KUNDUZ, Afghanistan -- Farmers in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province have expressed concerns over drought, saying the current drought and water shortage to irrigate their farmlands would badly affect their harvests.

In a meeting held in the provincial capital of the Kunduz city on Thursday, the farmers worried that their agricultural harvests especially the rice would significantly reduce if the authorities and donor agencies fail to take necessary steps to tackle the problem. (Afghanistan-Farmers-Drought)

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CAIRO -- Egyptian and Chinese scientific research institutions have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint laboratory for smart agriculture, the Chinese Embassy in Egypt said in a statement on Wednesday.

The agreement, which calls for establishing a joint lab for smart agriculture cooperation, as well as executing important cooperative research projects, holding scientific seminars and conferences, and exchanging visits of professors, lecturers, and students between Egypt and China, was signed between Egypt's National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS), which belongs to the country's Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and China's Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), said the Chinese embassy. (Egypt-China-Agriculture Lab)

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ISTANBUL -- A four-day international fair on leather and fur opened on Thursday in Turkey's Mediterranean province of Antalya, as the sector seeks to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fair, which was organized by the Turkish Leather Garments Manufacturers' Association (TDKD), drew 1,200 companies from 17 countries, including 60 Turkish ones. (Turkey-Leather and Fur-Fair)

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MACAO -- The first BEYOND International Technology Innovation Expo, showcasing frontier technologies and innovations from around the world, opened Thursday in China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR).

Around 300 multi-national corporations, unicorn companies and start-ups, including Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent, exhibited their latest achievements, covering life science, new infrastructure, smart city and future technologies, at an area of nearly 50,000 square meters. (Macao-BEYOND Expo)

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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a short-term spending bill that would keep federal agencies running through February, averting a partial shutdown just a day before government funding is set to expire.

The Democrats-held lower chamber approved the bill by a vote of 221-212. The measure now heads to the Senate, where a group of Republicans have threatened to delay the passage of the bill. (U.S.-Funding-Shutdown)

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VIENTIANE -- The first train of the China-Laos Railway bound for China left here on Friday afternoon after the railway was put into operation.

The 1,035-km electrified passenger and cargo railway, connecting Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan Province with the Lao capital Vientiane, fully adopts Chinese technical standards and consists of two sections. (Laos-China-Railway) Enditem

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