By KIM TONG-HYUNG

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has brought his young daughter on his most significant foreign trip in years, a trip to China that marks his latest attempt to break out of isolation and bolster his position by balancing between traditional allies Moscow and Beijing.

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The girl is believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and is around 12 or 13 years old. Not much else is known about her.

Since 2022, Kim Jong Un has showcased her at a growing number of major public events tied to his nuclear-armed military, fueling speculation she is being primed as the country’s next leader.

Kim’s daughter’s name and age are unconfirmed

While North Korean state media have described Kim’s daughter as “beloved” and “respected,” they have never called her by name.

The assumption that the girl’s name is Ju Ae is based on an account by former NBA champion Dennis Rodman where he recalled holding Kim Jong Un’s baby daughter during a trip to Pyongyang in 2013.

Ju Ae’s exact age is unconfirmed but South Korean intelligence officials believe she was born in 2013.

In a closed-door briefing to lawmakers in 2023, South Korea’s main spy agency said it believes Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju also have an older son and a younger third child whose gender is unknown.

Kim Jong Un beamed as he stepped out of his family’s iconic green armored train to shake hands with senior Chinese officials upon arrival in Beijing on Tuesday. He was closely followed by Ju Ae.

Dressed in a navy pantsuit with her hair styled in a half-updo, a look reminiscent of her mother’s public appearances, Ju Ae stood in front of senior North Korean officials, including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui.

However, she did not make a public appearance the next day as her father shared center stage with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a massive military parade at Tiananmen Square. The parade demonstrated a deepening alignment between Washington’s adversaries.

She’s being increasingly showcased in her father’s events

Kim Jong Un chose to publicly unveil his little-known daughter at a major military event — a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile — in November 2022.

State media released a series of photos of Kim and his daughter at the event, marking the first time her image was made public. She wore a white coat and red shoes as she watched a soaring missile from a distance and walked hand-in-hand with her father.

FILE – In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center right, and his daughter attend a completion and operation ceremony of Kangdong Greenhouse Farm in Pyongyang, North Korea, March 15, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

The missile test marked the first in a series of major military events where Kim Jong Un displayed his daughter. Her carefully-crafted appearances have included missile tests, military parades, and the launch of a naval destroyer in April, an event hailed as a major step in expanding North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. Kim Jong Un has recently expanded his daughter’s public appearances beyond military events to include some of his most ambitious economic projects and cultural events, including the opening of a beach resort in June.

Her trip to Beijing fuels speculation she is the future heir

Ju Ae’s increasing number of public appearances and presence in state media has led to speculation that she is being primed as her father’s successor. The theory has been further fueled by her first known foreign trip to China.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service issued a careful assessment last year that it views Ju Ae as her father’s likely successor, citing a comprehensive analysis of her public activities and the state protocols provided to her.

However, the spy agency said there are still various possibilities regarding North Korea’s power succession process because Kim Jong Un, 41, is still young, has no major health issues and has other children.

Some South Korean officials and experts initially expressed doubts over Ju Ae as the future heir, citing North Korea’s male-nominated power structure and Confucian influence.

Since its foundation in 1948, North Korea has been successively ruled by male members of the Kim family. Kim Jong Un inherited power upon his father Kim Jong Il’s death in late 2011. Kim Jong Il took over power after his father and state founder Kim Il Sung died in 1994.

North Korea’s state media have yet to make any direct comments on a power succession plan beyond Kim Jong Un. It has also not commented on whether Ju Ae has any siblings.

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Media Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The conservative news network Newsmax filed an antitrust lawsuit against Fox News on Wednesday, saying Fox has sought to maintain its market dominance through intimidation and exclusionary business practices designed to stifle competition.

Fox has sought to block television distributors from carrying Newsmax or minimize its exposure, pressured guests not to appear on the rival network and hired private detectives to investigate Newsmax executives, said the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in south Florida. Newsmax seeks a jury trial.

Fox, in a statement, said “Newsmax cannot sue their way out of their own competitive failures in the marketplace to chase headlines simply because they can’t attract viewers.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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By DAVID RISING

BANGKOK (AP) — Soldiers in pristine and pressed uniforms marched in lockstep, their boots clacking a steady cadence on the pavement and their eyes following leader Xi Jinping as he drove by in review. Helicopters flew overhead, forming the numbers 8 and 0 in honor of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

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There was no shortage of pageantry at Wednesday’s military parade in Beijing, but beyond the spectacle, it also provided the first good look at China’s latest military hardware. New missiles, drones and other high-tech equipment have been added to its arsenal as part of a massive modernization program with the goal, according to the official parade announcers, of producing a force “with both nuclear and conventional capabilities able to deter wars in all battle spaces.”

Here are some of the highlights:

New nukes

China’s nuclear arsenal still lags far behind that of the United States and Russia, but it has been rapidly expanding. In its annual report to Congress on China, the U.S. Department of Defense estimated that Beijing now has more than 600 warheads and will have more than 1,000 by 2030.

The parade featured many of the missiles capable of delivering those warheads, from air, sea and land. China’s official Xinhua News Agency said it was the first time the military’s “triad of strategic nuclear forces was presented in a concentrated fashion,” calling it “China’s strategic trump card for safeguarding national sovereignty and defending national dignity.”

The display of the three systems together is noteworthy, said Meia Nouwens, senior fellow for Chinese security and defense policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

“All of that, of course, goes back to this key point about deterrence and the messaging that the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) and Xi Jinping are seeking to send to the U.S. and other partners and allies in the region and further afield,” she said.

