AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EST

The assessment by the National Intelligence Service comes as North Korea is preparing to hold its biggest political conference later this month, where Kim is expected to outline his major policy goals for the next five years and take steps to tighten his authoritarian grip.

In a closed-door briefing, NIS officials said they are closely monitoring whether Kim’s daughter — believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and around 13 years old — appears with him before thousands of delegates at the upcoming Workers’ Party Congress, said lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun, who attended the meeting.

First appearing in public at a long-range missile test in November 2022, Kim Ju Ae has since accompanied her father to an increasing number of events, including weapons tests, military parades and factory openings. She traveled with him to Beijing last September for Kim's first summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in six years on the sidelines of a World War II event.

Speculation about her political future intensified last month when she joined her parents on a New Year’s Day visit to Pyongyang’s Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a sacred family mausoleum displaying the embalmed bodies of her late grandfather and great-grandfather, the country’s first- and second-generation leaders. Some experts saw the visit as the clearest sign yet that she’s positioned to be the heir to her 42-year-old father.

Indian unions and farmers stage a nationwide strike over interim trade deal with US

NEW DELHI (AP) — A coalition of major trade unions and farmers’ groups in India mounted a nationwide strike Thursday to protest an interim trade deal with the United States, saying the agreement undermines the interests of farmers, small businesses and workers.

In Parliament, lawmakers from opposition political parties demanded that the government scrap the trade deal and criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the slogan “Narendra Modi, surrender Modi.”

The one-day strike partially disrupted public services and manufacturing activities, highlighting resistance to the reform agenda set by Modi, leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, and underscoring the political risks of pushing market-oriented policies ahead of key state elections later this year.

A union leader said the trade deal with Washington opens the Indian market to subsidized agricultural products, threatening the livelihoods of millions of small farmers.

“Cheap American farm produce will be dumped in India, making it difficult for our farmers and small businesses to compete,” said Amarjeet Kaur, general secretary of All India Trade Union Congress, a prominent union that took part in the strike.

Russia fires another barrage at Ukrainian cities as next round of US-brokered talks is unclear

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities in overnight attacks, officials reported on Thursday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow was “hesitating” about another round of U.S.-brokered talks on stopping the fighting.

Washington has proposed further negotiations next week between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Miami or Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, which was the location of the last meeting, Zelenskyy said late Wednesday.

Ukraine “immediately confirmed” it would attend, he said. “So far, as I understand it, Russia is hesitating,” Zelenskyy told reporters in a messaging app interview late Wednesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that another round of talks was expected “soon” but gave no further details.

American officials made no comment on the possibility of further talks as part of a yearlong peace effort by the Trump administration. Zelenskyy said last week that the United States has given Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach a deal.

China issues new rules to curb auto price war after January passenger car sales drop 20%

HONG KONG (AP) — China moved Thursday to curb a fierce price war among automakers that has caused massive losses for the industry, after passenger car sales dropped nearly 20% in January from the year before, the fastest pace in almost two years.

The State Administration for Market Regulation released guidelines for manufacturers, dealers and parts suppliers aimed at preventing a race-to-the-bottom price war.

They forbid automakers from setting prices below the cost of production to “squeeze out competitors or monopolize the market.” Violators may face “significant legal risks," the regulator warned.

The rules also target deceptive pricing strategies and price fixing between parts suppliers and auto manufacturers.

Passenger car sales in China fell 19.5% in January from a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. That was the biggest percentage drop since February 2024.

House votes to slap back Trump's tariffs on Canada in rare bipartisan rebuke

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Wednesday to slap back President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, a rare if largely symbolic rebuke of the White House agenda as Republicans joined Democrats over the objections of GOP leadership.

The tally, 219-211, was among the first times the House, controlled by Republicans, has confronted the president over a signature policy, and drew instant recrimination from Trump himself. The resolution seeks to end the national emergency Trump declared to impose the tariffs, though actually undoing the policy would require support from the president, which is highly unlikely. It next goes to the Senate.

Trump believes in the power of tariffs to force U.S. trade partners to the negotiating table. But lawmakers are facing unrest back home from businesses caught in the trade wars and constituents navigating pocketbook issues and high prices.

“Today’s vote is simple, very simple: Will you vote to lower the cost of living for the American family or will you keep prices high out of loyalty to one person -- Donald J. Trump?” said Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who authored the resolution.

Within minutes, as the gavel struck, Trump fired off a stern warning to those in the Republican Party who would dare to cross him.

EU leaders meet to counter pressure from Russia, China and Trump

BILZEN-HOESELT, Belgium (AP) — Leaders from across the European Union are meeting Thursday in a Belgian castle as the 27-nation bloc faces antagonism from U.S. President Donald Trump, strong-arm economic tactics from China and hybrid threats from Russia — challenges that have prompted a rethink of Europe's approach to diplomacy and trade.

“We all know we must change course, and we all know the direction," Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever told a meeting of some European leaders on Wednesday. “Yet it sometimes feels like we’re standing on the bridge of the ship staring at the horizon without being able to touch the helm.”

