Thousands March Against Economic Gloom in Spain, UK

MADRID (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched in Madrid on Saturday in a protest against spending cuts and tax rises amid a grueling recession. Teachers, nurses and social services workers thronged the capital city one day after Spain said it would present new economic reforms at the end of September likely to contain more austerity measures. The measures are seen as a precursor to an economic program which Spain will have to implement in return for support from euro zone rescue funds and the European Central Bank to help lower its borrowing costs. ...

Max Fraad Wolff submits:We continue to see divergent streams of data on the US economy. There are flows of good news and flows of less bad, but far from good news. There is a macroeconomic dumbbell forming, defined by areas of strength at either end of a central void. The middle portion of the recovery is dramatically absent. Financial asset markets and large, globally diversified firms have begun the rebuilding process. Bond demand is red hot.

Tens of thousands took to the streets across the globe for May Day on Sunday, to press for workers' rights amid tough economic times and to back an array of other causes.From Hong Kong to Indonesia and from Moscow to Paris, protesters marched and rallied in largely peaceful demonstrations for international Labour Day.In Russia, hundreds of thousands took to the streets in May Day rallies, most showing support for the Kremlin amid a handful of opposition protests.