Talks were held between Kim Il Guk, minister of Physical Culture and Sports of the DPRK, and Mikhail Degtyarev, minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang on November 24.

Present at the talks from the DPRK side were Vice-Minister of Physical Culture and Sports O Kwang Hyok and officials concerned and from the Russian side the party of the sports minister and Alexandr Matsegora, Russian ambassador to the DPRK, and staff members of his embassy.

At the talks, the issues of boosting exchanges and cooperation between the sports fields of the two countries were discussed.

Mikhail Degtyarev, minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, and his party looked round different places in Pyongyang.

At the Tower of the Juche Idea, they were briefed on the grand monument conveying the ideological and theoretical exploits of President Kim Il Sung who had created the immortal Juche idea to illuminate the way ahead of the era of independence. Then they went up to the observation deck of the tower to enjoy a bird's-eye view of Pyongyang.

They also toured the Arch of Triumph, the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, Kim Il Sung Stadium, May Day Stadium, the weightlifting and table-tennis gymnasiums on Chongchun Street, etc. and saw a demonstration performance of DPRK Taekwon-Do players at the Taekwon-Do Hall.

Growing public concern over the situation in the wake of the outbreak of the Gaza crisis in October last year turned into protest and denunciation.

Not only political and public figures but also heads of government of various countries spoke out against Israel’s growing rudeness, arrogance and unprecedented massacres of civilians, and the UNSC adopted a resolution demanding immediate cease-fire in the region, but the situation remains unchanged.

Rather, some members of international humanitarian organizations fell victim to the air raids by the Israeli army.

When asked what the greatest sorrow is, people often say that it is the sorrow of orphans.

But looking at the children at the Pyongyang Baby Home and Orphanage, they cannot but deny it.

A foreigner who visited the Pyongyang Baby Home and Orphanage said in admiration, "Taking care of orphans is posing as a difficult problem and economic burden in many countries of the world. But in the DPRK the Party and the state attach importance to the problem of raising children and provide them with happy living conditions." 

The Third Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea held in June 2021 set it as a policy to supply all children across the country with dairy products and other nutritional foods at the state’s expense. Some months later, the Law of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on Childcare was adopted.

Since then all children throughout the country have been supplied with tasty and nutritious dairy products every day.

When the vans loaded with dairy products went to every part of the country, including remote mountain villages, the people were deeply moved by the policy of the Party which takes warm care of the rising generation when the country is still under difficult economic situation. 

Hackberry is a tall broadleaf tree belonging to the elm family.

Riwon hackberry grows in Kokgu-ri located about ten kilometres northeast of the Riwon county town.

It is an old tree, which has grown since around 1730.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in his online speech on November 21 pointed to the stand to resolutely counter the acts of aggression against his country.

As regards the attacks on military installations in Kursk and Bryansk by US and UK long-range missiles, he accused the US and its NATO allies of persistently pursuing the line of escalating tension by deciding on the use of long-range missiles against the Russian territory and noted that the use of such weapons is impossible without the direct involvement by military experts of the countries that produced them.

Saying that the Russian armed forces struck in reaction to the attack the Ukrainian munitions industry complexes with new-type medium-range ballistic missiles, he affirmed that the anti-missile systems the Americans are building in Europe are unable to intercept the missile.

A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a regular press conference on November 22 censured the US for having obstructed the adoption of the UNSC’s resolution on cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

The conflict persisting in Gaza has entailed over 40 000 deaths and unprecedented humanitarian disasters, he said, adding that the recent resolution reflected strong voices of the international community for peace.

He said that the US alone exercised veto several times to hinder the adoption of resolutions on cease-fire in the region, thus bringing the efforts of the UNSC and the international community back into stagnation.

The chief of the Information Office of the Ministry of National Defence of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on November 23 issued a press statement titled "It is constitutional duty of the DPRK to take measures for self-defence to defend its security environment", which said:

The military tension in the region has recently become more acute as the US continuously flexes its military muscle against the DPRK on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity.

The US, which deployed the nuclear carrier George Washington strike group in the waters around the Korean peninsula, staged Freedom Edge, the multi-domain joint military drills, with Japan and the ROK from November 13 to 15.