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North Korea’s Kim Jong Un Checks Out Putin’s Ride at Russia Summit 

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un responds as Russian President Vladimir Putin sends him off from the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un responds as Russian President Vladimir Putin sends him off from the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
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North Korea’s Kim Jong Un Checks Out Putin’s Ride at Russia Summit 

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un responds as Russian President Vladimir Putin sends him off from the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un responds as Russian President Vladimir Putin sends him off from the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to check out his Russian-made limousine on Wednesday ahead of their summit, ceding the spacious back seat to his guest.

Putin and Kim on Wednesday inspected the space launch facilities of the modern Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East ahead of their summit, according to state television footage.

As they strolled to the main complex engaged in casual conversation, they came to Putin's presidential Aurus limousine parked in the driveway, and the Russian president gestured to the vehicle as Kim stood seemingly curious.

Putin invited Kim to climb into the back seat and walked around to slide in next to the North Korean leader, who sat beaming.

North Korea's KCNA news agency said on Thursday "Putin showed his private car to Kim Jong Un before having a warm talk".

The Aurus Senat limousine was developed by the Russian state automotive institute known by its acronym NAMI.

Putin drove in the Aurus for the first time at his fourth inauguration in 2018, ditching his old stretch Mercedes in a patriotic message of self-sufficiency.

Kim drove to the space station on Wednesday in his personal Maybach limousine, brought onboard the special train he travelled in from Pyongyang with a large entourage.

Kim is believed to be an automobile enthusiast, having been seen in several luxury cars, including different Mercedes models, a Lexus sports utility vehicle and a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Those vehicles fall under luxury goods that UN member countries are banned from exporting to North Korea and are believed to have been smuggled in.

German manufacturer Daimler, which makes the Maybach, has said it had no idea how the vehicle and other Mercedes cars have been taken into the North and that it had no formal dealings with Pyongyang.

North Korea has a feeble auto industry with a handful of home-grown brands that build sedans and passenger buses. The most prominent is Pyeonghwa Motors, founded as a joint venture with investment from the South Korean company of the same name.

In 2018, then US President Donald Trump allowed Kim a peek inside the US presidential limousine known as "The Beast" during a break in their first summit in Singapore.

That time Kim did not get to climb in.

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Varieties

New Zealanders Save More Than 30 Stranded Whales by Lifting Them on Sheets

Rescuers and volunteers try to save killer whales stranded at the mouth of the Bolshaya Vorovskaya River at the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia October 2, 2024. Head of the Sobolevsky Municipal District of the Kamchatka Region Andrei Vorovskiy via VK/Handout via REUTERS
Rescuers and volunteers try to save killer whales stranded at the mouth of the Bolshaya Vorovskaya River at the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia October 2, 2024. Head of the Sobolevsky Municipal District of the Kamchatka Region Andrei Vorovskiy via VK/Handout via REUTERS
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New Zealanders Save More Than 30 Stranded Whales by Lifting Them on Sheets

Rescuers and volunteers try to save killer whales stranded at the mouth of the Bolshaya Vorovskaya River at the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia October 2, 2024. Head of the Sobolevsky Municipal District of the Kamchatka Region Andrei Vorovskiy via VK/Handout via REUTERS
Rescuers and volunteers try to save killer whales stranded at the mouth of the Bolshaya Vorovskaya River at the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia October 2, 2024. Head of the Sobolevsky Municipal District of the Kamchatka Region Andrei Vorovskiy via VK/Handout via REUTERS

More than 30 pilot whales that stranded themselves on a beach in New Zealand were safely returned to the ocean after conservation workers and residents helped to refloat them by lifting them on sheets. Four of the pilot whales died, New Zealand’s conservation agency said.
New Zealand is a whale stranding hotspot and pilot whales are especially prolific stranders.
A team was monitoring Ruakākā Beach near the city of Whangārei in New Zealand’s north on Monday to ensure there were no signs of the whales saved Sunday stranding again, the Department of Conservation told The Associated Press. The agency praised as “incredible” the efforts made by hundreds of people to help save the foundering pod.
“It’s amazing to witness the genuine care and compassion people have shown toward these magnificent animals,” Joel Lauterbach, a Department of Conservation spokesperson, said in a statement. “This response demonstrates the deep connection we all share with our marine environment.”
A Māori cultural ceremony for the three adult whales and one calf that died in the stranding took place on Monday. New Zealand’s Indigenous people consider whales a taonga — a sacred treasure — of cultural significance.
New Zealand has recorded more than 5,000 whale strandings since 1840. The largest pilot whale stranding was of an estimated 1,000 whales at the Chatham Islands in 1918, according to the Department of Conservation.
It's often not clear why strandings happen but the island nation's geography is believed to be a factor. Both the North and South Islands feature stretches of protruding coastline with shallow, sloping beaches that can confuse species such as pilot whales — which rely on echolocation to navigate.