Among the nuclear-capable missiles seen was the DF-61, a new intercontinental ballistic missile which can be fired from a mobile launching platform. Details on its capabilities are scant, but its predecessor has a range of more than 7,500 miles and can carry multiple warheads. It also debuted the newest variant of the silo-based DF-5, the DF-5C, whose range has been estimated at 20,000 kilometers.

Chinese helicopters fly in formation during a military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Beijing, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar)

Also featured were the JL-1 air-launched long-range missile and the JL-3 sea-launched missile, both of which are also nuclear-capable.

More missiles

The parade saw the debut of other new missiles, including several designed to attack ships. These are likely of particular interest to the U.S., whose naval power is a key component of its Asia-Pacific defense strategy.

China claims the self-governing democracy of Taiwan as its own, and Xi has not ruled out taking the island by force. In the event of a Chinese invasion, if the U.S. were to come to Taiwan’s aid, China would need to hold off the U.S. Navy long enough to consolidate control of the island.

China has already built the world’s largest navy, though it is still well behind the U.S. in the number of aircraft carriers it has. It could use missiles, however, to try to keep American carriers out of effective range.

The parade showcased for the first time the YJ-15, YJ-17, YJ-19 and YJ-20 anti-ship missiles, all capable of operating at long ranges and hypersonic, making them difficult to intercept.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, armament formations pass during the military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II held in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (Guo Yu/Xinhua via AP)

It also displayed missiles meant to intercept incoming anti-ship missiles, including the HQ-16C and HQ10A, and presented the aircraft-carrier version of the J-35 stealth multirole fighter for the first time.

“These are capabilities that are increasingly meant to signal to the United States they should think twice about entering into a conflict, if there ever is one, in support of Taiwan,” Nouwens said.

Drones from above, drones from below

Seven types of reconnaissance and attack aerial drones were on display that were not immediately identified by official commentators, but some of which appeared to be new.

A small surface drone ship was also on display but not identified, as well as carrier-based uncrewed helicopters.

China also showed off two submarine drones, the older-model HSU001 and debuting the much larger AJX002. China’s official Xinhua News Agency called them “cutting-edge surprise weapons for naval combat” designed for “covert deployment and blockade, autonomous detection and identification, and swarm-networked attacks.”

“Long gone are the days where China was reliant on Russia or other foreign systems,” wrote Mick Ryan, a retired Australian army major general and analyst at the Lowy Institute, in a research note on the drones and other systems on display. “This level of indigenous capacity infers high levels of sustainability in any future conflict.”

Still, he cautioned, “newer does not always mean better.”

“While most Western military equipment has been tested in Iraq, Ukraine and elsewhere, none of China’s new kit has.”

By MEAD GRUVER, Associated Press

A judge has ruled that Utah lawmakers must proceed with redrawing the state’s congressional district map right away, pointing to Texas and California in rejecting their argument that the job can’t be done in time for the 2026 midterm elections.

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The ruling keeps Utah firmly among states where partisan redistricting battles stand to tilt the outcome of the next congressional election.

Utah lawmakers were wrong to disregard an independent commission’s map in drawing one that has been used for the 2022 and 2024 elections, Salt Lake County District Judge Dianna Gibson ruled Aug. 25.

The map did away with a district in the Salt Lake City area that has swung between Republicans and Democrats in favor of a map where four districts, each with a piece of the urban corridor, have been won by Republicans with wide margins.

On Tuesday, Gibson denied state lawmakers’ request to keep her ruling from taking effect, rejecting their argument that her one-month deadline to adopt a map that complies with voter-approved standards is too short.

“While the timelines here are short, redistricting has been accomplished under tighter timelines in other cases,” Gibson wrote in her ruling.

In Texas, she pointed out, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott recently approved a redistricting plan at President Donald Trump’s urging that will likely add five Republicans to the U.S. House. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has responded with an effort to add five Democratic districts to that state.

Missouri has meanwhile launched an effort to add Republican seats to Congress through gerrymandering, the longstanding practice of both parties to draw states’ congressional districts for partisan advantage.

Traditionally states redraw congressional districts once a decade based on the most recent census. Trump, however, has been encouraging Republican-led states to redraw maps at mid-decade to help Republicans’ chances in the 2026 congressional election.

Utah has an opportunity to be different, Gibson wrote in her ruling.

“While other states are currently redrawing their congressional plans to intentionally render some citizen votes meaningless, Utah could redesign its congressional plan with an intention to protect its citizens’ right to vote and to ensure that each citizen’s vote is meaningful,” the judge wrote.

In 2018, Utah voters narrowly approved a ballot initiative that created a commission to draw boundaries for Utah’s legislative and congressional districts.

Two years later, the state Legislature repealed the initiative and turned the commission into an advisory board they proceeded to ignore. The state Supreme Court rejected the law, ruling lawmakers have limited power to change laws passed by voters.

The state high court sent the case back to Gibson to rule on the Legislature’s map, which she rejected.

Republicans in the state criticized last week’s ruling as “judicial activism in action.”

“Using earlier flawed rulings to justify their opinions over the principles of our founding is a special kind of hubris,” Utah Republican Party Chairman Robert Axson posted on X.

The Utah Supreme Court is unlikely to reconsider an issue on which it just ruled last year, however. Lawmakers might now choose to cut their losses by creating a single left-leaning block, or gamble on creating competitive districts that Republicans would have to fight to keep.

The U.S. Supreme Court, meanwhile, is likely to keep out of the fray. The high court ruled in 2019 that gerrymandering is outside the purview of federal courts and should be decided by states.