British viewer wins role in Aussie soap

Australian TV viewers will settle on their sofas Friday for the 6,000th edition of "Neighbours", the gentle soap opera and surprise global hit which launched the careers of Kylie Minogue and Russell Crowe.Producers are planning a drama-packed show, according to leaks, hoping to reverse flagging domestic ratings with the attempted murder of businessman Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis), who was in the first episode in 1985.

Sugary pop star Kylie Minogue could be about to get a little sweeter -- an Australian politician wants to name a new variety of mango in her honour.Scientists have developed three new mangos in the Northern Territory and the region's primary industry minister Kon Vatskalis wants one named for the pint-sized former "Neighbours" star who has won worldwide fame as a singer."I think Kylie should be so lucky to have this mango variety named after her," Vatskalis said in a statement Wednesday.

Australian pop star Kylie Minogue has alerted police to an online stalker -- a "deluded weirdo" issuing threats over Twitter, she wrote on the micro-blogging site on Tuesday.The diminutive singer told her more than one million followers on the site that she adored her supporters, but one among them was not her 'lover' -- her nickname for her fans."I love 1,033,861 of you LOVERS, but 1 is not a lover, just a deluded weirdo making threat #andthatdoesnotmakeyouspecial So..police alerted," she tweeted Tuesday.

Australian pop star Kylie Minogue on Monday defended a racy music video which has been banned in several Asian nations, telling a Spanish television station it was "touching and sensual".In the video for "All the Lovers", the first single from her 11th album "Aphrodite", the 42-year-old appears dressed in white at the top of a pyramid of scantily clad young gay and straight couples who kiss passionately.

Australian pop star Kylie Minogue will perform a free open air concert next month during Madrid's gay pride festivities, organisers said Friday.The 42-year-old "All the Lovers" singer will take to the stage at the Plaza de Espana in the heart of the Spanish capital after the gay pride parade, one of Europe's largest, on July 3.

Australian pop diva Kylie Minogue has blamed Jakarta's notorious traffic jams for her late showing at a concert in the Indonesian capital.Her promoters said Tuesday the singer took a helicopter to the show Monday on the outskirts of Jakarta but her crew was stuck in traffic and the show had to be delayed by 30 minutes."Kylie Minogue's concert started about half an hour late because of the traffic congestion on the toll road," MP Entertainment marketing personal Rosana Wahyuni said.

British commercial broadcaster ITV said on Tuesday that it bounced into profit in the first half of 2010, and launched its first-ever move into pay-television as part of a new five-year strategy.ITV, which airs hit reality show 'X Factor' and popular soap opera 'Coronation Street', said in a results statement that it soared back into black thanks to improving advertising revenues and the World Cup in South Africa.

LONDON — British police said Sunday that experts in hazardous materials are searching a property after the death of Boris Berezovsky, the self-exiled Russian tycoon who went from Kremlin kingmaker to fiery critic after a bitter falling out with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Police said a 67-year-old “believed to be” Berezovsky was found dead at the property in Ascot, a town 40 kilometres west of London on Saturday. Thames Valley police say his death is being treated as “unexplained.”