US birth rates rose slightly in 2021 after a steep drop in the first year ...

CNN —

Early speculation that the Covid-19 pandemic may lead to a baby boom has been turned on its head, with early data showing more of a baby bust – and worsening rates of some adverse outcomes.

After a steep drop in the first year of the pandemic, US birth rates rose only slightly in 2021, according to provisional data published Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

It was the first time in seven years that the US birth rate increased. Births had been dropping by an average of 2% a year since 2014, including a decline of twice that much between 2019 and 2020.

Nearly 3.7 million babies were born in the US in 2021; that’s about 46,000 more than were born in 2020, but the 1% increase still put the number short of 2019 levels.

The drop in birth rates in 2020 was one of the largest in decades, and the slight rise in 2021 “doesn’t necessarily mean that that declining trend is over,” said Beth Jarosz, a demographer and program director with the nonprofit Population Reference Bureau with a focus on child well-being.

Postponed pregnancies or changes in access to contraceptives could have influenced 2021 birth rates, and “2020 was such a weird year,” she said.

“I’m always a little bit skeptical of just one year [of data]. But in this case, I really would need to see what happens in 2022 to try to suggest that that’s any kind of a rebound or trend.”

While birth rates rose for white and Hispanic women in 2021, they dropped for Black, Asian and American Indian women.

Overall, rates of c-sections – including those for low-risk deliveries – continued upward trends. Nearly a third (32%) of all deliveries and more than a quarter (26%) of low-risk deliveries were c-sections.

Preterm birth rates also increased in 2021. About 10.5% of infants were born at less than 37 weeks gestation, the highest that rate has been since at least 2007.

Rates of c-section and preterm birth were disproportionately high for Black women, the provisional data shows.

“When a pregnant person is under stress, that can lead to an increase in preterm births. And clearly, there was a lot of stress in 2020 and 2021,” Jarosz said.

Some research has also linked Covid-19 infection during pregnancy to a higher risk of preterm birth.

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Teen birth rates reached another record low nationwide, with about 14 births for every 1,000 females age 15 to 19.

But birth rates rose for all age groups 25 and up – especially among those ages 35 to 39. The average age of mothers at time of birth has been on the rise for at least a decade. And although the average age of mothers is not yet available for 2021, preliminary data show that more than half of births were among mothers who were 30 or older, up from 49% in 2020.

Average age of new US moms at all-time high, now over 26

Associated Press

NEW YORK — The average age of first-time mothers is at an all-time high in the U.S — over 26.

He's the lead author of a report released Thursday that put the average age at 26 years, 4 months for women who had their first child in 2014.The change is largely due to a big drop in teen moms. But more first births to older women also are tugging the number up, said T.J. Mathews of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The government began tracking the age of new mothers around 1970 when the average was 21. It's been mostly climbing ever since, and spiked in about the last five years.

The number rocketed immediately after a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion, which is used mostly by young unmarried women. Also fueling the rise were improvements in birth control and greater opportunities for women, experts said.

15 January events for Arizona kids

"Women are staying in school longer, they're going into the workforce, they're waiting to get married, and they're waiting to have kids," said John Santelli, a Columbia University professor of population and family health.

"It's been going on in the U.S. since the 1950s," and in many other countries as well, he added.

Overall, the average age of first-time moms has been rising in every racial and ethnic group, and in every state. Since 2000, some of the most dramatic increases were for black mothers and for moms living along the West Coast.

However, the Northeast still has the highest average ages. Topping the list are Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, each at about 29, and Connecticut and New York, at or near 28.

A parent�s quandary: Which age is best?

In New York's Park Slope neighborhood in Brooklyn — an enclave for families with young children — older moms are common.

Pushing a stroller on a frigid Wednesday morning, Meisha Welch said she didn't have the first of her two children until just after her 38th birthday.

"Many of my friends I grew up with, we all have small children," said Welch, now 42. "We had children at what in the past may have seemed like an older age. But now it feels more average."

___

Online: CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

South Korea records world's lowest fertility rate -- again | CNN

Seoul, South Korea CNN —

South Korea has broken its own record for the world’s lowest fertility rate, according to official figures released Wednesday, as the country struggles to reverse its years-long trend of declining births.

The country’s fertility rate, which indicates the average number of children a woman will have in her lifetime, sunk to 0.81 in 2021 – 0.03% lower than the previous year, according to government-run Statistics Korea.

To put that into perspective, the 2021 fertility rate was 1.6 in the United States and 1.3 in Japan, which also saw its lowest rate on record last year. In some African countries, where fertility rates are the highest in the world, the figure is 5 or 6.

To maintain a stable population, countries need a fertility rate of 2.1 – anything above that indicates population growth.

South Korea’s birth rate has been dropping since 2015, and in 2020 the country recorded more deaths than births for the first time – meaning the number of inhabitants shrank, in what’s called a “population death cross.”

And as fertility rates drop, South Korean women are also having babies later in life. The average age of women that gave birth in 2021 was 33.4 – 0.2 years older than the previous year, according to the statistics agency.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s population is also getting older, indicating a demographic decline that experts fear will leave the country with too few people of working age to support its burgeoning elderly population – both by paying taxes and filling jobs in fields such as health care and home assistance.

As of last November, 16.8% of South Koreans were over 65 years old, while just 11.8% were age 14 or under.

That proportion of elderly Koreans is rising rapidly – it increased by more than 5% between 2020 and 2021, according to census data. Meanwhile, the working age population – people between ages 15 and 64 – declined by 0.9% between 2020 and 2021.

In South Korea and Japan, there are similar reasons behind the decline in births – including demanding work cultures, stagnating wages, rising costs of living and skyrocketing housing prices.

Many South Korean women say they just don’t have the time, money, or emotional capacity to go on dates as they put their career first in a highly competitive job market in which they often face a patriarchal culture and gender inequality.

The South Korean government has introduced several measures in recent years to tackle the falling fertility rate, including allowing both parents to take parental leave at the same time and extending paid paternal leave.

Social campaigns have encouraged men to take on a more active role in childcare and housework, and in some parts of the country, authorities are handing out “new baby vouchers” to encourage parents to have more children.

Gawon Bae Jessie Yeung
Gawon Bae
Jessie Yeung

Fact check: 47% of American young adults live with their parents

The claim: 52% of young adults currently live with their parents, the highest rate ever

A statistic shared widely on Facebook had many commenters dismayed about the financial independence of Gen Z and Millennial young adults.

"52% of young adults now live with their parents, the highest rate ever, surpassing even the Great Depression," reads a meme posted by left-leaning Facebook page The Other 98% on Nov. 16. "The most educated (and most in debt) generation in history did everything they were supposed to and got this. The system. Does. Not. Work."

The page's post was shared over 15,000 times, and the same message also appeared in more than 20 other Facebook posts soon after. As the post notes, it was first shared as a tweet by liberal influencer Dan Price on Sept. 7, 2020.

"This woke, progressive generation is lazy and un-appreciative," one commenter wrote. "They expect to be taken care of."

However, the meme leaves out the main reason that a record share of young adults moved in with their parents: the coronavirus pandemic. The 52% figure comes from July 2020, soon after millions of young adults temporarily relocated due to lockdowns and other restrictions.

As lockdowns and other health restrictions eased, the rate has gone down to pre-pandemic levels. The post also leaves out that these figures include parents who have moved in with adult children.

USA TODAY reached out to Price and The Other 98% for comment.

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Stat comes from July 2020 and was affected by temporary, COVID-19-related disruptions

The viral tweet is based on a Pew Research Center analysis of the Current Population Survey, which the Census Bureau administers to a probability-selected sample of around 60,000 households each month.

Monthly survey data showed the percentage of young adults aged 18-29 who were living with parents jumped from 47% to 52% between February and May 2020, as nearly one in ten young adults (9%) said they relocated due to the pandemic, Pew reported. The figure then stayed at 52% through July 2020.

University shutdowns also played a role in sending young adults back home, Daniel McCue, a researcher at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, noted in an analysis of March 2021 data from the Current Population Survey.

Fact check:COVID-19 deaths didn't cause U.S. labor shortage

"The higher prevalence of living with parents among those 18-24 at the end of 2020 was almost entirely university students living in their parents’ homes, and not young adults in the labor force," McCue writes.

Because the Census Bureau counts college students in on-campus dormitories as living with their parents, the students living in off-campus housing caused this spike.

The number in the July 2020 Pew report was also likely inflated by the timing of the annual survey. It was delayed from March to July in 2020 because of COVID-19 concerns, according to the Census Bureau, and the proportion of young adults at home rises about 2% each summer, Pew said.

Many commenters assumed the statistic only included young adults who lived in their parents' homes because they could not afford to finance a separate living space, or would not. But that's not always the situation, as the data includes parents living with children as well.

The Pew analysis from July 2020 showed about 46% of young adults lived in their parents' households, while 6% of young adults lived with parents in their own homes or another residence.

New data shows young adults living with parents no longer a record

The viral tweet, now circulating as a meme, says that "52% of young adults now live with their parents, the highest rate ever." While this was true when it was first posted, that's no longer the case.

The prior record – 48% – was established during the Great Depression era, though the number has been in the mid-to-high-forties several times in the 2010s, a Pew chart shows. The 52% rate during the pandemic topped that number.

But the Facebook post from November 2021 was treating this as current data, which it isn't.

