In the last official briefing before the big show, Oscar producer Gil Cates, director Lou Horvitz and Academy president Sid Ganis promised no political uproar – and no rain – at the Academy Awards tomorrow.

Mikhail Gorbachev is pressing world leaders to adopt a treaty guaranteeing clean water and sanitation for their people, a task he says is more daunting than ending the nuclear arms race during the Cold War.

Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has urged US president George Bush to attend the Earth Summit in South Africa later this month.