Death in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Nearly 2 million people believed to have fled their homes since Sudan's Darfur fell into crisis.

Should anyone really care whether Spanish actress Penelope Cruz and superstar Tom Cruise have rekindled their flame of love?

Probably not, but let's speculate anyway.

Several employees of the Lexington Dairy Queen believe that Cruise brought Cruz with him to the ice cream shop Thursday night. However, no one reported any PDAs (public displays of affection).

The pair reportedly split in January after a three-year relationship, and Cruz has been linked to actor Matthew McConaughey. But Cruz and Cruise did share a dinner in Madrid in September, according to the Internet Movie Database.

The DQ had closed for the night for an employee holiday party, but the staff gladly opened back up for Cruise and his entourage. Reports differ on what the pair had to eat. At least one person reported the pair shared a vanilla cone dipped in chocolate (340 calories for a small).

Cruise ordered the same cone when visiting the eatery in September while scouting locations with director Steven Spielberg for "War of the Worlds," part of which was filmed in Rockbridge County this week.

Another account, though, had Cruz eating part of a Brownie Earthquake (740 calories) with Cruise finishing it for her. Almost everyone agrees that Cruise also ate a Peanut Buster Parfait (730 calories).

"He just loved it," said employee Brandy Carter.

Cruise, indeed, seems to love Dairy Queen. Wednesday marked his third visit to the Lexington franchise. He explained to Carter that there are no Dairy Queens on the West Coast.

Cruise protested at first, but finally relented when manager Wanda Woodward refused to charge him for the ice cream. She'd already closed the registers. Instead, Woodward said he could pay with autographs.

Someone explained to Woodward that Cruz doesn't do autographs, but Cruise didn't hesitate to sign his name over and over again.

When Cruise heard that some people hadn't believed the employees about his stopping by in September, he offered to pose for photographs and even stood in front of the security camera for more proof.

Cruise talked to Woodward's granddaughter Kaila about her love of animals.

He discussed acting with Carter, who's a senior theater major at Liberty University.

Cruise stayed at the party for more than a half-hour, according to employees. And though his face was flushed from being outside in the cold, Woodward reported that he still provided juicy eye candy to go along with his kind spirit.

"He still looked like the hottie of the decade," Woodward said.