The most recent data, collected in October 2021, shows that 46.5% of young adults now live with their parents, based on USA TODAY's analysis of monthly data from the Current Population Survey.

Our rating: Missing Context

Based on our research, we rate MISSING CONTEXT the claim that 52% of young adults currently live with their parents, the highest rate ever. This statistic does not represent the current situation, as the post suggests; it’s based on data collected in July 2020, which saw an abnormal spike in young adults living with parents due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The post doesn't mention the pandemic and leaves out how that number includes parents who have moved in with their adult children.

Our fact-check sources:

Aleszu Bajak contributed reporting.

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

Premature baby rate increased in 2021, March of Dimes report finds

A baby is preterm if born before 37 weeks of gestational age.

Preterm births can be caused by health conditions in the birthing parent and can lead to developmental complications in babies.

Asian and Pacific Islander mothers saw the largest preterm birth increase. Black and Native mothers' preterm birth rates remained highest.

Meanwhile, southeastern states and Puerto Rico saw some of the highest rates of preterm births.

Preterm births last year reached their highest peak since 2007 – with more than 383,000 born before 37 weeks of gestational age in the United States, according to a new report.

In 2021, roughly 10.5% of U.S. babies were born premature, according to the annual March of Dimes “Report Card,” which rated the United States at D+. The score dropped from its C- rating in 2020, when the preterm birth rate saw its first decline in six years, a slight decrease to 10.1%.

The report released this week found disparities widened between white mothers and Native and Black mothers, who are already 62% more likely to have a preterm birth and nearly three times as likely as white moms to die of childbirth-related causes. In 2021, Black mothers saw a 3% increase and Native mothers a 6% increase in preterm births, according to the analysis.

Of all groups, Asian and Pacific Islander mothers saw the largest preterm birth increase – an 8% surge – even though births to Asian mothers decreased that year, and they have the lowest preterm birth rate overall.

Experts say the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed significantly to the rising preterm birth rates, and the findings signal a need for more efforts toward ensuring equitable prenatal care access.

STUDY:COVID contributed to a quarter of maternal deaths from 2020 to 2021

What is premature birth? What causes preterm labor?

Preterm births can be caused by various health conditions in the birthing parent, like high blood pressure and diabetes, as well as stress, problems with the uterus or placenta, infection or inflammation.

Being born premature can lead to significant developmental complications in babies, including undeveloped respiratory systems causing breathing problems, and hearing, vision and behavioral issues.

Pregnant people who contract COVID-19 are 40% more likely to go into preterm labor, said Dr. Zsakeba Henderson, an obstetrician and gynecologist who is the March of Dimes’ senior vice president and interim chief medical and health officer.

Additionally, lockdowns and changes or delays in care during the pandemic may have caused gaps in prenatal care, which Black and Native mothers already suffered disproportionately, noted Henderson, who leads the nonprofit’s Office of Maternal and Child Health Impact.

Where in the US are preterm births most common?

Only four states saw a decrease in preterm births, and 45 states and Washington, D.C., saw an increase, according to the analysis by the March of Dimes, a maternal and infant health research and advocacy nonprofit.

Southeastern states, as well as Puerto Rico, saw some of the highest rates of preterm births. The report also showed states with some of the lowest maternal and infant health scores were in the South, a region plagued by structural racism where more than half of the nation’s Black population lives.

“I don't think that's a coincidence. Consistently, the worst rates have been seen in that region,” Henderson said. “These states have large populations of Black mothers who experienced the highest rates.”

'A national emergency':Black women still 40% more likely to die of breast cancer than white women

'Not doing enough'

Infant mortality rates decreased slightly overall, but disparities remained, with Black babies dying at 10.8 per 1,000 births, Native babies at 8.4 per 1,000 births, and Hispanic babies at 5 per 1,000 births. White babies saw 4.6 deaths per 1,000 births.

The trends are “disturbing," said Dr. Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, who is chair and professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Diego.

“It shows that we are not doing enough. It suggests we are moving in the wrong direction in terms of solutions,” said the physician, who is a specialist in maternal-fetal medicine and high-risk pregnancies. “Any increase in preterm birth is concerning because of the downstream effects on the infant after a preterm delivery.”

Despite “decades of research” on preterm births, the increase “highlights that fact that we have very few reliable interventions to prevent preterm delivery,” she added.

More on this topic:

Rise in Asian American preterm births

While the increase in Asian preterm births was stark, they remained a small percentage of the overall increase, Henderson said. Black and American Indian mothers still had the highest rates, the report found.

“We don't know the cause for that increase (in Asian mothers)," she said. "That's something worth looking into for further investigation and paying attention to as we continue to follow these trends."

Still, experts say multiple factors could have contributed. Asian American mothers are having their first babies at an older age, which can increase risk of preterm labor.

“Asian American women have the oldest average age of first-time motherhood, and it is also associated with preterm birth,” said Deepa Dongarwar, a data scientist at the University of Texas Health Science Center who studies Asian American maternal and infant health. “That actually puts the infant at a very big risk.”

Additionally, Dongarwar noted Asian Americans have been found to use infertility treatments at higher rates compared to other groups. These treatments “are also associated with increased risk of multiple pregnancies, which in turn is associated with preterm birth,” she explained.

Dr. Yvonne Cheng, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist with Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation in San Francisco, called the rise “disappointing and concerning.” Asian communities suffered specific stressors during the pandemic, she noted.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, the unknown surrounding the COVID-19 virus and its effect on pregnancy created a lot of fear, stress and also anger toward and within the Asian American communities,” she said.

Asian communities are also diverse. Further analyses into different groups can help inform where needs are, experts said. One study by Dongarwar found U.S. Filipina and Vietnamese mothers had increased odds of preterm birth compared with East Asian mothers.

Cheng said COVID-19’s social isolation could have decreased access to prenatal care and contributed to preterm delivery.

“Pre-existing medical or obstetric conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and multiple births are significant contributing factors,” she said. “But we cannot ignore other factors ... inadequate prenatal care, psychosocial stress, delayed child-bearing.”

Read more on this topic:

Reach Nada Hassanein at nhassanein@usatoday.com or on Twitter @nhassanein_.

RSV hospitalizations shoot up to levels typically seen in December ...

CNN —

RSV hospitalizations were significantly higher than normal again last week amid a respiratory virus season that’s hitting the United States earlier and harder than usual, according to new data published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cumulative RSV hospitalization rates have already reached levels that are typically not seen until December in the US. They’re rising among all age groups, but especially among children.

RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is a common respiratory infection that typically causes mild, cold-like symptoms, but it can cause serious illness, particularly in older adults and infants.

About four out of every 1,000 babies under 6 months old have been hospitalized with RSV so far this season – just about a month in. More than two in every 1,000 babies between 6 months and one year have been hospitalized with RSV so far this season, as have more than one in every 1,000 children between age one and two.

Overall in the US, nearly one in five (19%) PCR tests for RSV were positive for the week ending October 29, nearly doubling over the course of the month.

Weekly cases counts are less complete for the most current weeks, but there have been more RSV cases detected by PCR tests each week in October 2022 than any other week in at least the past two years. Weekly case counts for the week ending October 22 were more than double any other week in 2020 or 2021.

And while there are signs that cases are slowing in the southern region of the US, test positivity rates and cases continue to rise steeply in other regions, especially in the Midwest.

The true national burden of RSV cases and hospitalizations is likely greater than reported because only a sample of laboratories and hospitals participate in the CDC’s surveillance programs.

Pediatric hospitals remain more full than average with patients with RSV and other conditions. According to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services, more than three-quarters of pediatric hospital beds (77%) and pediatric ICU beds (80%) are currently in use nationwide, compared with an average of about two-thirds full over the past two years.

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Seventeen states have less than one in five hospital beds available. Six of them are more than 90% full: Rhode Island, Arizona, Kentucky, Maine, Delaware and Minnesota, along with Washington, DC.

Flu season in the US hasn't been this bad this early in more than a ...

CNN —

Flu season has ramped up early in the United States, and flu hospitalizations are worse than usual for this time of year, according to data published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It’s been more than a decade – since the H1N1 swine flu pandemic – since flu hospitalization rates have been this high at this point in the season.

The CDC estimates that there have been at least 880,000 illnesses, nearly 7,000 hospitalizations and 360 deaths from flu in the US this season. The first pediatric death in the country was reported this week.

Getting the flu shot is still the best way to protect yourself, experts say. And the best time to do it is now.

“Please get it this afternoon. Do not linger,” said Dr. William Schaffner, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and a professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“We’re in a bit of a race with the virus,” he said, with the flu season starting at least a month earlier than usual. And it takes between 10 days and two weeks for the shot to offer full protection.

Similar to previous years, the CDC recommended that people get their flu vaccine before the end of October. But flu vaccination rates are lower than typical for this time of year.

About 128 million doses of flu vaccine have been distributed this season, compared with 140 million at this point last year and 156 million the year before that, according to CDC data.

Even though the current season started early, there is more than enough reason for those who haven’t gotten their shot to do it now, Schaffner said.

“I would assure anyone who hasn’t gotten it yet that they’re not too late,” he said. And “the recommendations couldn’t be simpler”: Anyone 6 months or older in the US is eligible for and recommended to get the flu vaccine, with rare exception.

“The flu season will be with us for at least a few more months. We don’t know whether it will be shorter or longer than usual,” Schaffner said. “There is still very good reason to get your protection from the vaccine.”

