https://www.chicagotribune.com/investigations/ct-kim-foxx-felony-charges-cook-county-20200810-ldvrmqvv6bd3hpsuqha4duehmu-story.html

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is dropping felony cases involving charges of murder and other serious offenses at a higher rate than her predecessor, according to a Tribune analysis that comes amid a growing debate over criminal justice reform.

During Foxx’s first three years as the county’s top prosecutor, her office dropped all charges against 29.9% of felony defendants, a dramatic increase over her predecessor, the Tribune found. For the last three years of Anita Alvarez’s tenure, the rate was 19.4%.

In all, a total of 25,183 people had their felony cases dismissed under Foxx through November 2019, up from 18,694 for a similar period under Alvarez.

In an interview, Foxx did not dispute the Tribune’s findings but said her office’s higher rate of dropped felony cases gives an incomplete picture of her commitment to keeping the public safe. She said her office has dismissed cases against low-level, nonviolent offenders so prosecutors can concentrate on crimes of violence.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/08/10/nolte-magnificent-mile-riots-looting-hit-democrat-run-chicago/

“Hundreds of people swept through the Magnificent Mile and other parts of downtown Chicago early Monday, smashing windows, looting stores,” reports the Chicago Tribune.

There was also gunfire and violence against police officers. As of this writing, downtown Chicago is all but closed to those trying to get to work on a Monday morning.

https://justthenews.com/world/middle-east/gulf-cooperation-council-supports-extending-un-arms-embargo-iran

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Sunday sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council supporting the extension of an arms embargo that prevents Iran from purchasing foreign-made weapons.

The embargo is set to expire in two months, and the council voiced support for extending it because of Iran's continued "armed interventions in neighboring countries, directly and through organizations and movements armed and trained by Iran."

The GCC is a bloc comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/philadelphia-shooting-pregnant-woman-barbecue-a9663686.html

Six people, including a pregnant woman, were shot Saturday night in Philadelphia after men clad in black stormed a barbecue.

Police said the individuals who were shot have since been hospitalised. The victims are in stable condition.

The wounded include three women – a 59-year-old woman, an 18-year-old woman, and a 24-year-old pregnant woman who was shot in her right thigh – and three young men between the ages of 17 and 18.

The shooting occurred just before 9:30 pm. Investigators found 28 shell casings at the scene.

Police believe four to five people participated in the shooting, but they currently have no suspects and no motive for the attack.

hope this doesn't become a thing, random terror

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/were-suspicious-tunnels-discovered-near-beirut-port-after-explosion-638131

Video circulating online, as well as rumors and reports, indicate that “tunnels” have been found in the wake of the Beirut explosions. Some have asserted that this is evidence of Hezbollah “tunnels” storing weapons at the port of Beirut while others think they were used for human trafficking. Both SkyNews and Russia's Sputnik News claimed there were a “labyrinth network of tunnels.”

The Lebanese Armed Forces have denied the existence of tunnels just as Hezbollah has denied doing anything at Beirut port. It’s unclear how the army could refute the claims without investigating the images and videos already circulating online. Nevertheless, the army denied the existence of tunnels.

Yet Sky News did show a ceiling of a subterranean chamber and noted that people had hope that loved ones might have survived the blast in the tunnels. The Sky News report which was posted online on Sunday said that the people excavating the site and searching for survivors “know there is a labyrinth of subterranean chambers here, they have discovered the opening of one of them.” This comment appears to indicate that the search and rescue teams and officials know about these chambers.

https://apnews.com/598da05d3907aa58399c86ff85a9babc

Lebanese PM steps down in wake of Beirut explosion, protests

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s prime minister stepped down from his job on Monday in the wake of the disastrous Beirut port explosion that triggered public fury, saying he has come to the conclusion that corruption in Lebanon is “bigger than the state.”

In a brief televised speech after three of his ministers resigned, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said that he is taking “a step back” so he can stand with the people “and fight the battle for change alongside them.”

“I declare today the resignation of this government. May God protect Lebanon,” he said, repeating the last phrase three times.

The move risks opening the way to dragged-out negotiations over a new Cabinet amid urgent calls for reform. It follows a weekend of anti-government protests in the wake of the Aug. 4 explosion in Beirut’s port that decimated the facility and caused widespread destruction, killing at least 160 people and injured about 6,000 others.

The moment typified Lebanon’s political dilemma. Since October, there have been mass demonstrations demanding the departure of the entire sectarian-based leadership over entrenched corruption, incompetence and mismanagement.

Diab blamed corrupt politicians who preceded him for the “earthquake” that has hit Lebanon.

“They (political class) should have been ashamed of themselves because their corruption is what has led to this disaster that had been hidden for seven years,” he added.

“I have discovered that corruption is bigger than the state and that the state is paralyzed by this (ruling) clique and cannot confront if or get rid of it,” Diab, who was a university professor at the American University of Beirut before he took the job.