It was a school of interiors, centred on his studios in Paddington and Holland Park: bare floors, old rags in piles, worn armchairs and cast-iron beds.

ECONOMIST: Lucian Freud, painter, died on July 20th, aged 88

Nearly 5m women are thought to be using old newspapers, rags or even tree fibre as alternatives, often leading to infections.

ECONOMIST: Lack of foreign exchange is making life unbearable

The 36-year-old is concluding the ultimate rags to riches career against '"he Executioner" Hopkins and then four-weight world champion Jones, two bonafide living legends who could no longer run from the Welshman.

BBC: Calzaghe hits back at the critics

In the latest attack on those involved in Mumbai's film industry , India's rags-to-riches music baron, 41-year-old Gulshan Kumar, was shot dead outside a temple, prompting the prime minister, Inder Gujral, to praise his contribution to the film-music business.

ECONOMIST: Exporting trouble

The film is a rags-to-riches tale of an improbable 18-year-old winner of the Hindi version of the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

BBC: Winslet and Slumdog sweep Globes