Was Leonardo da Vinci a prophet?

Again and again the artist seems to foretell the wars and natural disasters of our day. Perhaps there is a real Da Vinci Code …

China says Japan crisis won’t deter expansion of its domestic nuclear power industry

A top Chinese official says China has faith in the safety of its nuclear power technology and won’t scrap plans to expand its domestic industry because of Japan’s crisis.

US Treasury’s Geithner to visit China March 31

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will visit China next week, joining a group of G20 officials to discuss the global monetary system, the Treasury said Friday.

Japan quake impact on auto, electronics makers

Following is a roundup of the impact of this month’s devastating earthquake and tsunami on Japanese manufacturers of cars and electronics.

We’re all living in the future as seen by Philip K Dick

The sci-fi writer’s influence stretches far beyond the multiple realities of this week’s big movies Source Code and Sucker Punch

Libyan rebels capture key oil towns

Rebels surged westward along Libya’s coast on Sunday, seizing three more key towns and capitalizing on their new momentum after more than a week of airstrikes by an international coalition.

iQueue test for Apple fans who line up overnight for iPad 2

“For the record, I’m not an Apple fanboy”. So says Myles Jihem, 21, who will have waited over two days in line outside Apple’s Sydney CBD store by the time he gets to buy an iPad 2 at 5pm tomorrow.

On the other hand

Prada’s Madras tote is such a zesty shade of orange that it could also have been called ‘Chicken Tikka’. We’ve already spotted it dangling nonchalantly from the arms of Sienna Miller, Jessica Alba and Uma Thurman – a trio of style-setters if ever there was one – adding an instant ‘colour-pop’ to spring looks.

Prada’s ‘Madras’ bag is the hottest tote in town

Sienna Miller, Jessica Alba and Uma Thurman have all succumbed to Prada’s colourful new piece of arm candy.

Record shops: in tune with musicians

Independent record shops are more important than ever. In honour of official Record Store Day, on 16 April, we asked five artists to tell us what their favourite shop means to them