Almost half of all Americans live in a household where at least one member received government benefits in the first quarter of 2011, according to a new report. Data from the Census Bureau revealed that 49.1 per cent of the population live in a household which gets at least one kind of government benefit with many likely to receive more than one. The figure marks a steep rise in the amount of people... 

Italian trade unionists have protested against the government’s planned austerity measures amid budget talks between Premier Silvio Berlusconi and trade union representatives. Trade unions in Italy expressed their worries that the government’s tougher economic measures might heavily cut down on pensions, salaries and social welfare services. “We don’t want to pay for this crisis....