Our daily trip around the world

🇷🇺🇰🇵 Russian President Vladimir Putin is making his first visit to North Korea in 24 years. The two-day trip, which starts today, is expected to see Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un sign a new security pact that Russian officials say is aimed at ensuring greater stability in northeast Asia. Western officials are concerned the expected agreement would enable Pyongyang to provide Moscow with weapons to fuel Russia's war effort in Ukraine, though both countries have denied the accusation.

🇨🇳 China's nuclear stockpile is reportedly growing faster than any other country. An annual report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found China’s nuclear stockpile grew from 410 nuclear warheads last January to 500 as of this year. The report also found China is on track to develop as many intercontinental ballistic missiles as the US and Russia by the end of the decade, though Beijing’s overall nuclear stockpile is expected to remain more than 5x lower than both countries.

💥 Israel-Hamas war: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu disbanded the country’s war cabinet following the departure of Benny Gantz, one of its three non-observing members. The move means most decisions regarding Israel’s war against Hamas will fall to the country’s larger security cabinet, with PM Netanyahu holding smaller forums for sensitive matters. The war cabinet’s dissolution came one day after Israel’s military announced a tactical pause in fighting against Hamas to facilitate aid trucks trying to access Gaza's north-south highway.