China and the United Nations (UN) have discussed strengthening cooperation to support Sierra Leone’s development priorities, with emphasis on agriculture, health, education, peacebuilding, and evidence-based policymaking.

The discussions took place during a courtesy call by UN Resident Coordinator Seraphine Wakana on Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone Zhao Yong in the capital Freetown.

Wakana congratulated Zhao on his appointment and commended China’s support to Sierra Leone, including during the country’s tenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council from 2024 to 2025.

She stressed the need for coordinated partnerships to advance Sierra Leone’s national development agenda, while highlighting constitutional reform, inclusive elections, youth and women’s empowerment and security, cross-border challenges.

Wakana also underscored the importance of strengthening national data systems to support evidence-based policymaking and development planning.

She presented the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2025-2030, aligned with Sierra Leone’s Medium-Term National Development Plan 2024-2030, and called for stronger collaboration with China, particularly in agriculture.

Zhao reaffirmed China’s commitment to supporting Sierra Leone in partnership with the government and the UN, highlighting more than five decades of friendship between the two countries.

He said China’s development cooperation focuses on priorities under Sierra Leone’s “Big Five Game Changers,” particularly agriculture, health and education.

Zhao announced that the 15th batch of Chinese agricultural experts would soon arrive in Sierra Leone to support agricultural development and food security.

He also highlighted China’s deployment of three medical teams to Sierra Leone and its support for human capital development through training opportunities.

Both sides emphasised the value of closer coordination among Sierra Leone, the UN and China in advancing sustainable development, peace and national prosperity.

South Korean and US troops will begin their annual exercises next week to beef up readiness against North Korean threats, the allies announced Monday, days after North Korea resumed ballistic missile testing activities that are banned by the UN

The Ulchi Freedom Shield is to begin next Monday for a 11-day run and its scale will be similar to previous years with about 18,000 South Korean soldiers participating in it, South Korean military spokesperson Jang Do-young told reporters.

Speaking at the same news conference, US military spokesperson Ryan Donald said by incorporating realistic threats including “lessons from recent conflicts,” the exercise will serve as an opportunity to further strengthen the alliance’s readiness and capabilities through combined, joint, all-domain operations.

He cited North Korea’s dispatch of troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in recent years.

“DPRK soldiers have been deployed and fought in Ukraine and they’ve taken those lessons they learned there and brought them back to North Korea,” Donald said, using the abbreviation for North Korea’s full name. “That changes the DPRK capability and our training accounts for that threat.”

The upcoming summertime drill is one of the two main combined exercises conducted by South Korea and US militaries annually, along with their springtime training. The US military said the Ulchi Freedom Shield features “live, virtual, constructive and field-based training.”

North Korea had no immediate comments. But it has steadfastly described any major US-South Korean military drills as a practice to invade North Korea and responded with provocative weapons tests and fiery rhetoric. South Korean and US officials have said their joint exercises are defensive in nature.

On Thursday, South Korea, the US and Japan detected the launch of a short-range ballistic missile from North Korea in what was the North’s first ballistic weapons testing activity since late June. The missile landed in the waters of North Korea’s east coast.

South Korea and Japan condemned the launch as a provocation or a threat because multiple UN Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from engaging in any ballistic activities. The US Pacific Command said the US remains committed to the defense of the US homeland and its allies in the region.

North Korea has been pushing hard to enlarge its nuclear and missile arsenals since leader Kim Jong Un’s high-stakes diplomacy with US President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. Experts say Kim likely believes a bigger weapons arsenal would increase his chances for wresting more concessions from the US in future negotiations.

North Korea’s supply of troops and ammunition to Russia has raised concerns among South Korea, the US and others that Russia might have transferred North Korea sensitive technologies that can increase the danger of its nuclear and missile programs. Experts have assessed North Korea’s troop dispatch has given it crucial battlefield experience as well.

A letter from Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has confirmed that the country has named a major highway after US President Donald Trump.

Last week, in a social media post, Trump thanked the king for the honour, but there was not a parallel announcement from the Moroccan authorities.

But Morocco’s state press agency has published a letter the king wrote to the president telling him that the name-change was taking place as “a personal expression of my high regard”.

Formerly the Tiznit-Dakhla highway, the road enters Western Sahara, most of which Morocco occupies and claims sovereignty over.

In 2020, during the first Trump administration, the US recognised Morocco’s claim over the disputed region as part of a deal whereby Morocco agreed to normalise relations with Israel.

In his letter, dated 2 July but published over the weekend, King Mohammed highlighted what he called the US president’s “historic recognition… of Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara” saying that it would “forever be etched in the memory of Moroccans, from generation to generation”.

“Although our relations have always been rooted in close friendship and constant loyalty, they have never been as vigorous and fruitful as during your two presidential terms,” the king added.

The monarch called the 1,055km (655 mile) highway a “strategic axis” linking “north and south of Morocco”. Morocco calls Western Sahara its “southern provinces”.

A former Spanish colony, Western Sahara – which is considered a “non-self-governing territory” by the UN – has been fought over for five decades in one of Africa’s longest conflicts.

The UN has consistently pushed for a solution to the dispute, including a referendum, but the indigenous people of the area have never been able to vote for their own future.

The African Union recognises Western Sahara’s independence.

European governments have until recently avoided taking sides. But some, including the UK and Spain have backed Morocco’s plan to grant Western Sahara autonomy but deny it independence.

Trump’s Truth Social post on the renaming last week also included a video about the road saying that it cost nearly $1bn (£740m) to build.

“I look forward to traveling the entire length of this great highway someday, hopefully soon!” the president wrote.