What we're watching: Friday, Feb. 18, 2011 – Wisconsin protests...Bahrain violence

WISCONSIN PROTESTS CONTINUE; OTHER STATES COPE WITH SAME CHALLENGES – Wisconsin state senators are expected to reconvene Friday as lawmakers wrangled over a bill that would strip teachers and other public employees of most of their collective bargaining rights and cut their benefits.

This week's growing controversy about funding public education in Wisconsin is hardly an isolated incident, as 40 states are coping with budget shortfalls totaling $140 billion, which will threaten America's 14,000 school districts for the next five years, one analyst said Thursday.

WILL U.S. GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN? – As the House continued its marathon debate Thursday over a bill to fund the federal government, House Speaker John Boehner acknowledged that the House and Senate may not reach agreement on spending cuts before the government runs out of money next month, according to The Washington Post. 

 CNN reports that Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, and fellow Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California in introducing a bill that would withhold pay for members of Congress and the President if a government shutdown were to happen.

BAHRAIN TINDERBOX – Anti-government Bahrainis took to the streets and railed defiantly against their regime on Friday, a day after an overnight crackdown against protesters in the center of the capital left four dead and scores wounded.

The crackdown on protesters in the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain is a rash move that will enrage many of its people and cost the regime international prestige, says analyst and CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria. CLICK HERE to read Fareed's essay.

DEMONSTRATIONS ROUND-UP

YEMEN – Hurling rocks and brandishing sticks, supporters of Ali Abdullah Saleh plunged into a crowd calling for the longtime president's ouster in the Yemeni capital Friday. A week after the fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, thousands of Yemenis took to the streets Friday in Sanaa, Aden and Taiz.

LIBYA –Human-rights and opposition groups monitoring clashes in Libya said the army has deployed to the restive, eastern city of Benghazi, while security services and regime supporters have killed dozens of protesters in recent clashes, as unrest in the oil-rich North African country escalates. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, citing multiple witnesses, Friday said at least 24 people have died in attacks on peaceful protesters across the country. Other expatriate Libyan groups say deaths exceed 50.

EGYPT -Thousands of supporters of Egypt's democracy movement are gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square Friday for a day of celebration marking one week since President Hosni Mubarak stepped down. Voice of America reports that a leading Muslim cleric, Yusuf al-Qaradawi called on the Egyptian army to listen to the will of the people and bring fresh faces into Mr. Mubarak's former cabinet, which still includes many of the former president's allies.

FACEBOOK ACKNOWLEDGES SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS – Facebook users now have two more ways to describe their romantic arrangements. In a gesture of inclusiveness aimed at the gay community, Facebook on Thursday added "In a civil union" and "In a domestic partnership" to its official list of relationship statuses.