Selma Shakil, 27, with her daughter Fizar, in Delhi. Her son, Muzzamil, died in July last year aged one. Two million children die before the age of five every year in India, says Save the Children. Photograph: Gethin Chamberlain Millions of children die before their fifth birthday because developing countries skew public health spending to [...]

England’s Jermain Defoe celebrates after becoming the first England player to score a hat-trick at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium. Photograph: Gerry Penny/EPA Jermain Defoe became the first England player to score a hat-trick at the rebuilt national stadium last night and said his rewards were the “sweetest” of his career as Fabio Capello’s side sparked [...]

Ed Balls: disagrees with Tony Blair on the deficit. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images Ed Balls today rounded on Tony Blair for his claim that Labour had been wrong to allow the structural deficit to build up during the last decade. The Labour leadership contender said Blair was mistaken in his apparent support of the coalition’s [...]

Bank of England governor Mervyn King is betting that interest rates can be kept low without provoking an inflationary surge. Photograph PA What is a “temporary” effect on inflation? About three years and counting, it seems. Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, has cited the depreciation in sterling “since mid-2007″ as one reason [...]