'Terrible Pain' Prompts Surgery for Dying TV Star

Plus, Rihanna house hunts, and more

(NEWSER) - The funeral for Jade Goody, the British reality star who died of cervical cancer, will be held April 4, the BBC reports. A funeral procession will go from her house to a nearby church. Elsewhere:

• Rihanna was spotted house-hunting yesterday in the Hollywood Hills, the Sun reports.
• Struggling-for-cash Lindsay Lohan probably ain't too happy that her assistant scuffed up her $115,000 Maserati, according to TMZ.

Gossip rag runs death issue while reality star lives

(NEWSER) - OK! magazine jumped the proverbial gun today with the release of an issue “in loving memory” of British reality-TV star Jade Goody—who is still alive, the Guardian reports. The edition bills itself as the "official tribute issue 1981-2009," containing photos and recollections of Goody along with her “last words.” Goody has late-stage cancer but has not passed away yet. More»

(NEWSER) - Cancer-stricken reality star Jade Goody left her London hospital and returned home today, the Mail reports. New husband Jack Tweed, as well as a nurse from the hospital, accompanied her. Goody, who has only weeks to live, wants to die at home and was “thrilled” at the prospect of spending “as much time as possible with the boys and Jack,” her publicist said. More»

Jacko offers support; possible movie in talks

(NEWSER) - A hammer-wielding woman was arrested after sneaking into the London hospital room of dying reality-TV star Jade Goody yesterday, the Mail reports. Goody, whose husband had stepped out momentarily, awoke to the intruder “chanting and praying” over her. “Jade was very, very frightened and she screamed,” her publicist said. Goody had more welcome contact when Michael Jackson phoned to offer his support, the Sun adds. More»

Goody's death offers reality in an immaterial world: Bunting

(NEWSER) - A poll last week found that, after Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, the public figure Britons most respected was Jade Goody—the British reality TV star dying, very publicly, of cervical cancer. Once dismissed as racist and ignorant, Goody has become "a parable of modern-day redemption," writes Guardian columnist Madeleine Bunting. Amid a crisis of immaterial wealth, she offers "the irreducible basics of human life: love and death." More»