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Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping declare 2024 'year of DPRK-China friendship'

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Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping declare 2024 'year of DPRK-China friendship'

Dictator Kim Jong Un and President Xi Jinping are spending 2024 celebrating their countries’ friendship.

The supreme leader of North Korea and highest-ranking official of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) swapped declarations of “DPRK-China friendship” as the world welcomed in the new year this week.

“Through the ‘year of DPRK-China friendship,’ the two parties and two countries will further promote exchange and visits in all fields, including politics, economy and culture, further deepen the ties of friendship and unity, and intensify the cooperation in the joint struggle to safeguard regional and global peace and stability, thus adding a new page to the history of the DPRK-China relations,” a report from state media outlet Korean Central News Agency reads.

“DPRK” is an abbreviation of “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” the official name of the North Korean state.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping reviews the honour guard during a welcome ceremony at The Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Florence Lo – Pool/Getty Images)

Xi responded with a similar declaration of friendship for the Kim regime, celebrating “China-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations.”

“In recent years, the traditional China-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations have entered a new historic period, thanks to the joint efforts and encouragement of both sides,” Xi said in his statement. 

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Xi Jinping holds a welcoming ceremony for Kim Jong Un before their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Xinhua/Shen Hong via Getty Images)

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The CCP general secretary continued, “It is our steadfast policy to successfully defend, consolidate and develop the traditional China-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations.”

North Korea is a strategic regional ally for China as the CCP aims to consolidate diplomatic power and push back against perceived intrusion by Western nations.

Speaking Friday at a gathering of Chinese diplomats and ambassadors in Beijing, Xi took a militant tone as he urged the ministers to keep China’s development foremost in their mind and safeguard national interests against encroaching Western powers.

In this undated photo, Kim Jong Un, center, attends a meeting of the North Korean ruling Workers’ Party’s central military commission in Pyongyang. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

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“It is necessary to […] resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, with an attitude of readiness to fight and a firm will to defy strong powers,” Xi said, according to state-owned news outlet Xinhua.

Xi lamented what he called “escalating oppression and containment of China by external forces” in his speech, urging Chinese diplomats to “put discipline and rules first” to “build a diplomatic iron army loyal to the party, brave in taking responsibilities, daring to fight and being good at fighting.”

Kim Jong Un, meanwhile, has made repeated threats of nuclear attack against the US if provoked, saying in a Sunday meeting that “the treasured sword” of North Korea must be “sharpened.”

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Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship arrives at Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands

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Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship arrives at Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands

TENERIFE, Spain (AP) — A hantavirus-stricken cruise ship with more than 140 people on board has arrived at Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, off the coast of West Africa, where the passengers and some of the crew are to disembark.

The World Health Organization, Spanish authorities and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions have said that nobody on board the MV Hondius is currently showing symptoms of the virus. Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus, which can cause life-threatening illness.

As a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship is set to arrive at Granadilla port in Tenerife, Spain on Sunday morning, the WHO, Spanish authorities and cruise company Oceanwide Expedition are coordinating the disembarkation of passengers and some crew on ground.

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The ship will not dock but will remain at anchor, with people ferried off in small boats. Everyone disembarking will be checked for symptoms, and will only be taken off the ship once evacuation flights are ready to fly them to their destinations.

There are currently people of more than 20 different nationalities on board.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, along with Spain’s health and interior ministers, were to be supervising the evacuation of the ship. Authorities have said the passengers and crew members who will disembark will have no contact with the local population.

Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

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North Korea updates constitution to require automatic nuclear strike if Kim Jong Un is assassinated: report

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North Korea updates constitution to require automatic nuclear strike if Kim Jong Un is assassinated: report

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North Korea has updated its constitution to require a retaliatory nuclear strike if leader Kim Jong Un is assassinated, according to a report.

The Telegraph reported the change comes amid heightened global tensions following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other officials during a recent conflict.

Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike in Tehran as part of a coordinated U.S.-Israeli military operation earlier this year, Fox News Digital previously reported.

The constitutional revision was approved during a session of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly, which opened March 22 in Pyongyang, the outlet said.

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ISRAEL TARGETS IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER IN SWEEPING STRIKES AS US JOINS ‘OPERATION EPIC FURY’

North Korea launched two cruise missiles and three anti-ship missiles from the destroyer Choe Hyon on Sunday, April 12, 2026, according to North Korean state media. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP)

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) briefed senior government officials this week on the update, according to the report.

The revised policy outlines procedures for retaliatory action if North Korea’s leadership is incapacitated or killed.

“If the command-and-control system over the state’s nuclear forces is placed in danger by hostile forces’ attacks … a nuclear strike shall be launched automatically and immediately,” the updated provision states.

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KIM JONG UN CALLS SOUTH KOREA ‘MOST HOSTILE ENEMY,’ SAYS NORTH COULD ‘COMPLETELY DESTROY’ IT

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech at the inauguration ceremony of Saeppyol Street in Pyongyang on Feb. 15, 2026. (KCNA via KNS/AFP)

Reuters previously reported that North Korea revised its constitution to define its territory as bordering South Korea and remove references to reunification, reflecting Kim’s push to formally treat the two Koreas as separate states.

That marked the first time North Korea included a territorial clause in its constitution.

Last month, Kim pledged to further strengthen the country’s nuclear capabilities while maintaining a hard-line stance toward South Korea, which he has called the “most hostile” state.

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Kim Jong Un reportedly observed missile test launches in North Korea on Sunday, April 12, 2026. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service)

Kim has also accused the United States of “state terrorism and aggression,” and signaled North Korea could take a more active role in opposition to Washington amid rising global tensions.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Iran warns US against attacks on tankers; Israel kills dozens in Lebanon

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Iran warns US against attacks on tankers; Israel kills dozens in Lebanon
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