LaNUBlog™

A powerful earthquake has killed at least 328 people and wounded hundreds more in Pakistan's remote south-west province of Balochistan. The 7.7-magnitude quake struck on Tuesday afternoon at a depth of 20km (13 miles) north-east of Awaran, the US Geological Survey said. Many houses were flattened & thousands of people have spent the night in the open. After the quake, an island appeared off the coast near the port of Gwadar. People gathered on the beach to see the new island, which is reported to be about 200m (656ft) long, 100m wide & 20m high, & scientists have been sent to survey it. Officials say such land masses have appeared before in the area, & usually disappear again over time. Tuesday's quake was so powerful it was felt as far away as India's capital, Delhi, & Dubai. Workers in Karachi had to evacuate their offices because of the strong tremors. Balochistan is Pakistan's largest but least populated province. The military has a heavy...

Ailing electronics giant Sharp hopes to turn around its fortunes by growing strawberries indoors in Dubai, it seems. Once a global household name, the former sponsor of Manchester United is losing money so fast that commentators suggest it won't survive another yearwithout a huge cash injection. But its directors plan to cash in on Middle Eastern consumers' penchant for the sweet strawberries from its native Japan, it seems. The firm's using technology to allow the fruit to be grown from seedlings at a facility in the United Arab Emirates by artificially controlling light, temperature and humidity - thus avoiding the problems of berries spoiling during shipping - reports Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun. It apparently uses LED lights to facilitate photosynthesis. "If we can generate results in cultivating strawberries, a plant that is difficult to grow, we can apply the technology to other farm products," a company official is quoted as telling the paper. News agenc...

Ailing electronics giant Sharp hopes to turn around its fortunes by growing strawberries indoors in Dubai, it seems. Once a global household name, the former sponsor of Manchester United is losing money so fast that commentators suggest it won't survive another yearwithout a huge cash injection. But its directors plan to cash in on Middle Eastern consumers' penchant for the sweet strawberries from its native Japan, it seems. The firm's using technology to allow the fruit to be grown from seedlings at a facility in the United Arab Emirates by artificially controlling light, temperature and humidity - thus avoiding the problems of berries spoiling during shipping - reports Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun. It apparently uses LED lights to facilitate photosynthesis. "If we can generate results in cultivating strawberries, a plant that is difficult to grow, we can apply the technology to other farm products," a company official is quoted as telling the paper. News agenc...