And people who are vaccinated can still get sick – but the goal of the vaccine is to protect against the most severe outcomes and complications.

“We can acknowledge that the influenza vaccine is not perfect. It cannot protect absolutely everyone completely against influenza,” he said. “They help keep you out of the emergency room, the hospital, the intensive care unit, and they protect you from dying. As I used to like to tell my patients, ‘I’m so glad you’re still here to complain.’ “

Overall, CDC data shows that the share of lab tests that are positive for influenza has more than doubled over the past two weeks and that flu activity is highest in the South. Additional data from Walgreens that tracks prescriptions for antiviral treatments – such as Tamiflu – suggest hot spots in the Gulf Coast area, including Houston and New Orleans.

And the flu season is ramping up amid the surge of RSV that is filling pediatric hospitals and an ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Eleven states – along with Washington, DC, and New York City – are reporting high or very high levels of respiratory illness, according to the CDC.

The surge of respiratory viruses may get worse before it gets better, Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Mayo Clinic Children’s Center, said Thursday.

She urged people to try to prevent any respiratory illness, including by getting Covid-19 vaccines and boosters, and the annual flu shot.

“Making sure that your kids and anyone over 6 months of age in your family are getting their flu vaccines this year is even more important because we haven’t seen a lot of influenza the last couple of years, and so everyone’s going into this season with less immunity, less protection from prior infections,” Rajapakse said.

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Those at risk for complications from respiratory illness, including the elderly and those with underlying conditions, should contact their health care providers as soon as they start to notice any symptoms, Schaffner said. There are treatments for Covid-19 and influenza that offer extra protection from severe outcomes, he said.

“From the point of view of respiratory viruses, the winter season has started early,” Schaffner said. “If you do develop symptoms, please don’t go to school or work. Shelter at home a little bit so you’re not out there spreading the virus – whatever it is.”

Long waiting lists, long drives and costly care hinder many kids ...

CNN —

The pandemic has been tough, but the return to in-person schooling has also been emotionally difficult for Mary Norris’ 12-year-old daughter.

Norris says her daughter was bullied relentlessly at the school she attended last year in Fresno, California, near where her father lives. So she transferred to a school in Madera, where her mother lives. This year is going better, but Norris says her daughter is still struggling emotionally.

She recently got a call from a school staff member who said her daughter had written something disturbing in her journal.

“She wrote in her book that she wishes that she were dead, and she wanted to kill herself. And my daughter’s always a very happy, really smiley kid,” Norris said.

Norris is one of more than 2,000 adults surveyed this summer by CNN and the Kaiser Family Foundation about mental health issues in America. The nationally representative sample included more than 500 parents.

Nearly half of those parents, 47%, say the pandemic has negatively affected their kids’ mental health, with 17% saying it had a major negative impact.

More than 8 out of 10 parents said they’re at least somewhat worried about depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug use negatively affecting the life of US teens, while roughly three-quarters said they were worried about self-harm or pandemic-related loneliness and isolation.

More than 4 in 10 said they were very worried about alcohol and drug use, anxiety and depression affecting teens. Lower-income parents – those making less than $40,000 a year – were more likely than those in higher-income households to say they’re very worried about self-harm, eating disorders, depression and alcohol and drug use.

According to the survey, more than half of Americans (55%) think most children and teenagers in the US aren’t able to get the mental health services they need.

Many areas lack mental health providers for kids and teens

Norris was one of several parents who answered that they weren’t able to get mental health services for their children because they were unable to find a provider.

She estimates that she’s called more than 20 therapists in Madera and Fresno, looking for someone who can see her daughter outside of school. Her daughter is covered by insurance, but Norris can’t find anyone willing to take it.

Paying out of pocket for care is not an option: “Unfortunately, my husband and I are both on Social Security because we’re both disabled. So our funds are completely limited. There’s no way I can afford to pay $120 an hour,” she said.

Norris’ situation is disturbingly common. The American Psychological Association estimates that half of children in the United States who have a mental health disorder do not receive the treatment they need, a circumstance that experts say only gotten worse during the pandemic.

According to the latest work force estimates from the association, which were published in 2020, there are roughly five child or adolescent psychologists for every 100,000 people under the age of 18 across the country.

That rough average obscures huge disparities in access. Mental health providers who specialize in care for kids are concentrated in urban areas but missing from rural communities. A large majority of counties in the US – 80% – have no child or adolescent psychologists at all, according to the association.

Other types of mental health professionals also treat children, such as licensed clinical social workers and school counselors, but they are also in short supply.

Eric Sparks, assistant executive director of the American School Counselors Association, says his group doesn’t have hard numbers on the shortage, but “we are hearing it loud and clear from school districts and state departments of education.”

A 2016 report from the federal Health Resources Services Administration – the most recent available – projected work force shortages of nearly 50,000 jobs across the spectrum of five mental health professions by 2025, and that was assuming no increase in demand.

Many experts feel that this scarcity has been accelerated and deepened by the stresses of the pandemic.

Karen Stamm has been leading the American Psychological Association’s efforts to survey psychologists who treat children, and she says the latest findings, from September 2021, showed that child psychologists were getting more patient referrals and had fewer cancellations or no-shows than before the pandemic.

“One statistic I found particularly staggering is that 65% of respondents in September of 2021 had no capacity for new patients,” she said.

Child psychologists are swamped

Mary Alvord, a psychologist, runs a large practice of 19 mental health providers outside Washington, DC, and says her practice is mostly focused on children and teens.

“We’ve always had a waitlist, but not like now,” Alvord said. “We’re telling people five to six months, and it’s killing me.”

Her practice has started more therapy groups to try to treat as many kids as possible, but even with these groups, they are swamped. None of the therapists in her practice takes insurance, and that’s a situation that she knows widens disparities: Families who can’t afford mental health services see their children struggle and fall behind in school, leading to less economic opportunity and a continued ability not to be able to get their mental health needs addressed as adults.

Alvord has a full-time staffer who returns every call, and she says she freely refers to other area providers in an effort to help.

“The problem is, everybody else is booked, too,” she said.

In 2016, Alvord started a nonprofit organization called Resilience Across Borders that makes teacher training videos to try to help increase the reach of these services. The videos explain how to teach kids things like self-regulation and conversational skills – topics chosen based on her surveys of teachers during the pandemic and what they thought would be most helpful for their students.

Other organizations are also trying to get creative to reach underserved children.

One, TeamUp for Children, has placed full-time mental health providers in seven federally qualified health centers around the Boston area. These clinics provide outpatient primary care, regardless of a person’s ability to pay.

With this system, a primary care clinician may pick up on an emerging emotional concern at an annual well child visit – for example, a teenager reporting trouble sleeping because of anxiety. That clinician would then do a “warm handoff,” having a mental health professional come see the young person at the same visit to address the concern. A team of community health workers – volunteers – can follow up with the family after they return home to see how they’re doing.

“I think we really have focused a lot on making sure that there’s prompt access and that the care that they are receiving is as comprehensive as we’re able to provide,” said Anita Morris, the project director for TeamUp.

She says this model – integrating mental health services into primary care – is being copied to varying degrees in pilot projects across the country.

Long drives, long waits for help

Mary Norris’ daughter is getting some support at school. She sees a counselor for group therapy sessions twice a week, but the sessions will end after six weeks. Norris says she’s not sure what the family will do after that.

A friend who is a licensed therapist has offered to see her daughter, but she’s an hour away. Norris says the cost of gas alone will force some hard choices.

“I’m going to have to pay for it with either letting bills go or having less food. Something’s got to give in order to make that happen,” Norris said. “Her mental well-being is more valuable than any other bill or any type of food I could ever want to eat.”

Jenny Walker and her husband feel the same way. Walker is an instructional coach – a professional who works with teachers to improve the quality of the lessons – at a school in Traverse City, Michigan. She says she sees children’s mental health struggles firsthand. Her family has them, too.

Walker also responded to the CNN and KFF survey, saying that she had also struggled to find a provider.

Her youngest son has obsessive-compulsive disorder. Her oldest has mild autism and ADHD. When her kids needed to see a child psychiatrist, there were only two in town who could treat them. One had a waiting list that was more than six months long, and the other didn’t take insurance.

“We ended up traveling 2½ hours to Grand Rapids to take our children to a place that did accept insurance,” she said.

Her sons were diagnosed before Covid-19 hit, she said, but the pandemic made everything worse. One of them rode in a car just fine pre-pandemic, but now he gets carsick and vomits on nearly every trip.

“That was not there at all before the pandemic,” Walker said.

She says he also hated online learning and developed new compulsive behaviors sitting in front of a computer all day.

The family eventually transferred to the psychiatrist in town who doesn’t take insurance. They use money from a health savings account to pay for it.

“Our savings account is our HSA account, which is what pays for my kids to get therapy. We dump as much money as we can into that,” she said.

But the family makes sacrifices to do that. “My husband drives a beat-up old Jeep that he wrenches on to keep going because we can’t afford to buy another vehicle if we’re going to pay out-of-pocket for these services.” They can’t afford to fix up their house or take family vacations.

But they feel lucky too, Walker says, because so many of the families she works with don’t have these options. Like Norris’ daughter, some get some help at school, but they may not get the full suite of services they need.

Walker says she sees the results of lack of access to these services at school.

