Morocco-Algeria, Senegal, China.

Today's three stories you should know.

Morocco-Algeria

Interesting development in Morocco-Algeria relations today. Morocco’s King Mohammed appeared to offer an olive branch in an annual speech to mark his ascension to the throne. “I stress once again that the borders that separate the Moroccan and Algerian brothers will never be barriers preventing their interaction and understanding,” he said. Algeria broke off diplomatic relations with Morocco last year. There have long been tensions between the neighbors over the territory of Western Sahara. Morocco in 1975 annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, sparking a rebellion from the Polisario Front group, which Algeria supports.

More from Al Jazeera here.

Senegal

Senegalese voters went to the polls in parliamentary elections today with all eyes looking ahead to an upcoming presidential election in 2024. The opposition have focused on the possibility that President Macky Sall, who will have completed his second and final term ahead of that election, may try to change the law and run again. That suspicion, along with soaring food prices, has fuelled the opposition campaign. Analysts say that if the opposition wins the most seats, it will effectively torpedo any chance of Sal and his supporters pushing for him to stand for a third term.

More from AP here.

China

A Chinese rocket has crashed back to earth after delivering a module to Beijing’s under-construction Tiangong space station. Some of the debris burned up in the atmosphere and the rest landed in the Sulu Sea in the Pacific, according to the Chinese Space Agency. China has been heavily criticized by NASA and others for allowing its space junk to simply fall back to earth and not spending the extra cash needed to ensure a controlled re-entry. Controlled re-entries have been the international norm since chunks of a NASA space station fell into Australia in 1979.

More from Reuters here.