Dutch semiconductor equipment giant ASML will cut about 1,700 jobs (~4% of staff), mainly management and IT roles in the Netherlands and US, to streamline operations despite record 2025 profits and booming AI-driven demand.

Russia has reportedly lost an Su-34 fighter jet.

Russian Su-34 jet was reportedly shot down by a Patriot SAM over the Black Sea near Snake Island.

The crew was killed.

📸 Nicki Minaj and Trump holding hands together today.

📸 Nicki Minaj and Donald Trump.

Spanish scientists wiped out pancreatic tumors in mice using a triple-drug combo that blocks KRAS, EGFR, and STAT3 at once.

Tumors disappeared with no relapse or major side effects.

Human trials are still years away.

Germany's Merz:

Ukraine’s accession to the European Union on January 1, 2027 is out of the question.

All members, including Ukraine, that wish to join the European Union must fulfill the Copenhagen criteria. These processes usually take several years.

We can gradually bring Ukraine closer to the European Union along this path, but such a rapid accession is simply not feasible.

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Merz's ally CSU leader Markus Söder:

We need the United States of America militarily — not to mention technologically.

It was calculated only a few days ago that we would have to raise our defense spending to 10 percent of GDP if we wanted to manage without the Americans.

And withdrawing from American technologies, which largely ensure our digital infrastructure in this country, would set us back dramatically.

The US is demanding that Iran abandon its nuclear program, scale back its missile forces, and end support for proxy groups — effectively total surrender.

Iran has already rejected the nuclear and missile demands.

Source: NYT

All EU member states have agreed to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

Source: WSJ

Venezuelan Opposition Leader María Corina Machado:

We have huge resources that we want American companies to come and invest.

Venezuelan Opposition Leader María Corina Machado:

I think no one has faith in Delcy Rodríguez.

Everybody knows what this regime is all about. We’re talking about criminals.

The Israeli Ambassador to the UN brought a Houthi flag to work.

Senator Graham on Syria:

You can't have a one Syria policy by force of arms.

I worry about the Druze. I worry about the Christians.

Nicki Minaj on Trump:

He really wants change. He doesn’t want to just talk about it.

This is a different President. This is a different kind of leader.

This is a businessman and an authentic human being.

Macron:

Our children's and our teens' brains are not for sale.

Our children's and our teens' emotions are not for sale, and they are not available for manipulation by U.S. platforms or by Chinese algorithms.

Senator Graham on YPG/PKK terror group in Syria:

Pray for our Kurdish allies. They have been great to Israel. They have been great to us.

I’m talking to Saudi Arabia. I’m talking to Türkiye. We need to hold them accountable if things go bad.

Senator Graham says he opposes the idea of “one, united Syria”:

We have to understand that this idea that all these people are going to live together happily is a long way away.

Interviewer: It goes against the vast amount of history of that region. I mean, this idea of the nation-state is a relatively new one.

Graham: Yeah, kind of a fiction. This is a religious war.