“Unfortunately, what happens to those kids, a lot of times what we see is, it impacts their ability to learn in the classroom,” she said. They’re anxious, preoccupied, depressed or worried, and they can’t focus on their schoolwork – ultimately affecting the level of education they get and possibly their job prospects, too.

“And they kind of fall between the cracks,” Walker said. “So maybe they graduate, maybe they don’t, you know?”

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The KFF CNN Mental Health Survey was conducted by SSRS from July 28 through August 9 among a random national sample of 2,004 adults. The poll includes 1,603 adults who were surveyed online after being recruited using probability-based methods and 401 adults who were selected by random digit dialing and reached on landlines or cellphones by a live interviewer. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The survey also includes an oversample of people with children under 18 for a total subsample of 509 parents. That subset was weighted to its proper share of the overall adult population of the United States. Results among parents have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 6 percentage points.

How long are cats pregnant for? What to know about feline pregnancy

Learning that your cat is pregnant may surprise you, especially when you weren’t expecting a litter of new-born felines anytime soon. Knowing how long your cat is pregnant can be crucial to planning your and your pet’s lives to ensure the safety and health of your pet.

It’s also important to find good pet owners for the kitties if you’re planning to give them away. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, approximately 3.2 million cats end up in U.S. animal shelters every year.

Being a responsible pet owner could start with knowing how long your cat can be pregnant.

Why do cats knead you?:And why do they purr? Explaining your pet's common behavior.

So your dog is pregnant:How long are dog pregnancies, anyway?

How long are cats pregnant?

Cat pregnancies are estimated to last around 63 to 65 days on average or about two months, according to PetMD.

Under a vet’s supervision, a blood test, ultrasound, X-ray or abdominal palpation are the most common ways to accurately tell if your cat is pregnant.

How long do cats live?:Here’s how long to expect your feline friend’s nine lives to last.

How long after a cat starts showing will she give birth?

Pregnant cats, also known as queens, start showing about halfway through their pregnancies. For some cats, the showing can be a marker to tell she’s in the middle of her pregnancy, about 30 days in. For cats that are overweight, it can be hard to determine when they’re showing conclusively.

Just Curious:Answering your everyday questions

Can you pick up a pregnant cat?

Picking up your pregnant cat who's getting rounder by the minute might be tempting, but picking her the right way is important for her and her kittens' safety. If you do have to pick your cat, Purina, a pet product company, says to "scoop" her up from the bottom to avoid touching her sensitive belly which might cause her discomfort or possibly hurt the kittens.

Avoid juggling your cat in any way, especially toward the end of the pregnancy. Too much activity can cause her stress.

How many kittens can a cat have in her first litter?

According to Cats Protection Guide, a cat can have between one to nine kittens in one litter but an average litter size is four to six kittens for most breeds.

For a first time queen, it's possible her litter is smaller than the average, birthing about two to three kittens.

How many times can a cat get pregnant in a year?

Technically, cats can get pregnant up to five times a year since their gestation period lasts only for about two months. However, a veterinarian on PetCoach suggests that while average cats can produce a litter three times a year, only once or twice a year at most is recommended to give the cat necessary time to recover.

Study of wealthy nations finds American women most likely to die of ...

CNN —

A new study found that women in the US face the highest rates of preventable and maternal mortality when compared with women in 10 other wealthy nations.

According to data collected by the Commonwealth Fund and published Tuesday, American women have an avoidable mortality rate of 198 per 100,000, the highest of any nation included in the study. The United Kingdom had the next highest rate, at 146 per 100,000.

The US also had the highest maternal mortality rate: 23.8 deaths per 100,000 live births, more than triple the rate of any other country studied. When looking only at Black maternal mortality, the rate jumped to 55.3 deaths per 100,000 live births.

By comparison, in Norway in 2019, the last year for which data was available, there were zero maternal deaths.

“A high rate of cesarean sections, inadequate prenatal care, and elevated rates of chronic illnesses like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease may be factors contributing to the high U.S. maternal mortality rate. Many maternal deaths result from missed or delayed opportunities for treatment,” the researchers wrote.

Researchers with the Commonwealth Fund pulled data from the fund’s 2020 International Health Policy Survey and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Statistics on health care were compared among Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

Among US women ages 18 to 49, just over a quarter rated their country’s health care system as good or very good. In every other country, a majority of women in this age group gave their health care system a positive rating.

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US women were “significantly” more likely to report skipping or delaying medical care or to have trouble paying for care. Nearly half of women ages 18 to 49 reported having some cost-related issue in accessing health care, and more than half reported at least one problem with a medical bill.

In France, the country with the next highest rate, only 38% of women had a problem with a bill, including difficulty paying, spending time on paperwork or disputing a bill or having difficulties with insurance.

The data also showed high rates of chronic conditions and mental health needs in American women compared with those in peer nations.

The researchers recommend expanding access to affordable health care and increasing and diversifying the number of physicians in the US as possible ways to address disparities in women’s health care.


Tiny 'flower' formation spotted on Mars by Curiosity rover | CNN

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CNN —

This may be the closest we will ever come to finding a flower on Mars.

During its ongoing investigation of Martian rocks in Gale Crater, the Curiosity rover stumbled on a tiny surprise. The rock artifact, which resembles a piece of coral or a flower, is smaller than a penny.

The Martian “flower” and the spherical pieces next to it were likely “made in the ancient past when minerals carried by water cemented the rock,” according to NASA.

Curiosity took an image of the little rock arrangement on February 24 using the Mars Hand Lens Imager, a camera located on the end of its robotic arm.

The find is similar to other small features Curiosity has spotted in the past, all of which were formed “when mineralizing fluids traveled throudagh conduits in the rock,” according to the agency. Previously, the Opportunity rover also spotted Martian “blueberries,” little mineral spherules indicative of once watery soil on the red planet.

Each image Curiosity collects and shares of these features is helping researchers piece together the chronology of water’s presence in the crater.

A decade of exploration

Later this year, Curiosity will celebrate a major milestone: a 10-year Martian anniversary. Curiosity landed on the red planet on August 5, 2012. It has been exploring the crater, and the Mount Sharp feature at the crater’s center, for the past decade.

The mission was designed to determine whether Mars was ever habitable for microbial life. Early on, the aptly named rover discovered the chemical and mineral evidence affirming the planet’s habitability sometime in its distant past. Ever since, Curiosity has been investigating the geologic record to understand when Mars might have been most suitable to host life.

Curiosity continues to pick its way across sharp boulders and ridges and collect rock and soil samples for analysis.

The car-size rover paved the way for the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter, which are currently exploring Jezero Crater, located 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) away and will eventually return the first Martian samples to Earth through future missions. The combined efforts of these rovers could help answer the ultimate question of whether life ever existed on Mars.

NASA Mars rover: Ancient life may be just one possible explanation ...

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CNN —

In the search for life beyond Earth, NASA’s Curiosity rover has been on a nearly decade-long mission to determine if Mars was ever habitable for living organisms.

A new analysis of sediment samples collected by the rover revealed the presence of carbon – and the possible existence of ancient life on the red planet is just one potential explanation for why it may be there.

This is a selfie taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover at the "Rock Hall" drill site. NASA/Caltech-JPL/MSSS

Carbon is the foundation for all of life on Earth, and the carbon cycle is the natural process of recycling carbon atoms. On our home planet, carbon atoms go through a cycle as they travel from the atmosphere to the ground and back to the atmosphere. Most of our carbon is in rocks and sediment and the rest is in the global ocean, atmosphere and organisms, according to NOAA, or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

That’s why carbon atoms – with their cycle of recycling – are tracers of biological activity on Earth. So they could be used to help researchers determine if life existed on ancient Mars.

When these atoms are measured inside another substance, like Martian sediment, they can shed light on a planet’s carbon cycle, no matter when it occurred.

Learning more about the origin of this newly detected Martian carbon could also reveal the process of carbon cycling on Mars.

A study detailing these findings published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Secrets in the sediment

Curiosity landed in Gale Crater on Mars in August 2012. The 96-mile (154.5-kilometer) crater, named for Australian astronomer Walter F. Gale, was probably formed by a meteor impact between 3.5 billion and 3.8 billion years ago. The large cavity likely once held a lake, and now it includes a mountain called Mount Sharp. The crater also includes layers of exposed ancient rock.

The image shows a drill hole made by Curiosity on Mars' Vera Rubin Ridge. NASA/Caltech-JPL/MSSS

For a closer look, the rover drilled to collect samples of sediment across the crater between August 2012 and July 2021. Curiosity then heated these 24 powder samples to around 1,562 degrees Fahrenheit (850 degrees Celsius) in order to separate elements. This caused the samples to release methane, which was then analyzed by another instrument in the rover’s arsenal to show the presence of stable carbon isotopes, or carbon atoms.

Some of the samples were depleted in carbon while others were enriched. Carbon has two stable isotopes, measured as either carbon 12 or carbon 13.

“The samples extremely depleted in carbon 13 are a little like samples from Australia taken from sediment that was 2.7 billion years old,” said Christopher H. House, lead study author and professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, in a statement.

“Those samples were caused by biological activity when methane was consumed by ancient microbial mats, but we can’t necessarily say that on Mars because it’s a planet that may have formed out of different materials and processes than Earth.”

In lakes on Earth, microbes like to grow in big colonies that essentially form mats just under the surface of the water.

3 possible carbon origins

The varied measurements of these carbon atoms could suggest three very different things about ancient Mars. The origin of the carbon is likely due to cosmic dust, ultraviolet degradation of carbon dioxide, or the ultraviolet degradation of biologically produced methane.

“All three of these scenarios are unconventional, unlike processes common on Earth,” according to the researchers.

The first scenario involves our entire solar system passing through a galactic dust cloud, something that occurs every 100 million years, according to House. The particle-heavy cloud could trigger cooling events on rocky planets.

This image captured by Curiosity shows an area drilled and sampled by the rover. NASA/Caltech-JPL/MSSS

“It doesn’t deposit a lot of dust,” House said. “It is hard to see any of these deposition events in the Earth record.”

But it’s possible that during an event like this, the cosmic dust cloud would have lowered temperatures on ancient Mars, which may have had liquid water. This could have caused glaciers to form on Mars, leaving a layer of dust on top of the ice. When the ice melted, the layer of sediment including carbon would have remained. While it’s entirely possible, there is little evidence for glaciers in Gale Crater and the study authors said it would require further research.

The second scenario involves the conversion of carbon dioxide on Mars into organic compounds, such as formaldehyde, due to ultraviolet radiation. That hypothesis also requires additional research.

The third way this carbon was produced has possible biological roots.

If this kind of depleted carbon measurement was made on Earth, it would show that microbes were consuming biologically produced methane. While Curiosity has previously detected methane on Mars, researchers can only guess if there were once large plumes of methane being released from beneath the surface of Mars. If this was the case and there were microbes on the Martian surface, they would have consumed this methane.

It’s also possible that the methane interacted with ultraviolet light, leaving a trace of carbon on the Martian surface.

More drilling on the horizon

The Curiosity rover will be returning to the site where it collected the majority of the samples in about a month, which will allow for another chance to analyze sediment from this intriguing location.

“This research accomplished a long-standing goal for Mars exploration,” House said. “To measure different carbon isotopes – one of the most important geology tools – from sediment on another habitable world, and it does so by looking at nine years of exploration.”


Sanctions have sharply raised chance of a Russian default ...

New York CNN Business —

Russia’s stock market remains shut down. The ruble is worth less than a penny. And Western businesses are fleeing. JPMorgan warns a Russian default could be next.

“Sanctions imposed on Russia have significantly increased the likelihood of a Russia government hard currency bond default,” JPMorgan emerging markets strategists wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday.

Russia may have the cash to make its debt payments. The Central Bank of Russia lists a staggering $643 billion of international reserves.

However, JPMorgan said sanctions leveled by the United States on Russian government entities, countermeasures within Russia to restrict foreign payments and the disruption of payment chains “present high hurdles for Russia to make a bond payment abroad.”

For instance, sanctions on Russia’s central bank and the exclusion of some banks from SWIFT, the high-security network banks used to communicate, will impact Russia’s ability to access foreign currency to pay down debt, according to Capital Economics. That includes Russia’s stockpile of reserves as well as cash from export revenue.

Capital Economics estimates that about half of Russia’s international reserves will be impacted by sanctions – and much of the rest is in gold, which may not be as easily converted into cash.

“It would be a logistical default rather than a lack of funds default,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group.

Russia has more than $700 million in payments coming due in March, mostly with a 30-day grace period, according to JPMorgan.

Although Western sanctions on Russia have not restricted the secondary trading of the country’s existing bonds, JPMorgan noted that there have been settlement issues with some bonds because the Russian National Settlement Depository has blocked the accounts of Euroclear, a Belgium-based settlement provider.

Some believe the Kremlin could be setting the stage for an intentional default to punish the United States and Europe for crushing its economy.

“Putin is 100% going to default,” hedge fund manager Kyle Bass told CNN in a phone interview on Wednesday. “The West is strangling him. Why would he agree to pay the West interest right now?”

Capital Economics noted that Russian authorities have already prohibited the transfer of coupon payments on local currency sovereign debt to foreigners, underscoring the point that authorities are “acting with scant regard for foreigners’ holdings of Russian assets.”

“Russia could use default as a way of retaliating against Western sanctions to inflict losses on foreign lenders. It’s not far-fetched to think that the Russian authorities could ban foreign debt repayments,” Capital Economics wrote.

Russia, currently the 12th largest economy in the world, last defaulted on its debt in 1998, setting off a crisis that spread overseas.

It’s not clear how widespread the impact of a default today would be. The 2008 Global Financial Crisis and the onset of the Covid pandemic in 2020 showed how interconnected the world economy and financial system are.

However, foreigners held just $20 billion of Russia’s dollar debt and ruble denominated sovereign bonds worth $41 billion at the end of lats year, the Financial Times reported, citing Russia’s central bank.

“Our financial system and financial institutions have relatively little exposure to Russia,” said Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, at a House hearing Wednesday. “Even the largest exposures that any of them have are not very big.”

Asked what a Russian default would mean for the global financial system, Bass said, “Nothing. It just means people are going to lose some money.”

Boockvar indicated he’s encouraged by the relatively low exposure foreigners have to Russia’s debt. However, he isn’t sure how this would play out because it’s so rare to see sanctions on a major central bank.

“We’re all flying blind,” Boockvar said.

Canada truckers: Protesters block access to major border crossing ...

CNN —

Canadian protesters have impeded access to the busiest international crossing in North America again Tuesday, escalating tensions as frustration over demonstrations against Covid-19 rules continues to roil the nation.

After idling trucks and vehicles snarled roadways in major Canadian cities over the weekend, “Freedom Convoy” drivers hindered travel Monday at the Ambassador Bridge that links Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit. Canadian-bound traffic was still shut down Tuesday morning, Michigan officials tweeted, while US-bound traffic was flowing with limited bridge access, Windsor Police and 511Ontario tweeted.

Further threatening supply chain disruptions, protests also blocked traffic overnight Monday at the Coutts access point between Alberta and Montana, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. That crossing partially reopened Tuesday afternoon, with vehicles able to cross into Canada but large commercial vehicles heading to the US asked to use the Aden, Del Bonita and Carway crossings to avoid delays, the RCMP Alberta tweeted.

The bold move at the continent’s busiest international crossing signals a ratcheting up of demonstrations that have rocked Canada and galvanized thousands against its leadership.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, emerging Monday from a weeklong isolation after testing positive for the coronavirus, echoed residents and officials aggravated by the demonstrations, which began January 29 as an objection to a vaccine mandate requiring truckers entering Canada to be fully vaccinated or face testing and quarantine requirements.

More protesters have since joined to rail against mask mandates, lockdowns, restrictions on gatherings and other efforts to stem the spread of Covid-19. Some have vowed not to leave until certain Covid-19 measures are rescinded, they’ve told CNN.

“Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens’ daily lives. It has to stop,” Trudeau said Monday at an emergency parliamentary debate in Ottawa.

Canada’s capital city has endured widespread turmoil, including blaring horns on downtown streets and businesses forced to close temporarily. More than 60 criminal investigations are underway there, as claims of hate crimes, rock-throwing and property damage were reported, police said Sunday. At least 450 citations were issued over the weekend, they said.

On Tuesday, the Ottawa Police Service said 23 arrests have been made since the protests began on charges that include mischief, flight from police and menacing. More than 1,300 tickets have been issued for violations ranging from excessive noise and use of fireworks to driving a motor vehicle on a sidewalk.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh McLean on Monday issued a 10-day injunction to prevent demonstrating truckers on downtown Ottawa streets from using air or train horns.

Ottawa resident Zexi Li, 21, who lives within five blocks of Parliament Hill, filed a lawsuit calling for an end to the incessant honking. The suit said sound levels from the air and train horns are “dangerous and cause permanent damage to the human ear” and cause “significant mental distress, suffering and torment.” A hearing is set for a week from Wednesday.

“We have been 100% full-out on this for the last 10 days straight, and we will not rest until it’s done, but we need more help,” Police Chief Peter Sloly said Monday, appealing to all levels of government and noting his department asked the mayor’s office for a “significant increase” in resources.

Police stand near protesters Monday after the mayor of Ottawa declared a state of emergency in the Canadian capital. A 10-day protest by truck drivers over Covid-19 restrictions has gridlocked its city center. Andre Pichette/EPA-EFE/Shutterst/Shutterstock

Many in Ottawa are at their “breaking point,” Sloly said.

“This is crushing for those residents and their businesses. It has to stop, and we are doing everything we can possibly do to stop it,” he said. “We need more help.”

Protests notwithstanding, nearly 90% of Canada’s truckers are fully vaccinated and eligible to cross the border, the Canadian government said. Demonstrators represent a “small, fringe minority,” Trudeau said, and his government does not expect the vaccine mandate to significantly affect supply chains.

Just over 80% of Canadians in all are vaccinated, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Bridge traffic backed up for miles

Police worked Monday to restore the orderly flow of traffic due to interruptions at the exit from the Ambassador Bridge onto Huron Church Road, Windsor Police said.

“Avoid the area or find alternate route, if possible,” police said, calling traffic flow “temporarily interrupted.”

“Our officers continue to work hard to keep the flow of traffic moving along Huron Church Rd., as well as ensuring order and public safety. … We encourage everyone to be patient and respectful,” Windsor Police said on Twitter.

Windsor Police posted a photo online earlier in the day showing a long line of trucks appearing to be at a standstill. They also warned of travel delays and a high potential for traffic congestion, and asked “those involved not to endanger members of the public.”

