FSRN Weekly Edition – July 22, 2016

• Turkey’s Alevi minority sees dark days ahead
• U.S.-led airstrikes reportedly kill more than 100 civilians in Manbij, Syria
• Indian troops unleash pellet guns on Kashmir protesters; hundreds blinded
• UK rift deepens after Scotland overruled on Trident
• It’s official: Donald Trump is the Republican nominee
• Street Beat: Voices from outside the RNC
• “People’s Caravan” rallies against bigotry and hate outside RNC
• Florida cop shoots unarmed black man with hands in the air
• Philippines’s Duterte makes good on promise of violent anti-drug crackdown

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Turkey’s Alevi minority sees dark days ahead

After last weekend’s failed coup attempt in Turkey, a three-month nationwide state-of-emergency is now in place — granting President Erdogan sweeping powers. Still reeling from the ouster attempt, Thursday lawmakers also withdrew from a key international human rights agreement.

Nearly 10,000 public sector workers — including police officers, soldiers, judges and prosecutors — have been detained and more than 58,000 civil service employees – many of them teachers – fired from their jobs, leading to school closures across the country.

This comes as Turkey’s largest religious minority, the Alevis, say they fear harassment at the hands of the government’s religiously conservative supporters. FSRN’s Fariba Nawa reports from Istanbul.

U.S.-led airstrikes reportedly kill more than 100 civilians in Manbij, Syria

The Syrian Opposition Coalition is calling for the immediate suspension of U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria after warplanes reportedly killed more than 100 civilians around the city of Manbij in Aleppo province this week.

FSRN’s Nell Abram has more.

Indian troops unleash pellet guns on Kashmir protesters; hundreds blinded

In Pakistan, tens of thousands of people took to the streets this week rallying against recent police violence in the disputed region of Indian administered Kashmir. The unrest began July 9, after Indian troops killed a popular militant separatist leader, Burhan Wani.

The death toll is now up to at least 49. At least 3,500 people have been injured – about 2,000 of them civilians. A large number have suffered sight-threatening injuries to their eyes from the pellet guns widely used by Indian police and security forces. FSRN’s Shahnawaz Khan files this report.

UK rift deepens after Scotland overruled on Trident

The political rift in the United Kingdom widened this week after the British parliament overruled Scottish objections to replace Britain’s fleet of Trident submarines to upgrade the country’s nuclear arsenal.  FSRN’s Jacob Resneck explains.

It’s official: Donald Trump is the Republican nominee

The Republican National Convention wrapped up Thursday night, culminating with a speech by Donald Trump, the party’s nominees for president of the United States.

Alice Ollstein is a political reporter at ThinkProgress. She spent much of the week on the convention floor, and joins FSRN’s Jacob Resneck to talk about what she saw.

Street Beat: Voices from outside the RNC

While mainstream media focused their cameras largely inside the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, colorful demonstrations and dynamic speakers were in the streets outside.

FSRN’s Kelly Benjamin roamed the streets talking to a range of people who traveled to the Buckeye State for the event.

“People’s Caravan” rallies against bigotry and hate outside RNC

As the GOP convention wound down, activists from across the U.S. rallied outside to launch “the people’s caravan”—a group of grassroots community leaders who will travel from the RNC in Cleveland to next week’s Democratic counterpart in Philadelphia. Ariel Goodman was there.

Florida cop shoots unarmed black man with hands in the air

In Florida this week, a North Miami police officer shot a black man — lying flat on his back on the ground with his hands in the air. FSRN’s Nell Abram has more.

Philippines’s Duterte makes good on promise of violent anti-drug crackdown

In the Philippines, newly-elected President Rodrigo Duterte is making good on campaign promises to stop corruption and criminality, including drugs, during his first six months.

But human rights advocates are concerned about a campaign against drugs built on a foundation of extra-judicial killings. FSRN’s Madonna Virola reports.