LOCALIZE IT: The Paralympics continue through Sunday. Find athletes with ties to your community

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:

The Winter Paralympics officially started on Friday, celebrating it’s 50th anniversary, with the opening ceremony in Verona, Italy.

Five decades after some 200 athletes competed in two sports at the inaugural 1976 Ornskoldsvik Winter Paralympics in Sweden, more than 600 athletes — a record number — are expected to participate across six sports at Milan Cortina through March 15.

They are competing across six sports: Para alpine skiing, Para biathlon, Para cross-country skiing, Para ice hockey, Para snowboard and wheelchair curling.

In the skiing sports — Para alpine skiing, Para biathlon, Para cross-country skiing — athletes compete in one of three categories: standing, sitting (on a sit-ski or monoski) or vision impaired (who race following a guide connected via radio).

Guides also receive medals.

Within each of these three categories skiers compete in different divisions depending on their functional ability. A results calculation system determines the factored time of each athlete, which allows athletes from different divisions to race against each other.

China staged the Paralympics four years ago in Beijing and set a medals record at a single Winter Games of 61. China is favored to dominate again.

The closing ceremony on March 15 is at the renovated Cortina Curling Stadium, a former venue of the 1956 Winter Olympics.

READ AND FOLLOW AP'S COVERAGE

Milan Cortina Paralympics guide: Winter Games celebrate 50 years and Russian flag returns

AP Newsroom: 2026 Winter Games

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Oksana Masters roars to Paralympic redemption at Milan Cortina with 11th gold medal 3/10

Iran says skier deeply disappointed at missing Paralympics because of war 3/10

Sweden’s Aaron Lindström to remain hospitalized after big crash at Milan Cortina Paralympics 3/10

US ‘rock star’ Paralympic skier wins silver for his late twin brother 3/9

US captain Erica McKee’s resolve puts women’s ice hockey on 2030 Paralympics track 3/9

US Paralympian Huckaby brings glitter and a snowboard with photos of her cat named ‘Mouse’ 3/9

Russian anthem rings out at Paralympics for first time in 12 years after Voronchikhina takes gold 3/9

Photo highlights from the Milan Cortina Winter Paralympics 3/9

What does it mean to win gold at the Paralympics? Ask snowboard great Hernandez and her daughter 3/8

US and British curlers overcome tree accident and tumor, join record number of women at Paralympics 3/8

FIND YOUR STATE: ATHLETES WITH TIES AROUND THE US

This spreadsheet includes Team USA Olympic and Paralympic athletes, their hometowns and where they attended school.

Or view Team USA Olympians and Paralympians using AP’s Hometown Heroes interactive.

The District of Columbia and the following states have ties to hometowns of Team USA Paralympians:

ALASKA

ARIZONA

CALIFORNIA

COLORADO

CONNECTICUT

FLORIDA

GEORGIA

IDAHO

ILLINOIS

INDIANA

IOWA

MAINE

MARYLAND

MASSACHUSETTS

MICHIGAN

MINNESOTA

MISSOURI

MONTANA

NEW HAMPSHIRE

NEW JERSEY

NEW YORK

NORTH DAKOTA

OHIO

OREGON

PENNSYLVANIA

TEXAS

UTAH

VERMONT

VIRGINIA

WASHINGTON

WISCONSIN

WYOMING

ADDITIONAL COVERAGE

Snowboarder Brenna Huckaby has ‘nothing left to prove’ as she chases more Paralympic gold in Cortina 3/7

American Oksana Masters in ‘shock’ after winning 20th Paralympic medal at Milan Cortina Games 3/7

Para alpine skiers Voronchikhina and Bugaev give Russia its first Paralympic medals in 12 years 3/7

Russian flag returns as Milan Cortina Winter Paralympics open amid Iran war and boycott 3/7

Iran won’t compete at Milan Cortina Paralympics as its only athlete can’t travel safely to Italy 3/6

Memories of twin inspire Paralympian Patrick Halgren to spread good vibes — one sticker at a time 3/6

A guide to the six sports at the Milan Cortina Winter Paralympics 3/6

IPC hails biggest Winter Paralympics ever and record female participation at Milan Cortina Games 3/5

Paralympians try to focus on Milan Cortina Games amid tensions over Iran war, return of Russian flag 3/5

Winter Paralympics 50th anniversary: Chinese dominance expected amid boycotts over Russian flag 3/5

Curling rocked again as 2 stones are stolen at the Milan Cortina Paralympics 3/4

Figure skaters with disabilities seek a place in the Paralympic spotlight 3/3

End the ban: France backs return of intellectually disabled athletes to Winter Paralympics 3/2

Tennis stars in Dubai and Paralympians face travel issues as Middle East war continues 3/2

Double duty: Masters and select group of Paralympians compete in both Summer and Winter Games 3/1

Turmoil-hit 2030 French Alps Olympics lose CEO Cyril Linette in leadership shake-up 2/25

Localize It is a resource produced regularly by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to the Local News Success team at localizeit@ap.org. View guides published in the last 30 days here.

Rene de Silvestro, of Italy, competes in the alpine skiing men's downhill sitting competition at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Silver medalist Audrey Pascual Seco, of Spain, from left, gold medalist Anna-Lena Forster, of Germany, and bronze medalist Liu Sitong, of China, pose on the podium of the alpine skiing women's downhill sitting competition at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Francesca Porcellato holds a Paralympic torch to light the Paralympic cauldron during the 2026 Winter Paralympics opening ceremony in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Gold medalist Jeroen Kampschreur, right, and bronze medalist Niels de Langen, both of the Netherlands, pose after the alpine skiing men's alpine combined sitting at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Japan's Akari Fukunishi prepares prior to the Group A preliminary round hockey match between Japan and Canada at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

PARIS (AP) — Activists worldwide will march in May Day rallies Friday, calling for peace, higher wages and better working conditions as many workers grapple with rising energy costs and shrinking purchasing power tied to the Iran war.

