- Improved performance of kube-proxy with EndpointSlice enabled with more efficient sorting. ([#83035](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/83035), [@robscott](https://github.com/robscott))

- `scheduler`: handling of unschedulable pods because a `ResourceClass` is missing
  is a bit more efficient and no longer relies on periodic retries. ([#120213](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/120213), [@pohly](https://github.com/pohly))

## Dependencies

### Added
- cloud.google.com/go/dataproc/v2: v2.0.1

### SIG Multi-cluster (formerly known as SIG Federation)

[SIG Multi-cluster][] is responsible for infrastructure that supports
the efficient and reliable management of multiple Kubernetes clusters,
and applications that run in and across multiple clusters.

For the 1.8 release, SIG Multicluster focussed on expanding the set of

* A new client `k8s.io/client-go/metadata.Client` has been added for accessing objects generically. This client makes it easier to retrieve only the metadata (the `metadata` sub-section) from resources on the cluster in an efficient manner for use cases that deal with objects generically, like the garbage collector, quota, or the namespace controller. The client asks the server to return a `meta.k8s.io/v1 PartialObjectMetadata` object for list, get, delete, watch, and patch...

in mind. It is strongly typed and garbage-collected and has explicit
support for concurrent programming.  Programs are constructed from
<i>packages</i>, whose properties allow efficient management of
dependencies.
</p>

<p>
The syntax is compact and simple to parse, allowing for easy analysis
by automatic tools such as integrated development environments.
</p>

- Improved the efficiency of NodeAdded QueueingHint by registering UpdateNodeTaint event for plugins that have NodeAdded event but don't have UpdateNodeTaint event. This ensures better requeuing efficiency and prevents Pods from being stuck in the unschedulable pod pool.

* kubeadm: explicitly wait for `etcd` to have grown when joining a new control plane ([#72984](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/72984), [@ereslibre](https://github.com/ereslibre))
* Improve efficiency of preemption logic in clusters with many pending pods. ([#72895](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/72895), [@bsalamat](https://github.com/bsalamat))

- Alowed useful inclusion of `-args $prog_args` in KUBE_TEST_ARGS, when doing `make test-integration`. ([#107516](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/107516), [@MikeSpreitzer](https://github.com/MikeSpreitzer))

    <magic priority="60">
      <match value="ftypavif" type="string" offset="4"/>
    </magic>
    <glob pattern="*.avif"/>
  </mime-type>
  <mime-type type="image/heif">
    <_comment>HEIF - High Efficiency Image File</_comment>
    <acronym>HEIF</acronym>
    <tika:link>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Image_File_Format</tika:link>
    <magic priority="60">

* Connections from Pods to Services with 0 endpoints will now ICMP reject immediately, rather than blackhole and timeout. ([#72534](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/72534), [@thockin](https://github.com/thockin))
* Improve efficiency of preemption logic in clusters with many pending pods. ([#72895](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/72895), [@bsalamat](https://github.com/bsalamat))