* Fix a scalability issue where high rates of event writes degraded etcd performance. ([#64539](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/64539), [@ccding](https://github.com/ccding))
* "kubectl delete" no longer waits for dependent objects to be deleted when removing parent resources ([#65908](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/65908), [@juanvallejo](https://github.com/juanvallejo))

* Improve Azure instance metadata handling by adding caches. ([#70353](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/70353), [@feiskyer](https://github.com/feiskyer))
* adding cn-northwest-1 for AWS China Ningxia region ([#70155](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/70155), [@pahud](https://github.com/pahud))

```release-note

```

#### Additional documentation e.g., KEPs (Kubernetes Enhancement Proposals), usage docs, etc.:

<!--
This section can be blank if this pull request does not require a release note.

When adding links which point to resources within git repositories, like
KEPs or supporting documentation, please reference a specific commit and avoid
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### Container Images

All container images are available as manifest lists and support the described
architectures. It is also possible to pull a specific architecture directly by
adding the "-$ARCH" suffix  to the container image name.

name | architectures
---- | -------------

...

* Fix a scalability issue where high rates of event writes degraded etcd performance. ([#64539](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/64539), [@ccding](https://github.com/ccding))

### Bug or Regression

- Avoid GCE API calls when initializing GCE CloudProvider for Kubelets.
  Avoid unnecessary GCE API calls when adding IP alises or reflecting them in Node object in GCE cloud provider. ([#96864](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/96864), [@tosi3k](https://github.com/tosi3k)) [SIG Apps, Cloud Provider and Network]

### Bug or Regression

- Avoid GCE API calls when initializing GCE CloudProvider for Kubelets.
  Avoid unnecessary GCE API calls when adding IP alises or reflecting them in Node object in GCE cloud provider. ([#96863](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/96863), [@tosi3k](https://github.com/tosi3k)) [SIG Apps, Cloud Provider and Network]

### Container Images

All container images are available as manifest lists and support the described
architectures. It is also possible to pull a specific architecture directly by
adding the "-$ARCH" suffix  to the container image name.

name | architectures
---- | -------------

* Fix a scalability issue where high rates of event writes degraded etcd performance. ([#64539](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/64539), [@ccding](https://github.com/ccding))
* Properly manage security groups for loadbalancer services on OpenStack. ([#65373](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/65373), [@multi-io](https://github.com/multi-io))