Report exposes lottery of life and death in UK

World Health Organisation report shows that people from poor areas in the UK die as much as decades earlier than the rich

Obama and Clinton unite in mutual show of support

Obama heaped praise on the Clintons who have given him their unequivocal support

A rousing, cathartic eulogy

Bill Clinton's support for Obama may not end the feuding in the Democratic party but it offers reconciliation

Bill Clinton tells America: 'Obama is ready to lead'

Despite the tensions between them, Clinton gave Barack Obama his unequivocal endorsement Watch the speech

Microsoft web browser threatens Google advertising

The new InPrivate feature on Internet Explorer 8, nicknamed 'porn mode', allows users to conceal the sites they have viewed

North Korean 'defector' faces spying trial

Woman who apparently arrived as a refugee from totalitarian state of North Korea alleged to have plotted assassinations

Obama prepares to hold back on the rhetoric

Barack Obama insists he will not seek to dazzle a TV audience estimated at tens of millions at the expense of his message

Kenya's honey hunter tribe driven from forest

Honey hunting tribe, the Ogiek, fear being driven from their Mau forest home in Kenyan Rift Valley by political unrest

Putin ratchets up Cold War fears over Black Sea

The Kremlin raised tensions further with a warning about 'direct confrontation' between American and Russian warships

French call for help in taming speeding Brits

Officers from Kent dealing with holidaymakers who pretend they don't understand when stopped by French gendarmes

Britain claims Ascension seabed in oil quest

Campaign at UN could be dry run for move to seek rights to oil reserves around Falklands, risking tension with Argentina

World in brief

Riot police ready to end protest | Hostage killed in Kabul | Riot police ready to end protest | Scrolls go online | Witch cleared | Hijackers give in

Boo all you like, Mugabe is in power

Only one thing is certain: President Robert Mugabe’s hand is still firmly on the rudder of Zimbabwe

Analysis: Nato ageements are at risk

Several areas of joint activity and assistance between Russia and the alliance are under threat in the row over Georgia

Obama 'message being lost' in convention noise

Amid the Barack Obama security scare and squabbles with the Clinton camp Democrats fear an opportunity is being missed

Biden backed by 'his greatest speechwriter'

Lord Kinnock gives a friendly assessment of the man who lifted passages from the former Labour leader's speech in 1987

UN hails drop in Afghan opium crop

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reveals the first drop in opium cultivation and production since 2005

Georgia begs the West for help

America, Britain, France and Germany denounced Russia’s unilateral move to recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia

Vatican condemns Hindu extremists

A Christian orphanage worker was burned to death in a wave of violence triggered by the death of Hindu leader

Miliband warns Russia over new Cold War

Foreign Secretary steps up rhetoric over Russian actions in Georgia during solidarity visit to Ukraine