Huron Church Rd. closed off bet. College & Tecumseh Rd W. for all traffic. Avoid the area. We urge those involved not to endanger members of the public, jeopardize public peace or participate in illegal events. Those found committing crimes will be investigated & charged. dg12833 pic.twitter.com/DZDwY69gDs — Windsor Police (@WindsorPolice) February 8, 2022

Access to the bridge from the US side of the border was closed, the Michigan Department of Transportation said Monday night.

“The freeway traffic trying to get across the bridge is backed up on multiple roadways and for miles,” agency spokeswoman Diane Cross told CNN.

More than 40,000 commuters, tourists and truck drivers cross the Ambassador Bridge each day, according to its website.

Demonstrations affected border wait times Monday at the Ambassador Bridge, Canada Border Services said. WXYZ

Seeking a ‘permanent, sustainable, lawful’ outcome

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has declared a state of emergency in response to the protests, and most businesses downtown have closed or reduced their hours because of the unrest.

“No officers are on days off, everyone has been working,” Sloly said Monday. “We are stretched to the limit, but we are 100% committed to using everything we have to end this demonstration. We cannot do it alone.

“That’s why I have been advocating for all three levels of government to bring whatever they can bring to bear on the permanent, sustainable, lawful, safe resolution of this demonstration.”

With protesters parked in trucks right outside the building, Trudeau on Monday acknowledged they had a right to voice their concerns but said residents do not deserve to be harassed in their own neighborhoods.

“This pandemic has sucked for all Canadians, but Canadians know the way to get through it is continuing to listen to science, continuing to lean on each other, continuing to be there for each other,” he said after underscoring that Canadians are tired of Covid-19 health restrictions.

Conservative opposition leader Candice Bergen accused the Prime Minister of dividing Canadians and asked whether Trudeau regretted calling the protesters “names,” regarding his earlier “small, fringe minority” comments.

“Does he regret calling people names who didn’t take the vaccine? Does he regret calling people misogynistic and racists and just escalating and poking sticks at them?” Bergen asked in parliament.

Trudeau responded by saying most Canadians trust each other to do the right things when it comes to following science.

“This is the story of a country that got through this pandemic by being united, and a few people shouting and waving swastikas does not define who Canadians are,” he said.

Paula Newton Travis Caldwell
Paula Newton
Travis Caldwell

French strike brings airports, train stations, Eiffel tower to a halt

Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — The Eiffel Tower shut down, France’s vaunted high-speed trains stood still and teachers walked off the job as unions launched nationwide strikes and protests Thursday over the government’s plan to overhaul the retirement system.

Paris authorities barricaded the presidential palace and deployed 6,000 police as activists – many in yellow vests representing France’s year-old movement for economic justice – gathered for a major march through the capital.

Organizers hope for a mass outpouring of anger at President Emmanuel Macron for his centerpiece reform, seen as threatening the hard-fought French way of life. Macron himself remained “calm and determined” to push it through, according to a top presidential official.

The Louvre Museum warned of strike disruptions, and Paris hotels struggled to fill rooms. Many visitors – including the U.S. energy secretary – canceled plans to travel to one of the world’s most-visited countries amid the strike.

Unprepared tourists discovered historic train stations standing empty Thursday, with about nine out of 10 of high-speed TGV trains canceled. Signs at Paris’ Orly Airport showed “canceled” notices, as the civil aviation authority announced 20% of flights were grounded.

Some travelers showed support for the striking workers, but others complained about being embroiled in someone else’s fight.

“I arrived at the airport this morning and I had no idea about the strike happening, and I was waiting for two hours in the airport for the train to arrive and it didn’t arrive,” said vacationer Ian Crossen, from New York. “I feel a little bit frustrated. And I’ve spent a lot of money. I’ve spent money I didn’t need to, apparently.”

Vladimir Madeira, a Chilean tourist who had traveled to Paris for vacation, said the strike has been “a nightmare.” He hadn’t heard about the protest until he arrived in Paris, and transport disruptions had foiled his plans to travel directly to Zurich on Thursday.

Beneath the closed Eiffel Tower, tourists from Thailand, Canada and Spain echoed those sentiments.

Subway stations across Paris were shuttered, complicating traffic – and prompting many commuters to use shared bikes or electric scooters despite near-freezing temperatures. Many workers in the Paris region worked from home or took a day off to stay with their children, since 78% of teachers in the capital were on strike.

Bracing for possible violence and damage along the route of the Paris march, police ordered all businesses, cafes and restaurants in the area to close. Authorities also issued a ban on protests on the Champs-Elysees avenue, around the presidential palace, parliament and Notre Dame Cathedral.

Police carried out security checks of more than 3,000 people arriving for the protest and detained 18 even before it started. Embassies warned tourists to avoid the protest area.

Elsewhere around France, thousands of red-vested union activists marched through cities from Marseille on the Mediterranean to Lille in the north.

The big question is how long the strike will last. Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne said she expects the travel troubles to be just as bad Friday.

Unions say it’s an open-ended movement and hope to keep up momentum at least for a week, in hopes of forcing the government to make concessions.

Public sector workers fear Macron’s reform will force them to work longer and shrink their pensions. And they see this fight as crucial to saving France’s social safety net. Some private sector workers welcome the reform, but others support the strike.

Joseph Kakou, who works an overnight security shift in western Paris, walked an hour across the city to get home to the eastern side of town Thursday morning.

“It doesn’t please us to walk. It doesn’t please us to have to strike,” Kakou told The Associated Press said. “But we are obliged to, because we can’t work until 90 years old.”

To Macron, the retirement reform is central to his plan to transform France so it can compete globally in the 21st century. The government argues France’s 42 retirement systems need streamlining.

While Macron respects the right to strike, he “is convinced that the reform is needed, he is committed, that’s the project he presented the French in 2017” during his election campaign, the presidential official said. The official was not authorized to be publicly named.

After extensive meetings with workers, the high commissioner for pensions is expected to detail reform proposals next week, and the prime minister will release the government’s plan days after that.

French government in crisis talks as fuel shortages worsen | CNN ...

Paris CNN Business —

French President Emmanuel Macron called a crisis meeting with senior ministers on Monday to address crippling strikes at gas refineries that has caused fuel pumps to run dry.

Macron declared Monday his desire for a solution “as quickly as possible” to the protests, promising to “do his utmost” to find one, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV.

The government ordered strikers at two fuel depots in Feyzin, near Lyon, to return to work for several hours on Monday or face criminal charges, according to France’s energy minister, Agnes Pannier-Runacher.

Lyon is one of the worst hit regions of the country, with almost 40% of gas stations out of at least one fuel on Sunday. Elsewhere, nearly one third of gas stations have run out of at least one fuel, with the situation expected to worsen this week, according to French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.

This the second time in recent weeks that the French government has taken the unusual step of requisitioning essential staff in the face of weeks-long strikes at refineries owned by ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies, which have disrupted supply to thousands of gas stations.

While ExxonMobil workers agreed to end their blockade of the Fos-sur-Mer refinery and depot in southern France late last week following salary negotiations, strikes continue at TotalEnergies refineries.

One of France’s largest unions, CGT, has refused to accept the terms of a wage deal agreed upon between TotalEnergies and two other unions, CFE-CGC and CFDT. The agreement includes a 7% salary increase for 2023 and a bonus for all employees equivalent to one month’s pay. CGT has demanded a 10% pay raise.

But French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the strikes were “unacceptable and illegitimate,” because wage agreements had been met with the majority of workers. “The time for negotiations has passed,” he added.

In an interview with France Inter, a radio station, a representative of CGT, Philippe Martinez, claimed that “several thousand” workers were still striking, contradicting government ministers who have referred to striking workers as both “a handful of workers” and “several hundred people” in interviews.

Transportation minister Clement Beaune told France Inter that the only way out of the crisis is an end to strikes.

Meanwhile, commuters could be facing days of travel chaos if planned strikes in the Paris public transport network and parts of the national rail network go ahead. Beaune said that in the worst affected regions, only one in two trains will be running on Tuesday.

The industrial action takes place against a backdrop of rising living costs in France, where electricity bills are surging as a result of a cut in Russian natural gas supplies that has sparked an energy crisis in Europe. On Sunday, thousands marched through central Paris to protest the crisis and “climate inaction.”

Joseph Ataman Marguerite Lacroix Natacha Bracken

US business leaders sound the alarm on US-Canada border blockade

New York CNN Business —

Three of America’s largest business groups are warning the trucker-inspired protests along the US-Canada border are further straining stressed-out supply chains.

In a joint statement Thursday night, the US Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and National Association of Manufacturers urged a swift resolution to the blockages.

“The disruptions we are seeing at the US-Canada border – at the Detroit-Windsor Ambassador Bridge and at other crossings – are adding to the significant supply chain strains on manufacturers and other businesses in the United States,” the trade groups said.

Access to three border crossings in Michigan, North Dakota and Montana have been cut off by truckers and other demonstrators on the Canadian side of the border. The situation can’t help – and could worsen – the historic bout of inflation hitting the US economy.

“The business community is rolling up its sleeves to find workarounds and keep facilities up and running, but we are already seeing some production cuts, shift reductions, and temporary plant closures,” the business groups said. “The North American economy relies on our ability to work closely together, including our manufacturing sectors. We need to apply the same spirit of cooperation to tackle this problem.”

