News Brief

There's still Hope (and Bo) for DAYS fans
"I'm always thinking, 'Am I going to get the call?'" says Kristian Alfonso (Hope), who's played heroine Hope Brady since 1983. "I never take anything for granted."

Alfonso says the cast was stunned to hear Hogestyn and Hall had gotten the ax.

"Everyone was aghast when we heard about Dee and Drake," she says. "Drake came up to me the other day and said, 'It's been so great working with you.' I said, 'Don't you dare say goodbye to me.' I felt tears starting to well."

The good news is that DAYS will stay on the air until 2010.

"We are picked up for 18 months," says Alfonso. "I've heard there are going to be more financial cuts, and not just our show."

Indeed, NBC has said it will cut $500 million in operating expenses over the next year.

"It's happening everywhere. I'm thankful every day I walk through those doors. The economy is a disaster right now."

NEIGHBOURS star Satchell escapes attack on Taj
Former NEIGHBOURS actresss Brooke Satchwell and her film editor boyfriend David Gross were Friday on a flight to Singapore after a harrowing 36 hours in India's financial capital Mumbai, still battling a coordinated terror attack that began two nights ago. Satchwell was at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel Wednesday night when gunshots and grenade attacks by militants turned the luxury hotel into a war zone.

Beacham now confirmed for CORRIE
Former DYNASTY and THE COLBYS star Stephanie Beacham will join the cast of CORONATION STREET in January as a potential love interest for soap stalwart Ken Barlow. The 61-year-old, seen last year on the BBC's STRICTLY COME DANCING, will play Martha, a slightly eccentric theatre actress who lives on a canal barge. Beacham will be in the show for around three to four months, according to the long-running ITV1 drama's website.

CORRIE star caught urinating outside nightclub
CORONATION STREET actor Ryan Thomas was given an £80 fine for urinating in public outside Club Ice in Westbury at the weekend. The 24-year-old soap star, who plays Jason Grimshaw, was ordered to pay the fine after he was caught relieving himself against a bush by Warminster’s PC Andy Lee in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Local taxi driver Ben Gregory, of DJ’s Taxi firm in Warminster, witnessed the incident. Mr Gregory said: “He was put in handcuffs and was in the back of the car for a good 15 minutes. He was released with a piece of paper and got into a DJ’s car. He slammed the door so hard I’m surprised he didn’t smash the window. He didn’t look happy at all.”

Gay Wired's 10 Favorite Actors in 'Positive' Roles
#7- Kimberly McCullough in her two-time Emmy-winning role as Robin Scorpio (1985–present), daughter of Robert and Anna from the Luke and Laura era, as an HIV-positive doctor, in the soap opera GENERAL HOSPITAL.

Singapore Soap Opera Helps Fight Spread of AIDS (Update1)
Singapore has turned to soap opera to stem an HIV infection rate that’s doubled in the past decade. BY MY SIDE, a 20- episode series in Mandarin with English subtitles, tells the story of a married, middle-aged Chinese man who contracts the AIDS-causing virus, a reflection of the campaign’s target age group. Tomorrow, a pop concert will also try to get more young people talking about, and having, safer sex.

Eric Braeden in new issue of HELLO! Canada
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS star and Soap Opera Digest cover boy welcomes HELLO! Canada into his Los Angeles home in the issue hitting newsstands today. Former HOME AND AWAY star Kylie Minogue is also featured in the new issue.

Niven in Christmas film
Nothing says Christmas quite like Tom Arnold. The boisterous ex-husband of Roseanne Barr takes a softer turn in a Vermont-made holiday movie, Moonlight & Mistletoe, that premieres Saturday on the Hallmark Channel.

Moonlight & Mistletoe was filmed in June, bringing Christmas in late spring to Chester as well as Edgewood Studios in Rutland. The movie also stars Candace Cameron-Bure and Barbara Niven (ONE LIFE TO LIVE; THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL).