Iran's Khamenei calls US issue 'unsolvable' amid nuclear standoff

 Iran’s supreme leader said the current situation with the United States was “unsolvable”, and that Tehran would never bow to pressure to obey Washington, amid a stand-off with Western powers over its nuclear programme, state media reported on Aug 24.

The Islamic Republic suspended nuclear negotiations with the Americans after the US and Israel bombed its nuclear sites during 

a 12-day war in June

.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments, delivered at a mosque and published on a government website, come after Iran and European powers agreed on Aug 22 to resume talks to try to restart full negotiations on curbing Tehran’s nuclear enrichment work.

“They want Iran to be obedient to America. The Iranian nation will stand with all of its power against those who have such erroneous expectations,” Mr Khamenei was reported as saying.

“People who ask us not to issue slogans against the US… to have direct negotiations with the US only see appearances… This issue is unsolvable,” he added.

France, Britain and Germany have said they could reactivate United Nations sanctions on Iran under a “snapback” mechanism if Tehran does not return to the table.

The European states, along with the US, say Iran is working towards developing nuclear weapons. Iran says it is only interested in developing nuclear power.

To Mr Khamenei, Iran has emerged stronger from the 12-day war in June, the most intense direct confrontation in its history with arch foes Israel and the US.

“The Iranian nation, by standing firm alongside the armed forces, the government and the system, delivered a strong blow” to its enemies, he said.

Internal divisions

Mr Khamenei, who has the final say on state affairs, also warned against internal divisions he said foreign powers were fomenting.

“The way forward for the enemy is to create discord” in Iran, he said, blaming “agents of America and the Zionist regime” – a reference to Israel – for seeking to sow division.

“Today, thanks to God, the country is united. There are differences of opinion, but when it comes to defending the system, defending the country, and standing up against the enemy, the people are united,” said Mr Khamenei.

Relations between Tehran and Washington were severed after the 1979 Islamic revolution and the subsequent hostage crisis at the US embassy.

Washington has since imposed successive waves of sanctions on Tehran, most recently over its nuclear programme.

The June war broke out as Tehran and Washington were due to hold their sixth round of talks on Iran’s nuclear programme, but the negotiations that began weeks earlier were derailed by the conflict.

Iran is due to meet on Aug 26 with Britain, France and Germany for nuclear talks, as the European powers have threatened to reimpose sanctions if no agreement is reached.

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/irans-khamenei-calls-us-issue-unsolvable-amid-nuclear-standoff

Carney says he won't rule out Canadian troops in Ukraine as part of security guarantees

 Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said in Kyiv on Sunday he would not rule out the presence of Canadian troops in Ukraine as part of future proposed security guarantees, the framework of which is currently being worked out by Ukraine and its allies.

Carney was speaking at a news conference alongside President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky marked Ukraine’s Independence Day on Sunday alongside Carney, who said Ukraine would receive more than C$1 billion (US$723 million) in military aid from a previously announced package next month.

Three and a half years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky is facing pressure from Washington to make concessions to Russia as US President Donald Trump seeks to broker a peace deal.

“We are all working to ensure that the end of this war would mean the guarantee of peace for Ukraine, so that neither war nor the threat of war are left for our children to inherit,” Zelensky told a crowd of dignitaries in Kyiv’s Sophia Square, against the backdrop of an 11th century cathedral.

As well as Carney, on his first visit to Ukraine since taking office in March, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, attended the ceremony. Zelensky presented Kellogg with a state honour.

“We need peace,” Zelensky told Kellogg as he handed him the medal in a leather case.

Zelensky acknowledged the human cost of the war, but said that Ukrainians would fight to remain on their land.

Ukraine is now working with its European allies to draft potential frameworks for post-war security guarantees for Kyiv, which Trump has expressed openness to.

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3322987/canadas-pm-carney-wont-rule-out-canadian-troops-ukraine

South Korea tells China it wants to normalise ties, Yonhap reports

 South Korea is hoping to normalise relations with China that have been strained in recent years, the leader of a high-level delegation from Seoul said during a visit to Beijing on Sunday, Yonhap News Agency reported.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung sent the envoys to his country's main trading partner as he travels to Washington to meet U.S. President Donald Trump.

Former assembly speaker Park Byeong-seug, the head of the delegation, met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and handed over a letter from Lee to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Diplomatic ties between the two countries have improved since a 2017 dispute over South Korea's deployment of a U.S. missile defence system, which Beijing opposed.

But they exchanged harsh words in 2023 about critical comments on Beijing by South Korea's last president, Yoon Suk Yeol.

Park told Wang Yi on Sunday he hoped the delegation would "open the door to normalising South Korea-China relations, which have been strained in recent years," Yonhap said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/south-korea-tells-china-wants-131240604.html

Systemic Corruption Doesn't Give A Chance For Peace In Ukraine

 by Yuri Mirovich via AntiWar.com,

Another huge scandal linked to embezzlement of budget funds in government procurement has broken out in Ukraine recently. On August 2, Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) exposed an organized criminal group created by “Servant of the People” party’s deputy Oleksii Kuznietsov and head of the State Administration of the Mukachevo District Serhiy Haidai. The group have been organizing purchases of overpriced FPV drones and electronic warfare systems for the National Guard of Ukraine.

According to investigation data, beside Kuznietsov and Haidai, a head of one of the Military-Civil Administrations, a unit commander of the National Guard, and representatives of company manufacturing drones were also involved in the huge corruption scheme. During 2024-2025, the criminals embezzled about $80 000 of money allocated for purchasing of defense goods. 30% from every government contract settled in their pockets. Now, all key persons of interest are taken into custody with the possibility of being out on bail. The head of the state Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the situation eloquently calling the fraud “absolutely immoral” and promised a “full and fair accountability” for the criminals. However, neither high-profile exposure of corrupt officials, nor passionate speeches of the president of the country haven’t been able to dispel the tension, that has accumulated over last several weeks, and exonerate the Kyiv authorities for Ukrainians and international public.

Specialized law enforcement agency focused on graft , the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, which was to quiet the concerns of Western allies. Creative Commons.

The reason for this is recent attempts of authorities to discredit the Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies and restrict their independence which really destroyed civilians’ faith in Zelenskyy’s and his team’s commitment to the rule of law and authorities’ interest in fighting corruption in general. I’m talking about a set of planned and well-coordinated attacks of current authorities on SAPO and NABU which preceded the exposure of the Kuznietsov-Haidai group. 

On June 21, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine (one month before the events the office of Prosecutor General was taken by Ruslan Kravchenko who is known for his loyalty to the Office of the President of Ukraine) and SBU conducted unauthorized searches in both agencies. As the result of the searches, several NABU detectives were taken into custody on suspicion of collaboration with Russia. This joint operation of the secret services and the Prosecutor General’s Office (cynically called by the implementers “special operation”) literally paralyzed the work of NABU and SAPO and created a formal reason for tightening the control over anti-corruption agencies. The reason the Kyiv authorities have been looking for a very long time and not finding one, is that they created it themselves. Already on July 22, the Verkhovnaya Rada of Ukraine passed a new law which practically liquidated the independence of anti-corruption agencies and established full control over their work by the Prosecutor General’s Office. Later that night, the new law was quickly signed by the President Zelenskyy despite the will of Ukrainians.

Such an undisguised attempt to liquidate the anti-corruption agencies caused an immediate reaction from Ukrainians. Ukrainians openly stood against the culpable law: hundreds of people went to protests on the streets, and free Ukrainian media was full of critics and disapproval of Kyiv’s authorities. However, I hate to admit it, but Ukrainians wouldn’t stop the authorities’ arbitrariness by themselves without the help of Ukrainian allies. Only due to the fast interference and strong stand of European and American authorities which have made everything they could to stop Kyiv’s authorities’ treacherous actions. The process of liquidation of SAPO and NABU was reversed. As a result, on July 31, under pressure of Ukrainian and international public a new law was passed. It restored the independence of the anti-corruption agencies. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t hope that Kyiv’s authorities stop trying to destroy anti-corruption agencies.

The events described above really incited discontent with the Kyiv’s policies and demonstrated clearly the deep and insurmountable gap between ordinary citizens and the government elites. As a result, nobody believed in Zelenskyy’s attempt to simulate solidarity with SAPO and NABU in their fight with corruption. Thus, the consequent exposure of the Kuznietsov-Haidai’s scheme was perceived as an authorities’ sop to public in order to fix their tarnished reputation. However, the sop wouldn’t have happened if people hadn’t defended the independence of SAPO and NABU.

Many analysts and journalists are sure that the scheme is a tip of an iceberg of huge corruption net involving the whole government system. And that’s why the authorities were so eager to disrupt the work of the anti-corruption agencies, or to liquidate them completely as a threat. And these suspicions aren’t groundless. Such corruption schemes demand clear and well-established coordination of actions of many people and powerful departments that is impossible to organize without the support of top officials during the war and taking into account the rigid vertical of power. And it’s highly possible that if SBU hadn’t interfered in the work of NABU and SAPO acquiring the access to the information about agencies’ operations then there would have been a bigger and more high-profile ant-corruption process involving upper echelons politicians and multimillion bribes in defense sector. 