Car factories on both sides of the border – from the suburbs of Toronto to Georgetown, Kentucky 600 miles away – have slowed their assembly lines or shut down altogether because they can’t get the parts they need. The disruptions could exacerbate the shortage of cars that caused new car and truck prices to spike in January by the most on record. Although GM and Stellantis said plants were open as usual Friday, Toyota reported factory shutdowns as far away as Alabama and West Virginia.

“We respectfully urge the Canadian government to act swiftly to address the disruption to the flow of trade and its impact on manufacturers and other businesses on both sides of the border,” the trio of business groups said. “We appreciate that the Biden Administration is engaged with the Canadian government, and we strongly encourage officials to continue efforts to resolve these blockages at the border.”

The statement comes after a coalition of three auto industry trade groups, including those representing auto makers and parts suppliers, similarly warned of turmoil caused by the protests.

“The current border disruptions at the Detroit-Windsor Ambassador Bridge and other crossings are adding additional strain to the automotive supply chain that has already been stressed by semiconductor shortages and other pandemic-related issues,” the auto groups said.

Wall Street's top cop proposes massive changes to the stock market ...

New York CNN Business —

The agency that oversees Wall Street is weighing major changes to the way millions of everyday investors buy and sell stocks. That could be bad news for so-called free-trading apps like Robinhood as well as the lesser known firms that underpin their business models.

Trading could be made fairer for everyday retail investors with some tweaks to the stock market’s plumbing, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said at the Piper Sandler Global Exchange Conference in Washington Wednesday. Gensler asked the SEC to consider giving retail traders access to some of the perks available only to the biggest players on Wall Street, including the ability to buy stocks for fractions of a penny, get better visibility into the market’s mechanics and invite more buyers and sellers to ensure everyday investors are getting the best price on a purchase or sale.

Among Gensler’s biggest proposed changes is a quirk in the stock market that was exposed during the meme stock mania a year ago.

Today, when you buy or sell a stock on an app, the trade appears to be instantaneous. But beneath that simple buy/sell action is a complex web of Wall Street players exploiting tiny differences in price to rake in huge amounts of cash.

Here’s how it works: When you tap buy or sell, Robinhood (or your broker of choice), takes your order to a firm known as a wholesaler or market maker — the middlemen who are supposed to get you the best price and who pay the brokers for the privilege of executing the trades. They typically make pennies off each transaction.

That process is known as “payment for order flow,” and it has come under intense scrutiny by regulators following the fallout from the January 2021 run-up in meme stocks like GameStop.

The GameStop frenzy “exposed how rigged the US equity markets are to enrich big Wall Street firms, high frequency trading firms and brokers at the expense of Main Street retail investors,” Better Markets CEO Dennis Kelleher wrote at the time.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has been reviewing the system, which accounts for the bulk of the brokerages’ revenues. In August last year, Robinhood’s stock tumbled after SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said that an outright ban of payment for order flow was “on the table.”

Gensler and other critics of the process say the brokers and market makers, such as Citadel Securities, have a clear conflict of interest, and that payment for order flow screws over everyday investors while amassing huge wealth for Wall Street firms.

One proposed new rule, the paper said, would add more competition at the middleman level to ensure retail investors are actually getting the best prices. In that scenario, orders would be routed into auctions where trading firms would have to compete to execute them.

“It’s not clear, with such market segmentation and concentration, and with an uneven playing field, that our current national market system is as fair and competitive as possible for investors,” Gensler said Wednesday.

For example, Gensler noted that retail investors buy stocks at penny increments, but wholesalers can buy stocks for increments of fractions of a penny. With high volume, that gives wholesalers an advantage and generates huge profits.

“It raises real questions about whether this structure is fair and best promotes competition,” Gensler said. “Why not allow all venues to have an equal opportunity to execute at sub-penny increments?”

Gensler also proposed giving investors in small numbers of shares similar visibility into the markets that big traders receive.

A spokesperson for Robinhood didn’t comment specifically on the potential changes but pointed to research from MIT that shows retail investors saved more than $17 billion in trading fees thanks to free-trading apps 2020 and 2021.

In response to Gensler’s comments, Robinhood defended its business no-fee model, saying it has saved investors billions of dollars.

“American retail investors enjoy one of the most efficient, low-cost investing environments in history,” said Dan Gallagher, Robinhood’s chief legal, compliance and corporate affairs officer, in a statement. “We look forward to reviewing the Commission’s eventual rule proposal and engaging with the SEC during a meaningful notice and comment rulemaking process.”

Robinhood shares were down nearly 4% Wednesday afternoon.

— CNN Business’ Matt Egan contributed to this article.

Premarket stocks: Why markets care about Putin's aggression | CNN ...

A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.

London CNN Business —

In 2021, investors might have averted their eyes from a military conflict in Ukraine. But as concerns about inflation and reduced support from central banks loom, geopolitical tensions that could hurt the global economy are taking center stage.

What’s happening: Global stocks swung on Tuesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into two separatist pro-Moscow regions in eastern Ukraine. Countries including the United States are preparing to impose sanctions. Oil prices shot up, with Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, at one point topping $99 per barrel.

The unfolding crisis could set up another volatile trading day in the United States. The S&P 500 finished Friday down more than 9% from its January peak. If it reaches the 10% threshold when trading closes on Tuesday, it would enter a correction, which signals an unusually high degree of selling pressure.

While markets often look past geopolitical conflict, finding it difficult to price, this time is different. There are two key reasons.

1. Sentiment has turned: The mood among investors turned dour over the past month as soaring inflation boosted expectations on Wall Street that the Federal Reserve and other central banks would need to intervene more aggressively. If they sharply hike interest rates and start to reduce the number of bonds on their balance sheets, that would take away the main source of market euphoria since the pandemic hit.

An uneven earnings season, which triggered dramatic pullbacks in the stocks of household names like Facebook (FB) and Netflix (NFLX), hasn’t helped.

“Stock markets were already coming off the boil this year,” David Madden, a market analyst at Equiti Capital, told me. The prospect of a “tit-for-tat” sanctions fight only deepens the loss of confidence, he added.

2. It could hurt the economy: Russia is a major exporter of oil and gas. If the flow of energy is disrupted because of the conflict with Ukraine, that could weigh on the global recovery.

Germany, the biggest economy in Europe, is particularly exposed. On Tuesday, the country announced that it had halted the certification of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline following Moscow’s actions in eastern Ukraine.

Fears about reduced supplies of oil and gas, which are already pushing up global prices, could also fan inflation.

“The worst-case scenario would be oil surging to $110 or $120, as the jump in energy prices could trigger chatter of a global recession,” Madden said. “Economies are gearing down from the [post-pandemic] boom, and the last thing they need is an energy shock.”

The Street’s view: Strategists at JPMorgan said in a note to clients Tuesday that while Russia-Ukraine tensions are unlikely to hurt profits for US companies, a jump in energy prices “amidst an aggressive central bank pivot focused on inflation could further dampen investor sentiment and growth outlook.”

Russia is already paying a hefty financial price

Russian stocks plunged and the ruble slid closer to a record low on Tuesday as investors reacted to Putin’s decision to order troops into eastern Ukraine.

Moscow’s MOEX stock index dropped 4% on Tuesday after shedding more than 10% on Monday, bringing losses so far this year to over 20%, my CNN Business colleague Charles Riley reports. In total, more than $40 billion has been wiped off the value of Russian stocks this week alone.

The ruble fell toward 81 versus the US dollar, its weakest level in more than a year and close to its all-time low.

The moves prompted Russia’s central bank to announce measures to support banks, including a provision that will allow them to use last Friday’s prices for stocks and bonds when reporting their financial positions.

More pain could be on the way.

“We expect further declines near-term in the Russian stock market,” analysts at JPMorgan Chase wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday. The bank downgraded Russian equities to “neutral” from “overweight.”

Damage to Russia’s markets and economy would be limited if its troops do not advance beyond the parts of eastern Ukraine that Putin recognized as independent on Monday, according to analysts. But Russia would pay a higher price if a further escalation causes the West to respond with punishing sanctions that could cut the country’s banks off from the global financial system and make it difficult to export oil and natural gas.

“The impact on Russia’s economy will depend in large part on the response of Western governments,” analysts at Capital Economics wrote on Tuesday.

The most commonly discussed sanctions could knock 1% off Russia’s gross domestic product, they estimated, but more aggressive measures, such as blocking Russia from the SWIFT global payments system, could reduce economic output by 5%.

Carl Icahn is worried about pigs

Legendary investor Carl Icahn is known for his aggressive campaigns to shake up Corporate America. Now, he’s leveraging his reputation to tackle an issue close to his heart: the welfare of pigs.

McDonald’s (MCD) said over the weekend that Icahn had nominated two new directors to its board. The move “relates to a narrow issue regarding the company’s pork commitment,” the fast food chain said in a statement.

“I really do feel emotional about these animals and the unnecessary suffering you put them through,” Icahn said in an interview with Bloomberg last week. “A pig has a good brain and it’s a feeling animal.”

Why it’s notable: Icahn, who served as one source of inspiration for the larger-than-life character Gordon Gekko in the film “Wall Street,” has previously targeted companies such as Yahoo, Dell and Netflix. The goal in those cases was to make more money.

His latest campaign involves pushing McDonald’s to require all of its US-based pork suppliers to abandon the practice of keeping pigs confined in crates so small they can’t turn around.