There are competing visions of how the EU should navigate these troubled times. Thursday's meeting is to shape proposals for another summit in late March.

Before crossing a drawbridge to the 16th-century Alden Biesen castle, leaders told reporters they were focused on competitiveness and economic security.

“We need to continue our very proactive trade policy and protect our companies from unfair competition, from economic coercion,” said European Council President António Costa just before the meeting started. He highlighted energy costs and cutting bureaucratic barriers to trade.

Deaths in Iran's crackdown on protests reach at least 7,000, activists say

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The death toll from a crackdown over Iran’s nationwide protests last month has reached at least 7,002 people killed with many more still feared dead, activists said Thursday.

The slow rise in the number of dead from the demonstrations adds to the overall tensions facing Iran both inside the country and abroad as it tries to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear program. A second round of talks remains up in the air as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed his case directly with U.S. President Donald Trump to intensify his demands on Tehran in the negotiations.

“There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated. If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference,” Trump wrote afterward on his TruthSocial website.

“Last time Iran decided that they were better off not making a Deal, and they were hit. ... That did not work well for them. Hopefully this time they will be more reasonable and responsible.”

Meanwhile, Iran at home faces still-simmering anger over its wide-ranging suppression of all dissent in the Islamic Republic. That rage may intensify in the coming days as families of the dead begin marking the traditional 40-day mourning for the loved ones.

Europe warily awaits Rubio at Munich Security Conference as Trump roils transatlantic ties

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading a large U.S. delegation this week to the Munich Security Conference where increasingly nervous European leaders are hoping for at least a brief reprieve from President Donald Trump’s often inconsistent policies and threats that have roiled transatlantic relations and the post-World War II international order.

A year after Vice President JD Vance stunned assembled dignitaries at the same venue with a verbal assault on many of America’s closest allies in Europe, accusing them of imperiling Western civilization with left-leaning domestic programs and not taking responsibility for their own defense, Rubio plans to take a less contentious but philosophically similar approach when he addresses the annual gathering of world leaders and national security officials Saturday, U.S. officials say.

The State Department’s formal announcement of Rubio’s trip offered no details about his two-day stop in Munich, after which he will visit Slovakia and Hungary. But the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the trip, said America's top diplomat intends to focus on areas of cooperation on shared global and regional concerns, including in the Middle East and Ukraine as well as China, an economic powerhouse seeking to take advantage of the uncertainty in U.S.-European ties.

Should that be the case, many in the audience may be relieved after being buffeted first by Vance’s blunt rebukes last year and then a series of Trump statements and moves in the months since that have targeted virtually every country in Europe, Canada and long-standing allies in the Indo-Pacific.

Trump’s recent comments about taking control of Greenland from NATO member Denmark and insults hurled at various leaders were particularly unnerving, leading many in Europe to question the value of the U.S. as an ally and partner.

Taiwan's AI-powered economy soars in the shadow of bubble fears and China threats

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — In Taipei, real estate agent Jason Sung is betting that home prices around a high-tech industrial park in the northern part of Taiwan's capital will soon take flight – because of computer chip maker Nvidia.

The area is where Nvidia plans to build its new Taiwan headquarters as it rapidly expands on the island, set to surpass Apple to become the biggest customer of Taiwan semiconductor maker TSMC, the biggest contract manufacturer of the advanced chips needed for artificial intelligence.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang describes Taiwan as the “center of the world's computer ecosystem.” It's riding high on the global AI frenzy. Its economy grew at an 8.6% annual pace last year, and it's hoping to maintain that momentum after it recently sealed a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump that cut U.S. tariffs on Taiwan to 15% from 20%.

“We have been lucky,” said Wu Tsong-min, an emeritus economics professor at National Taiwan University and a former board member of Taiwan’s central bank.

But Taiwan’s heavy reliance on computer chip makers and other technology companies carries the growing risk of the AI craze turning out to be a bubble.

Pentagon let CBP use anti-drone laser before FAA closed El Paso airspace, AP sources say

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The Pentagon allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use an anti-drone laser earlier this week, leading the Federal Aviation Administration to suddenly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.

The confusing arc of events began as the FAA announced it was shutting down all flight traffic over the city on the U.S.-Mexico border for 10 days, stranding some travelers, but the closure ended up only lasting a few hours. The Trump administration said it stemmed from the FAA and Pentagon working to halt an incursion by Mexican cartel drones, which are not uncommon along the southern border.

One of the people said the laser was deployed near Fort Bliss without coordinating with the FAA, which decided then to close the airspace to ensure commercial air safety. Others familiar with the matter said the technology was used despite a meeting scheduled for later this month between the Pentagon and the FAA to discuss the issue.

While the restrictions were short-lived in the city of nearly 700,000 people, it is unusual for an entire airport to shut down even for a short time. Stranded travelers with luggage lined up at airline ticket counters and car rental desks before the order was lifted.

Normal flights resumed after seven arrivals and seven departures were canceled. Some medical evacuation flights also had to be rerouted.