SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is heading to Beijing by train on Tuesday to attend a military parade with his Chinese and Russian counterparts, North Korea’s state media reported. The event could potentially demonstrate three-way unity against the United States.

Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin are among the 26 world leaders who’ll join Chinese President Xi Jinping to watch Wednesday’s massive military parade in Beijing that commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and China’s fight against Japan’s wartime aggressions.

It’s set to be Kim’s first time attending a major multilateral event during his 14-year rule, and the first time Kim, Xi and Putin, all key challengers of the U.S., have gathered at the same venue. None of the three countries have confirmed a private trilateral leaders’ meeting.

South Korean intelligence predicts Kim could be treated on par with Putin

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported early Tuesday that Kim left Pyongyang for Beijing by his special train on Monday to participate in the celebrations. KCNA, citing Foreign Ministry official Kim Chon Il, said that Kim Jong Un was traveling with top officials including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui.

In a closed-door briefing to lawmakers, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said Kim’s train entered China early Tuesday and was expected to reach Beijing later in the afternoon. The intelligence service said Kim will likely receive special protocol and security measures on par with those given to Putin, according to Lee Seong Kweun, a lawmaker who attended the meeting.

The spy agency said Kim may stand alongside Xi and Putin on the rostrum at Tiananmen Square during Wednesday’s parade, and anticipated that he will hold bilateral meetings with the Chinese and Russian leaders and interact with other heads of state at a reception and cultural performance as he seeks to further break out of isolation and expand his diplomatic footing, Lee said.

Kim’s travel marks his first visit to China since 2019 and the fifth visit in total since he inherited power upon his father’s death in late 2011.

Putin arrived in China on Sunday to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional summit, as well as the Beijing parade. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russia’s TASS news agency on Sunday that a meeting between Putin and Kim on the sidelines was “under consideration.”

North Korea observers are paying keen attention to Kim possibly meeting Xi bilaterally as well and holding even a trilateral meeting with Xi and Putin. The three leaders have met bilaterally previously but have yet to hold a trilateral meeting.

Kim seeks to expand his diplomatic footing

North Korea’s foreign policy priority has been Russia in recent years as it has been supplying troops and ammunition to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in exchange for economic and military assistance.

According to South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent around 15,000 troops to Russia since last fall. In its latest briefing to lawmakers, the South Korean spy agency said it believes roughly 2,000 of them have so far died in combat, Lee said. Kim has also agreed to additionally send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to Russia’s Kursk region, and the agency assesses that the first 1,000 are already in Russia, Lee said.

North Korea’s relations with China have reportedly turned sour in recent years, but experts say Kim likely hopes to restore ties as China is North Korea’s biggest trading partner and aid benefactor and he would want to brace for the end of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Since aligning with Russia, North Korea has become more vocal in international affairs beyond the Korean Peninsula, issuing diplomatic statements on conflicts in the Middle East and in the Taiwan Strait, while portraying itself as a part of a united front against Washington. Some experts say Kim’s presence at the multilateral event in Beijing is part of efforts to develop partnerships with other nations close to China and Russia.

Kim’s trip comes as President Donald Trump and new liberal South Korean President Lee Jae Myung have repeatedly expressed their hopes to restart talks with North Korea. North Korea has been shunning talks with the U.S. and South Korea and pushing to expand its nuclear and missile arsenals since Kim’s earlier round of diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019.

Before departing for China on Monday, Kim visited a North Korean missile research institute to review progress on developing a new engine for a “next-generation” intercontinental ballistic missile, KCNA reported. The North in recent years has tested various versions of ICBMs capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, and analysts say the next-generation ICBM likely refers to a long-range weapon with multiple nuclear warheads that can defeat U.S. missile defense systems.

The Bill Belichick honeymoon at North Carolina lasted exactly one possession.

TCU scored 41 unanswered points on the way to a 48-14 win over North Carolina in Belichick’s first game as head coach. The Tar Heels opened the game with an impressive touchdown drive and then promptly got run over by the Horned Frogs until the game was out of reach.

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TCU put the game away one play into the second half when Kevorian Barnes broke a 75-yard TD run. The Horned Frogs led 20-7 at halftime and Barnes made the lead insurmountable at that point.

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The opener showed just how far North Carolina has to go simply to be relevant this season.

Belichick has preached fundamentals since his introductory news conference in December and, well, North Carolina was not fundamentally sound. The Tar Heels had tackling issues, dropped passes and even dropped punt snaps. It was a disastrous performance for nearly every unit.

Read Nick Bromberg’s story on the game right here and see how it all played out below.

The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army appeals for UN help to recover bodies from a village buried by a landslide after heavy rain.

A landslide has destroyed an entire village in Sudan’s western Darfur region, killing an estimated 1,000 people, according to a rebel group that controls the area.

News agencies said the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army issued a statement late on Monday reporting the disaster in the Marra Mountains area of Darfur.

The rebel group said the landslide struck on Sunday after days of heavy rainfall in the area, and the village was “completely levelled to the ground”, leaving only one survivor.

“Initial information indicates the death of all village residents, estimated to be more than one thousand individuals, with only one survivor,” the group said in a statement.

The rebels also appealed to the United Nations and international aid agencies for assistance in recovering the bodies of victims, which included children.

News of the disaster comes as Sudan’s ongoing civil war – now in its third year – plunges the country further into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with famine already declared in parts of Darfur.

People fleeing clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in North Darfur state had sought shelter in the Marra Mountains area, and food and medication were reported by the Reuters news agency to be in short supply.

Factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, which controls the area where the landslide occurred, have pledged to fight alongside the Sudanese military against the RSF.

Fighting has escalated in Darfur, especially in el-Fasher, since the army took control of the capital, Khartoum, from the RSF in March.

El-Fasher has been under siege for more than a year by the RSF, which is seeking to capture the strategic city, the last major population centre held by the army in the Darfur region.

The paramilitaries, who lost much of central Sudan, including Khartoum, earlier this year, are attempting to consolidate power in the west and establish a rival government.

كشفت السلطة المدنية في مناطق سيطرة حركة تحرير #السودان بقيادة عبد الواحد عن وفاة جميع سكان قرية ترسين في وسط جبل مرة نتيجة انزلاقات أرضية أمس الأحد.
الانزلاقات الأرضية المُدمّرة للقرية الواقعة في وسط جبل مرة حدثت بسبب الأمطار الغزيرة التي هطلت خلال الأسبوع الأخير من شهر أغسطس… pic.twitter.com/PFycp1xGbe

— Sudan News (@Sudan_tweet) September 1, 2025