2 comedian, Russell Brand.
As the Ross/Brand furore reaches unfathomable heights, Russell Brand announced this evening he would be resigning from the BBC. In his statement he took full responsibility for the ill-fated comedy sketch and said he hoped Jonathan Ross and the BBC would endure "less forensic wrath".
Tonight we discuss the rise of this debacle - more than 18,000 audience complaints and a presence in PMQs - and ask what this will change within the realms of BBC comedy. Will the comedians be less willing to put themselves on the line? Will the BBC go back to doing what many think it does best - the mainstream approach? Does the late night risqué comedian have a place anyway on the public broadcaster?
We'll be talking to BBC comedians and commentators here in the studio.
Congo The Congolese rebel leader, Laurent Nkunda, whose forces have been advancing on the major eastern city of Goma, says he is declaring a unilateral ceasefire. Thousands of people have poured into Goma to escape fighting between Mr Nkunda's rebels and Congolese government forces, some of whom have also withdrawn back into the city.
Mr Nkunda said the goal of his forces was to protect his Tutsi community from attack by Rwandan Hutu rebels, some of whom are accused of taking part in the 1994 genocide. Tonight, as UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon warns the situation in the east of the country could have tragic consequences for the entire region we ask what role the UN peacekeepers - 17,000 of them - have in this conflict.
Economy In the states the Fed has cut interest rates by half-a-point to one per cent. Here, the chancellor has stressed the need for a flexible approach to borrowing to shore up the economy. Read that as the definitive end to those long-nurtured fiscal rules and the start of a whole lot more debt. Paul Mason, our economics editor, is on the case.
US The only person whose finances don't appear to be hit by the economic downturn is Barak Obama. He will pay for 30 MINUTES of primetime advertising on the US airwaves tonight. A chance to hit the message home once and for all - or a bit of media overkill? We'll be reporting from America.
Computer Climate Change And by 2020 could computers be a bigger threat to the climate than the aviation industry? Susan Watts has the evidence. Do get an advance preview by reading her
blog.
Do join us this evening at 10.30pm on BBC TWO.
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