Everything tastes better with bacon. Or so goes a flawed bit of mid-Noughties American wisdom.

A Francis Bacon painting that has been held in a private collection for more than 30 years could fetch as much as £25 million when it goes on sale next month.

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Celebrities have previously insured everything from their legs to smiles but a master butcher has proved he is a cut above - as he prepares to have his taste buds insured for £1 million.

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Outlook "Global stocks have hit a fresh six-month high", read the story, "as hopes for a worldwide economic recovery outweigh the sentiment-sapping impact of the lingering eurozone fiscal crisis".

Pork is becoming the meat of choice for Britain's cash-strapped households after big jumps in beef and lamb prices over the past year.

More than two decades ago, Sebastian Faulks wrote for The Independent about a group of First World War veterans searching for the burial places of their fallen comrades. The experience lingered – and ultimately led him to write a novel beloved of millions, now a major BBC drama. This is the piece that inspired a modern classic

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The most fatal of all cancers is linked today for the first time with the consumption of processed meat.

Luxury spas in the Maldives, along with massage parlours, must close, the government ordered yesterday. The move threatens the income from tourism, a sector that generates nearly 30 per cent of GDP.

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Experts split over supposed lover's claim that hoard of drawings is work of revered artist