George Osborne introduces new 'living wage' but cuts working-age benefits

George Osborne has unveiled an unexpected boost for low-paid workers, introducing a compulsory national “living wage” in a budget that also contained an assault on many of the measures introduced by Labour to tackle poverty.

Euro zone turns from financial to political crisis

LONDON (MarketWatch) — A political crisis in Italy threatens fresh elections. The Portuguese government takes a hammering at the polls.Austria sees an upsurge in far-right and anti-euro parties. Germany drifts on without a government. Far-right parliamentarians are being arrested in Greece.