8.15am: Good morning and welcome to our live blog coverage of Occupy demonstrations on this May Day. We'll be covering protests in New York City, across the United States and around the world. May Day is a pagan festival of fertility marking the beginning of summer. Since the late 19th century the day has also been a milestone in the workers' rights movement. If you work an eight-hour day -- or if your employer at least pays semi-plausible lip service to an eight-hour day -- then you have occasion to celebrate, for it was on 1 May, 1886, that the protests began that would make the 8-hour workday the law. On this 1 May , New York City has woken up to a better rain than we've had for weeks. It's good for the farmers, as they say. Both supporters and detractors of the Occupy movement will be watching to see how many protesters turn out today as a gauge of the strength of the movement. I wonder if this rain is going to slow down the May Day protest?? OWS seems to protest in ANY weather condition. Our reporter Ryan Devereaux is out with the protesters already in New York, where marches and rallies are planned throughout the day. Here's a summary of the latest developments:  Huge May Day marches have unfolded in Asia and Europe. Thousands turned out to demand higher wages in the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan, according to the Associated Press, while around 100,000 marched