The day is a public holiday in many countries, and demonstrations, some of which have turned violent in the past, are expected in many of the world's major cities.

“Working people refuse to pay the price for Donald Trump’s war in the Middle East,” the European Trade Union Confederation, which represents 93 trade union organizations in 41 European countries, said. “Today’s rallies show working people will not stand by and see their jobs and living standards destroyed.”

In the United States, activists opposing U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies are planning marches and boycotts.

Here’s what to know about May Day.

Rising living costs linked to the conflict in the Middle East are expected to be a key theme in Friday's rallies.

In the Philippines' capital of Manila, protest organizers said they expect big crowds of workers. “There will be a louder call for higher wages and economic relief because of the unprecedented spikes in fuel prices,” Renato Reyes, a leader of the left-wing political group Bayan, told The Associated Press.

“Every Filipino worker now is aware that the situation here is deeply connected to the global crisis,” said Josua Mata, leader of SENTRO umbrella group of labor federations.

In Indonesia, labor unions have warned against worsening economic pressures at home. “Workers are already living paycheck to paycheck,” said Said Iqbal, president of the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation.

In Pakistan, May Day is a public holiday marked by rallies, but many daily wage earners cannot afford to take time off.

“How will I bring vegetables and other necessities home if I don’t work?” said Mohammad Maskeen, a 55-year-old construction worker near Islamabad.

Rising oil prices have fueled inflation, which the government estimates at about 16%, in a country heavily reliant on financial support from the International Monetary Fund and allied nations.

Workers' unions traditionally use May Day to rally around wages, pensions, inequality and broader political issues.

Protests are planned from Seoul, Jakarta and Istanbul to most European Union capitals and cities across the United States.

In France, unions called for demonstrations in Paris and elsewhere under the slogan “bread, peace and freedom,” linking workers’ daily concerns to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

In Italy, the government approved nearly 1 billion euros ($1.17 billion) in job incentives this week, aiming to promote stable employment and curb labor abuses ahead of May Day. The measures extend tax breaks to encourage hiring young people and disadvantaged women, and seek to address exploitation tied to platform-based work. Opposition parties dismissed the package as “pure propaganda.”

In Portugal, proposed labor law changes by the center-right government sparked a general strike and street protests last year. There is still no deal after nine months of negotiations with unions and employers. Unions say the proposals would weaken workers’ rights, including by expanding overtime limits and reducing some benefits.

May Day carries special meaning this year in France after a heated debate about whether employees should be allowed to work on the country’s most protected public holiday — the only day when most employees have a mandatory paid day off.

Almost all businesses, shops and malls are closed, and only essential sectors such as hospitals, transport and hotels are exempt.

A recent parliamentary proposal to expand work on the day prompted major outcry from unions and left-wing politicians.

“Don’t touch May Day,” workers' unions said in a joint statement.

Faced with the controversy, the government this week introduced a bill meant to expand May Day work to people staffing bakeries and florists. It is customary in France to give lily of the valley flowers on May Day as a symbol of good luck.

“May 1 is not just any day,” Small and Medium-sized Businesses Minister Serge Papin said. “It symbolizes social gains stemming from a century of building social rules that have led to the labor code we know in France. It is indeed a special day.”

Activists and labor unions are organizing street protests and boycotts across the United States, where May Day is not a federal holiday.

May Day Strong, a coalition of activist groups and labor unions, has called on people to protest under the banner of “workers over billionaires.”

Voicing strong opposition to Trump's policies, organizers listed thousands of May Day actions across the country and are seeking an economic blackout through “no school, no work, no shopping.”

Demands include taxing the rich and putting an end to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown,

While labor and immigrant rights are historically intertwined, the focus of May Day rallies in the U.S. shifted to immigration in 2006. That’s when roughly 1 million people, including nearly half a million in Chicago alone, took to the streets to protest federal legislation that would’ve made living in the U.S. without legal permission a felony.

May Day, or International Workers’ Day, traces back more than a century to a pivotal period in U.S. labor history.

In the 1880s, unions pushed for an eight-hour workday through strikes and demonstrations. In May 1886, a Chicago rally turned deadly when a bomb exploded and police responded with gunfire. Several labor activists — most of them immigrants — were convicted of conspiracy and other charges; four were executed.

Unions later designated May 1 to honor workers. A monument in Chicago’s Haymarket Square commemorates them with the inscription: “Dedicated to all workers of the world.”

May Day is now observed in much of the world from Europe to Latin America, Africa and Asia.

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AP journalists Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Giada Zampano in Rome, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this story.

Union members carefully step through rain-formed puddles to participate in a May Day rally in the rain Friday, May 1, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People march to mark International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, in Sydney, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

People march to mark International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, in Sydney, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

FILE - Activist and workers raise their clenched fists during a May Day rally in Manila, Philippines, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

Laborers protest during a May Day demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Laborers hold flares during a May Day demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Members of trade unions take part in a rally a day ahead of the International Labor Day, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, April 30, 2026. The banner in center reading as 'red salute to the martyrs of Chicago and the struggle will continue until economic exploitation is ended' (AP Photo/Ali Raza)

Members of trade unions take part in a rally a day ahead of the International Labor Day, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)