* Protobuf serialization does not distinguish between `[]` and `null`. ([#45294](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/45294), [@liggitt](https://github.com/liggitt))

- kubeadm: remove the AuditPolicyConfiguration feature gate ([#70807](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/70807), [@Klaven](https://github.com/Klaven))
- kubeadm pre-pulls Etcd image only if external Etcd is not used and --etcd-upgrade=false is not specified ([#70743](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/70743), [@bart0sh](https://github.com/bart0sh))

			continue
		}

		if replicateDeletes && (dobj.DeleteMarkerReplicationStatus() == replication.Pending || dobj.VersionPurgeStatus() == replication.VersionPurgePending) {
			// copy so we can re-add null ID.
			dobj := dobj
			if isDirObject(dobj.ObjectName) && dobj.VersionID == "" {
				dobj.VersionID = nullVersionID
			}
			dv := DeletedObjectReplicationInfo{
				DeletedObject: dobj,
				Bucket:        bucket,

	return false
}

// returns replicationAction by comparing metadata between source and target
func getReplicationAction(oi1 ObjectInfo, oi2 minio.ObjectInfo, opType replication.Type) replicationAction {
	// Avoid resyncing null versions created prior to enabling replication if target has a newer copy
	if opType == replication.ExistingObjectReplicationType &&
		oi1.ModTime.Unix() > oi2.LastModified.Unix() && oi1.VersionID == nullVersionID {

API fields previously capable of storing and returning either `[]` and `null` via JSON API requests (for example, the Endpoints `subsets` field)
can now store only `null` when created using the protobuf content-type or stored in etcd using protobuf serialization (the default in 1.6).

			ObjectV: ObjectV{
				ObjectName: object,
				VersionID:  opts.VersionID,
			},
		}, *oi, opts, gerr)
		// Mutations of objects on versioning suspended buckets
		// affect its null version. Through opts below we select
		// the null version's remote object to delete if
		// transitioned.
		if gerr == nil {
			os.SetTransitionState(oi.TransitionedObject)
		}
		return dsc, nil
	})

  @SuppressWarnings("TestExceptionChecker") // see comment below
  public <T extends Iterable<String>> void testGetSubtype_fromTypeVariable() {
    /*
     * We'd use assertThrows here, but that causes capture() to return null under Java 8, presumably
     * because the ThrowingRunnable lambda triggers some kind of bug in Java 8's reflection
     * implementation.
     */
    try {

* Protobuf serialization does not distinguish between `[]` and `null`. ([#45294](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/45294), [@liggitt](https://github.com/liggitt))

* Fixes API compatibility issue with empty lists incorrectly returning a null `items` field instead of an empty array. ([#39834](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/39834), [@liggitt](https://github.com/liggitt))

- Kubelet: a "maxParallelImagePulls" field can now be specified in the kubelet configuration file to control how many image pulls the kubelet can perform in parallel. ([#115220](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/115220), [@ruiwen-zhao](https://github.com/ruiwen-zhao)) [SIG API Machinery, Node and Scalability]