This theory can be proved by the fact that such scandals linked to embezzlement of budget funds in defense sector became a new norm for Ukraine during the war. And every time criminals only got reprimands and their crimes were being quickly forgotten. Moreover, according to the information from the Turkish newspaper Aydilink, the persecution SAPO and NABU started after the exposure of a scheme of transferring money from Ukraine to the UAE. According to the scheme Zelenskyy’s inner circle transferred tens millions of dollars every month to UAE-based shell companies linked to Zelenskyy’s close friend Andii Hmyrin.

Being a bad influence on all spheres of the government and society as a united system, the problem of systemic corruption is a really acute topic in Ukraine now. However, particularly corruption (supported and protected by the authorities all over the vertical of power) add fuel to the fire of the war distancing Ukraine from peace. While defense budgets and multibillion tranches of military aid from the allies are creating a fertile ground for corrupt politicians, while the fight against corruption is remaining a cover created for Europe and America, while Ukrainian businessmen are developing new schemes of getting rich on the war, a peaceful settlement of the war is out of question. The same is true for the law about the independence of SAPO and NABU. Without the support “from the outside”, without the interference of international agencies and public, common Ukrainians have little chance to make a difference by themselves.

Yuri Mirovich is a Ukrainian refugee living in the Netherlands since 2023. He studied law at the University of Groningen. While living in Ukraine he engaged in active public work and is now a member of the Dutch political initiative De Beweging.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/systemic-corruption-doesnt-give-chance-peace-ukraine

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-24/vietnam-steps-up-island-building-in-south-china-sea-says-csis

Neuropsychiatry biotech LB Pharmaceuticals files for a $100 million IPO

 LB Pharmaceuticals, a Phase 3 biotech developing therapies for neuropsychiatric diseases, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering.

LB Pharmaceuticals' lead candidate LB-102, is a Phase 3-ready oral small molecule that it is developing to treat acute schizophrenia, a chromic disease characterized by hallucinations and delusions that affects roughly 1% of the US population. After achieving its primary endpoint of a change in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale at week four in its 359-patient Phase 2 trial, LB Pharmaceuticals expects to begin a Phase 3 trial in the 1Q26.

The New York, NY-based company was founded in 2015 and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol LBRX. Leerink Partners, Piper Sandler, and Stifel are the joint bookrunners on the deal. No pricing terms were disclosed.

Relevant Profile: LBRX

https://www.renaissancecapital.com/IPO-Center/News/112955/Neuropsychiatry-biotech-LB-Pharmaceuticals-files-for-a-$100-million-IPO

Pentagon working on plans for military deployment in Chicago, Washington Post reports

 The Pentagon is working on plans to deploy the US military to Chicago as President Donald Trump says he is cracking down on crime, homelessness and undocumented immigration, the Washington Post reported on Aug 23.

The Defence Department planning, in the works for weeks, involves several options, including mobilising at least a few thousand members of the National Guard as soon as September, the Post reported, citing officials familiar with the matter.

"Chicago is a mess," Mr Trump, a Republican, told reporters on Aug 22, deriding its mayor as he continued his attacks on cities run by Democratic politicians. "And we'll straighten that one out probably next."

The Pentagon said in a statement late on Aug 23: “We won’t speculate on further operations. The department is a planning organisation and is continuously working with other agency partners on plans to protect federal assets and personnel.”

Asked for comment, the White House referred to Mr Trump’s statement on Aug 22.

Mr JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois, which includes Chicago, said in a statement the state had received no outreach from the federal government on whether it needed assistance.

He said there was no emergency warranting a National Guard or other military deployment.

"Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicise Americans who serve in uniform and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he is causing working families," Mr Pritzker said.

A spokesperson for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Aug 22 Mr Johnson said the city had grave concerns about the impact of any unlawful deployment of National Guard troops.

"The problem with the President's approach is that it is uncoordinated, uncalled for and unsound," the mayor said, adding that over the past year, homicides in Chicago have fallen by more than 30 per cent, robberies by 35 per cent and shootings by almost 40 per cent.

At Mr Trump's request last weekend, the Republican governors of three states said they were sending hundreds of National Guard troops hundreds of miles to Washington DC.

The president has portrayed the nation's capital as a city awash in crime, although Justice Department data shows violent crime hit a 30-year low in 2024 in Washington, a self-governing federal district under the jurisdiction of Congress.

In June, Mr Trump 

ordered 700 Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops

 to Los Angeles, against the wishes of California's Democratic governor, during protests over mass immigration raids by federal officials.

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/pentagon-working-on-plans-for-military-deployment-in-chicago-washington-post-reports