Tuesday morning news - August 11, 2020

Looters, vandals ransack Chicago businesses » Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday condemned looters and vandals that ransacked the city’s South Side.

The looting started late Sunday night after police shot and wounded an adult suspect they said fired at them. 

Lightfoot made clear, there was no justification for the criminal acts.

LIGHTFOOT: This was not legitimate First Amendment protected speech. These were not poor people engaged in petty theft to feed themselves and their families. This was straight up felony criminal conduct.

The crowd swarmed Chicago’s South Side in the early morning hours Monday. 

AUDIO: [Sound of crowd]

Looters smashed the windows of dozens of businesses—making off with whatever they could carry. 

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said police made more than a hundred arrests and a total of 13 officers were injured. In one instance, police were targeted while arresting an alleged looter. 

BROWN: This person was carrying a cash register he had looted out of a store. As officers were making the arrest, another vehicle passed by the officers and fired shots at the officers as their vehicle turned the corner resulting in an exchange of gunfire between our officers and the suspects. 

Brown said a social media post urged people to form a car caravan and converge on the business and shopping district.

Lightfoot addressed looters directly on Monday, telling them that police had collected a lot of surveillance video. She said “we saw you, and we will come after you.”

China sanctions six U.S. lawmakers and other officials » China on Monday announced unspecified sanctions against 11 U.S. officials—including six Republican lawmakers—Senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton and Pat Toomey, as well as New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith.

All of the sanctioned U.S. officials have heavily criticized China’s crackdown on liberties in Hong Kong. 

On Monday, Hong Kong authorities arrested the founder of a newspaper under its new so-called national security law. Police were seen carting away boxes of what they said was evidence from Jimmy Lai’s pro-democracy Next Digital headquarters. Officials say he’s suspected of collusion with foreign powers. 

That evening, police also arrested pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow Ting on charges of inciting secession. 

HHS secretary leads highest-level delegation to Taiwan in 41 years » Meantime, the Trump administration further riled the Chinese Communist Party this week as Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar met with leaders in Taiwan. 

AZAR: It’s a true honor to be here to convey a message of strong support and friendship from President Trump to Taiwan. 

It is the highest-level visit by an American Cabinet official in 41 years.

Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary.

Azar said the purpose of his trip is to highlight Taiwan’s success in combating COVID-19. He called it “a model of transparent, collaborative, cooperative public health and information sharing.” He said that stands in stark contrast to Beijing. 

Lebanese prime minister resigns » Lebanon’s prime minister stepped down from his job Monday in the wake of last week’s catastrophic explosion in Beirut. WORLD’s Anna Johansen has more. 

ANNA JOHANSEN, REPORTER: In a brief televised speech Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced he was stepping down after three of his ministers resigned. He said “I declare today the resignation of this government. May God protect Lebanon.”

The resignations followed a weekend of anti-government protests over the massive port explosion, which killed at least 160 people and injured thousands. 

Meantime, dozens of international groups and countries including the United States have pledged about $300 million in humanitarian aid to Lebanon. 

The group said the money would be “directly delivered to the Lebanese populations” and called on the government to address the people’s outcry over corruption and negligence.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen. 

Trump will accept nomination at White House or Gettysburg » President Trump said Monday that he will “probably” deliver his presidential nomination acceptance speech from the White House. 

Though, he said he’s also considering giving his speech on the battlefield at Gettysburg. He tweeted that he had narrowed the choices to those two locations. 

Both sites are federal property and some are raising legal and ethical concerns over using either for a political event. 

Trump was originally slated to address the convention in Charlotte but later shifted plans to Jacksonville. But coronavirus concerns upended plans to address a live crowd in either location. Now almost all of the convention will take place virtually.

McDonalds suing former CEO » McDonald’s says it’s suing its former CEO Stephen Easterbrook over inappropriate relationships with employees. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has that story. 

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: McDonald’s fired Easterbrook last year after he admitted to exchanging videos and text messages with an employee in what he called a non-physical, consensual relationship. He told the company that there were no other similar instances. 

The board reportedly approved a separation agreement that allowed Easterbrook to keep nearly $42 million in stock-based benefits and other pay.

McDonald’s now says after an anonymous tip, the company investigated further and found evidence of several intimate relationships between Easterbook and employees. The lawsuit claims he also approved a special grant of restricted stock to one of those employees worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

The company is suing to reclaim millions of dollars in compensation paid to Easterbrook.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) Volunteers help clean up the parking lot outside a Best Buy store, Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, after vandals struck overnight in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago. 

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