Land of the fat

Obesity kills 300,000 people a year in America and is the nation's number-one health hazard. Nowhere is this more true than in Mississippi, where food is cheap and exercise unheard of. Matthew Engel visits the heaviest state of a country that is in danger of busting the scales.

Fighting for Richard

In 1964, Richard Coman was severely brain damaged after he was deprived of oxygen at birth. But it was only this year that his parents won a £3m milestone victory for damages. Esther Addley meets a remarkable couple.