Mark Serwotka attacks austerity 'assault' on public services

Austerity pay: Public-sector workers in big three trade unions move towards summer of confrontation with Con-Dem government

Hundreds of thousands of public-sector workers step towards widespread confrontation with the government over pay

Bedrom tax: Councils deny 1,600 pleas for financial help to disabled victims

A freedom of information request shows 49 councils rejected 1,637 applications for discretionary housing payments by disabled tenants hit by the Con-Dems hated housing benefit cuts

World in Brief: 17/5/2014

Italian ministers approve sell-off of postal service; Portugal officially ends its bailout; US state of Arkansas resumes same-sex marriages

Retail union Unite vows to see off 100 job cuts at supermarket Morrisons

Union pledges to fight for shop distribution workers threatened with the sack by Britain's fourth-largest supermarket

Care UK mental health workers rally in Doncaster to mark end of latest strike against massive cuts

Mental health staff in Doncaster finish their latest two-week strike against cuts to pay and conditions with a rally in the city

Healthcare: Who's nursing the NHS?

Britain’s hospital staff are at breaking point. Stretched to the limit by government cuts, underpaid after years of pay freezes, yet they are still prepared to go above and beyond. ANN CZERNIK recounts her experiences on being admitted to hospital in North Yorkshire

Economics: The battle for France’s industrial jewel

France’s manufacturing giant Alstom is set to be swallowed by General Electric, how about a ‘Franco-French’ solution? asks TOM GILL

Growth figures: Lies, damned lies and statistics

STEVEN WALKER explains why the GDP figures being trumpeted by the government aren’t what they might seem to be

Russell Brand: People's Assembly will bring down pro-austerity governments