Headlines for Friday, February 25, 2011

Demonstrators keep pressure on in Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain
Tens of thousands of protesters are back in the streets of Egypt today, marking the two-week anniversary of Mubarak’s resignation and continuing to apply pressure on the military to move forward with promised reforms.

In Yemen today the capital Sana’a saw the largest protests yet.  As many as 80,000 anti-government demonstrators mourned the recent deaths of two University students and demanded President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down.  Yesterday, the President called on security forces to protect anti-government demonstrators from attacks.  About 17 people have died in protests there in less than two weeks.

And in Bahrain today, tens of thousands gathered in the Capital’s Pearl Roundabout.  A violent crackdown there following February 14th protests left at least 7 dead, and opposition groups continue to call for the regime to step down.

Protests continue in Iraqi Kurdistan
To the north, demonstrations are continuing in cities across Iraqi Kurdistan, a week after a revolt began in the city of Sulaymaniyah.  An FSRN source on the ground says one protester was killed today and many others injured when security forces opened fired.  FSRN's George Lavender has the latest.

Protests gained momentum late last week when militia forces for the ruling Kurdish Democratic Party fired on demonstrators who were calling for increased freedom, jobs and an end to political corruption.

Three people died.  Protests have since spread across Kurdistan, and authorities have responded with increased military force and by arresting large numbers of people.  Jamal Muhsin, an activist with the Workers Communist Party of Kurdistan, says that the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia have inspired many people.

“The people of Sulaymaniyah and the people of Kurdistan wanted to support that revolution.  We think that the current revolutionary activity in Egypt and Tunisia affected the people of Kurdistan because it's exactly the same as over there.”

Today thousands gathered in Sulaymaniyah’s Freedom Square.  Those present said demonstrations will continue until their demands are met.  George Lavender, FSRN.

Hunger strikers’ family killed in Ciudad Juarez
Three members of an activist family in northern Mexico were found dead this morning, more than two weeks after they were abducted by armed men in a rural area across the border from West Texas.  FSRN’s Shannon Young has more.

The bodies of María Magdalena Reyes Salazar, her brother Elías Reyes Salazar, and his wife Luisa Ornelas Soto were dumped this morning in an agricultural area near Ciudad Juarez.  The family members were abducted by an armed commando on February 7th and their relatives have been pressuring authorities ever since to find the three kidnapping victims alive.

Members of the Reyes Salazar family began a hunger strike in Ciudad Juarez on February 8th.  Part of the family set up a protest camp in Mexico City earlier this week.  The home of one of the strikers, mother to two of the victims, was burned down on February 15th.  To total of six members of the Reyes Salazar family have been killed since late 2008.  Shannon Young, FSRN, Mexico.

Mass bank protests planned for UK and US
The British protest movement UK Uncut has a nationwide day of action planned tomorrow against two major retail banks.  The group blames banks, in part, for widespread government spending cuts to social services and education.  US Uncut also has demonstrations planned against Bank of America in at least 50 cities across the United States.  FSRN’s Steven Mather has the latest on the new protest movement.

It started only three months ago as a spontaneous protest in a Vodafone store in central London.  UK Uncut is a direct action campaign that seeks to pressure banks and businesses to pay for the multibillion-dollar bank bailout instead of ordinary people.  Tomorrow hundreds of bank branches will be “bailed in,” according to co-founder Jonnie Marbles.

"People going into their banks and taking them over and transforming them into different spaces, particular spaces which represent the cuts that are happening."

Marbles says some branches will be turned into school classrooms, some nurseries while others would become arts and culture centers.  Tomorrow will be US Uncut’s first national day of action.  Organizers there will be calling on corporations to pay their fair share of taxes.  Steven Mather, FSRN, London.

NASA launches Discovery shuttle for final mission
NASA launched the Space Shuttle Discovery for the last time yesterday afternoon.  The orbiter went on its first mission in 1984, 27 years ago.  In Florida, FSRN reporter Zack Baddorf was at Kennedy Space Center for the launch.

On Discovery's 39th and final voyage into space, the shuttle is heading toward the International Space Station, where it’ll deliver a storage module.  The crew of six will also bring with them a robot named R2.  It’s the first human-like robot in space AND will become a permanent resident of the International Space Station.  R2 will eventually help astronauts with boring or dangerous tasks.

About 250 crew members have gone into space aboard Discovery, including the first female shuttle commander Eileen Collins, the first African American spacewalker Bernard Harris, Jr., and the oldest person to travel in space, John Glenn.  Zack Baddorf, FSRN, Kennedy Space Center, Florida.