North Korea's Kim Jong Un Attends New Year's Celebrations with Daughter

This photo provided on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, with his daughter, second left, attend a New Year celebration in Pyongyang, North Korea on Dec. 31, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
This photo provided on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, with his daughter, second left, attend a New Year celebration in Pyongyang, North Korea on Dec. 31, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
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North Korea's Kim Jong Un Attends New Year's Celebrations with Daughter

This photo provided on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, with his daughter, second left, attend a New Year celebration in Pyongyang, North Korea on Dec. 31, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
This photo provided on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, with his daughter, second left, attend a New Year celebration in Pyongyang, North Korea on Dec. 31, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae attended New Year's celebrations including fireworks and an ice dancing display, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday.
Senior North Korean officials joined them in watching the events, state media photos showed. There was no mention of any speech by Kim.
KCNA said on the previous day that Kim had pledged to solidify the country's comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia in a letter to President Vladimir Putin.
In the message, Kim sent New Year greetings to Putin and all Russians, including their troops and expressed his willingness to further step up bilateral ties, which he said the two leaders have elevated to a new height this year, through new projects, KCNA said.
Kim "wished that the New Year 2025 would be recorded as the first year of victory in the 21st century when the Russian army and people would defeat neo-Nazism and achieve a great victory," KCNA said.

Kim and Putin signed a mutual defense treaty at a summit in June, which calls for each side to come to the other's aid in case of an armed attack.
North Korea has since dispatched tens of thousands of troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, and Seoul and Washington said that more than a thousand of them have been killed or wounded.



US Official: US Plans $8 Billion Arms Sale to Israel

A young Palestinian stands amid the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on January 3, 2025, as the war between Israel and Hamas continues. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
A young Palestinian stands amid the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on January 3, 2025, as the war between Israel and Hamas continues. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
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US Official: US Plans $8 Billion Arms Sale to Israel

A young Palestinian stands amid the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on January 3, 2025, as the war between Israel and Hamas continues. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
A young Palestinian stands amid the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on January 3, 2025, as the war between Israel and Hamas continues. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)

The administration of President Joe Biden has notified Congress of a proposed $8 billion arms sale to Israel, a US official said on Friday, with Washington maintaining support for its ally whose war in Gaza has killed tens of thousands.
The deal would need approval from the House of Representatives and Senate committees and includes munitions for fighter jets and attack helicopters as well as artillery shells, Axios reported earlier. The package also includes small-diameter bombs and warheads, according to Axios.
The State Department did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Protesters have for months demanded an arms embargo against Israel, but US policy has largely remained unchanged. In August, the United States approved the sale of $20 billion in fighter jets and other military equipment to Israel.
The Biden administration says it is helping its ally defend against Iran-backed militant groups like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Facing international criticism, Washington has stood by Israel during its assault on Gaza that has displaced nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million population, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide accusations that Israel denies.
The Gaza health ministry puts the death toll at over 45,000 people, with many additional feared buried under rubble.
Diplomatic efforts have so far failed to end the 15-month-old Israeli war in Gaza.