Mean Streets (Cover Story)
Asia tries to cut fatality rates on the region’s roads, the world’s most chaotic and dangerous highways

Buddha Brigade (Cover Story)
Bangkok's Body Snatchers


Terrorism's Harvest
How al-Qaeda is tapping into the opium trade to finance its operations and destabilize Afghanistan

Unnatural Disaster
South Asia reels from a double blow of flooding and drought, problems that will only get worse without better water management

A Whole New World
For North Koreans who manage to escape to the South, life is modern, strange and full of challenges


The Open Road (TIME Global Adviser)
A 400-km journey through some of the most starkly beautiful landscapes in Asia. Just keep an eye out for the enemy

Diversions: Go Fly a Kiteboard (TIME Global Adviser)
An extreme sport is winning new fans

Grapevine (TIME Global Adviser)
The Secret of Aging

Next Time You're In ... Hobart (TIME Global Adviser)
Get Down Under and Boogie

Style Watch: Cloaking Cellulite (TIME Global Adviser)
New clothes promise to help battle the bumps. Do they work?

Democratic Baby Steps
Amid suspicion and infighting, Iraq's first move toward an elected government is delayed


No More Heroes
Zhang Yimou aims to entertain with House of Flying Daggers

Teenage Wasteland
Can slackers succeed at India's élite universities?


Strategic Retreat
President Arroyo's withdrawal of troops from Iraq has played well at home and cost her little abroad—so far

Closed School, Closed Minds
China's Henan province seems still in denial about its AIDS problem

Up In Arms
A rash of gun crimes strikes Taiwan

Milestones
Events of the Week

Verbatim
Quotes of the Week

Letters
Beijing Reaches Out to Hong Kong