Icahn has stated that he holds only 200 shares in the company, according to McDonald’s. The stake would be worth just over $50,000 based on Friday’s closing price.

Step back: McDonald’s first promised in 2012 to phase out the use of the crates, also known as gestation stalls, for pregnant sows. On Sunday, it said that by the end of 2022, 85% to 90% of its US pork will come from sows that aren’t housed in gestation crates. It expects to meet a target of 100% by the end of 2024.

But Icahn told Bloomberg that he got involved again because McDonald’s “never delivered” on its commitment one decade ago.

“We’re not going to fool around with them anymore,” he said.

Up next

Home Depot (HD), Krispy Kreme and Macy’s (M) report results before US markets open. Teladoc (TDOC), Toll Brothers (TOL) and Virgin Galactic (SPCE) follow after the close.

Also today:

The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index posts at 9 a.m. ET.

US consumer confidence data for February arrives at 10 a.m. ET.

Coming tomorrow: Earnings from Lowe’s (LOW), Molson Coors (TAP), TJX (TJX), Bath & Body Works and Hertz (HTZ).

London Metal Exchange probed over chaotic nickel market | CNN ...

British financial regulators said on Monday that they would review the way the London Metal Exchange (LME) handled a halt in chaotic nickel trading last month and said the episode underlined questions about the LME’s transparency.

The exchange, the world’s oldest and largest market for industrial metals, suspended nickel trading on March 8 after prices spiked by more than 50% in a matter of hours to hit $100,000 a tonne.

The Financial Conduct Authority said it and the Bank of England would determine if further action should be taken.

“Events around the suspension and resumption of trading have underlined questions raised in a recent LME Discussion Paper on Market Structure, particularly the role of transparency in the LME and related markets,” the regulators said.

“The FCA has been in discussion with the LME on its proposals for some time and expects the LME to consider carefully how recent events should shape its future approach on market structure.”

The LME said it welcomed the announcement from regulators and added it would commission its own review of the events to identify action to minimize the risk of a disorderly market in future.

The exchange introduced a 15% upper and lower daily price limit for all its physically delivered metals after the chaotic trading period.

Canada's Trudeau announces bill to cap sales, transfers and ...

CNN —

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday announced the introduction of a bill that would place a national freeze on handgun ownership across Canada.

“What this means is that it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere in Canada,” Trudeau said in a news conference.

“In other words we’re capping the market,” he added.

If passed, the new anti-gun legislation will fine gun smuggling and trafficking “by increasing maximum criminal penalties and providing more tools for law enforcement to investigate firearm crimes,” Trudeau said.

The new legislation would also require that long gun magazines “can never” hold more than five rounds.

“Gun violence is a complex problem, but at the end of the day the math is really quite simple: The fewer the guns in our communities, the safer everyone will be,” the Prime Minister said.

Trudeau added that while most gun owners use their handguns safely and in accordance with the law, “we don’t need assault style weapons that were designed to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time.”

The announcement comes in the wake of two recent mass shootings in the United States. On May 24, a gunman entered an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and fired more than 100 bullets, killing 19 children and two teachers. On May 14, 10 people were killed in a racist mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

Ending gun violence was part of Trudeau’s campaign in the country’s 2019 election. In 2020, his government banned more than 1,500 types of military-style assault weapons just after Canada’s deadliest gun rampage in its modern history.

Handguns were “the most serious weapon present in the majority of firearm-related violent crimes” between 2009 and 2020, making up 59% of those crimes, according to a Monday release from Trudeau’s office.

The number of registered handguns in the country increased 71% between 2010 and 2020 to about 1.1 million, according to the release.

Claudia Dominguez Theresa Waldrop
Claudia Dominguez
Theresa Waldrop

Anti-austerity protests, strikes spread across Europe

Meritxell Mir and Louise Osborne, Special for USA TODAY

BARCELONA — Flights and trains were canceled across Europe on Wednesday as thousands of workers took to the streets to protest austerity measures aimed at reducing massive government deficits and boosting shaky economies.

"We all know that reforms, layoffs and cuts will continue but maybe we manage to get them cut (more slowly)," said Francisco Vallejo, 41, an administrative assistant in Madrid. "The only strike that is useless is the one we don't follow."

Unions had called for strikes across Europe to protest the trimming of government-funded salaries and pension benefits, which had risen dramatically over the years and led to significant debt problems in some countries.

The call to strike was heeded by many in Italy and Spain; but union workers in Britain, Germany and Denmark held rallies instead of walking off the job. Transport hubs were at standstill across southern Europe and in Brussels as airports and train stations shut down.

In Portugal, all trains and subways shut down and about 200 flights to and from the country were canceled. Hospitals operated on a skeleton staff while thousands of government workers including most in the justice system and trash collectors failed to go to work.

In Spain, some television channels went off the air and assembly lines at the big union-dominated factories shut down. Spanish unions claimed that 9 million Spaniards stayed at home, or 77% of the workforce.

Much of Spain's school system was closed and more than half of its hospital employees went on strike.

In Barcelona, high-end stores such as Gucci and Chanel on the Paseo de Gracia closed for the day. In the neighborhoods, only a few bakeries and grocery shores dared to open, intermittently closing when they saw trouble.

In Greece, the strike shut down the subway system for part of the day. About 5,000 Greeks protested in Athens. Port workers blocked the entrance to the Ministry of Defense demanding back wages, they said.

In Italy, about 60,000 turned out in Rome. The president of Rome province, Nicola Zingaretti, condemned "groups of rioters" among peaceful protesters. Zingaretti said a climate of "aggressiveness and intolerance" risked sullying Rome's image abroad following reports of protesters yelling anti-Semitic slogans outside a Rome synagogue.

The so-called austerity measures comprise spending cuts, tax hikes and changes to labor laws to allow businesses to better adjust to shaky economies. But several governments and many workers worry that the measures may worsen economies by driving down individual incomes.

The protests Wednesday brought out people who blame the economic system as a whole.

"They've only just started cuts but they are pretty draconian already," said Andrew Burgin, European officer for the Coalition of Resistance in London, which organized a rally outside the European Commission offices there. "I think this is the beginning of a new movement. It will be a day remembers in history as the beginning of a pan-European movement, possibly an international movement, against capitalism."

But European leaders, such as Angela Merkel of Germany, says the problem is the massive debts piled up by individual nations, many of which like Greece and Portugal spent beyond revenues on public projects, expanding welfare and government jobs, and generous public benefits.

Greece and Spain, which have been hit hardest by an economic slowdown and debt crisis that has swept up several nations across the continent, are experiencing unemployment rates of more than 25%. Both countries passed measures recently to change labor laws that protected employees from layoffs and that businesses say prevented them from hiring or innovating.

The austerity measures are supposed to improve the economy over time but in the short-term people in Greece and Spain especially are experiencing curtailment of government health care, reductions in their pensions and salaries and higher taxes.

The strikes were called by the European Trade Union Confederation, which represents almost 90 different groups across Europe.

"The people of Europe will not stand for fiscal fundamentalism and will fight for an alternative based on social and economic justice," said the confederation's General Secretary Designate Frances O'Grady. "'Those in the corridors of power in Brussels and Frankfurt need to understand this – that if ordinary European workers feel that the EU is about little more than cuts, open markets and privatization, then the European project will collapse just as surely as night follows day."

Analysts were skeptical about the effectiveness of the strikes.

"I think we have already seen turn in the European crisis management toward a more social management, meaning, like in the case of Greece and Spain, that more time is given for the reforms to be implemented due to the social impact, not to somehow totally overburden the countries with the implementation of the measures," said Carsten Brzeski, senior economist at ING in Brussels.

"This is already some kind of acknowledgement and change, but I don't think we should suddenly expect the kind of change where governments all of a sudden start to spend or cancel the reforms -- in the end the reforms are required to restart growth in the countries," he said. "You can argue about the pace in which they are implemented, but I don't think you can argue about the necessity to do them."

Some people felt the strikes may do harm.

"In Madrid, we've been having plenty of them in the last few months and I think given the situation of the country, now it is time to work instead of stopping," said Estefania Martin, 38, who works for an technology company in Madrid.

There as a clear divide in Europe, where wealthier states like the Netherlands and the Nordic nations in the north saw few protests. Much of the demonstrating was in the south.

Belgium saw some strikes. Both the Thalys and Eurostar high-speed rail services that connect Brussels with London and Paris were severely disrupted. Protesters said taking to the streets is the best way to confront political leaders.

"Protests and mass mobilization is the only way (forward) for those of us who have seen our rights shrink every day," said Evangelina Tsomaka, 28, a lawyer in Athens. "Protests are your last hope to have your voice heard."

The chief of the European Union employers' federation took a different view.

"If you start striking at national level and in companies you only will harm the economy," said Eurobussiness leader Philippe de Buck in an interview. "It costs billions" of euros, he said, adding that Europe's reputation as a hotbed of trade union action would not attract global investors.

On an avenue in Lisbon, Portugal, unemployed teacher Ligia Carvalho said she was protesting for the future of herself and her two children

"I hope that everybody finally figures out that the future depends on us and if we won't ask for our rights, nobody will," said Carvalho, 33, who said she has been unemployed for five years. "I have two little children and I have no expectations (for the future)."

Contributing: Nikolia Apostolou in Athens, Michael Levitin in Berlin, Mariana Barbosa in Lisbon; The Associated Press