A 63-YEAR-OLD American man with a hernia plunged a six-inch butter knife into his abdomen to try to fix the problem, and later put a lit cigarette in the wound, according to police.

Elizabeth Taylor’s family mourned the screen legend in a brief private funeral service at a California cemetery famous for being the final resting place of Hollywood celebrities, including her good friend Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson took centre stage for the final time today at a funeral service at which friends and family were given the opportunity to grieve in private.

A suicidal man parked his off-road vehicle on a California railway line, setting off a crash between two commuter trains that killed at least 11 people in America’s worst train accident in nearly six years.