20 under 40 (Asia's Heroes)
TIME presents twenty members of a new generation taking the stage in Asia

Liu Xiang (Asia's Heroes)
A hurdler runs for his people—and wins—at Athens

John Wood (Asia's Heroes)
A former executive makes literacy his life

Pham Thi Hue (Asia's Heroes)
Vietnam's HIV-positive activist

Mukhtar Mai (Asia's Heroes)
A Pakistani woman defies tribal law

Ichiro Suzuki (Asia's Heroes)
America's new hit king is 100% Japanese

Ahmad Nader Nadery (Asia's Heroes)
The man Afghan warlords fear

Houch Houan (Asia's Heroes)
Cambodia's ranger protects a national park

Nigo (Asia's Heroes)
The founder of A Bathing Ape is Japan's model of cool

Shah Rukh Khan (Asia's Heroes)
India's hottest idol is an everyday guy

Sabriye Tenberken (Asia's Heroes)
She brings light to the blind in Tibet

Gautam Goswami (Asia's Heroes)
A bureaucrat saves India's flood victims

Jackie Hung (Asia's Heroes)
A Hong Kong woman battles for democracy

Yuan Yuan Tan (Asia's Heroes)
From China to San Francisco, a ballet star

Anoushka Shankar (Asia's Heroes)
Keeping Indian music classic

Song Aree (Asia's Heroes)
Korean women are sweeping golf's prizes

Muttiah Muralitharan (Asia's Heroes)
A cricketer spins into controversy

Royston Tan (Asia's Heroes)
Challenging the Establishment in Singapore

Hong Suk Chun (Asia's Heroes)
Not afraid to be gay in South Korea

Yuuya Yagira (Asia's Heroes)
A teen lights up the screen

Butet Manurung (Asia's Heroes)
Teaching the people of the forest

The Power of People (Asia's Heroes)
Heroism, in any age, is a mix of accident and idealism


A Sickness Spreads
A tragic case in Thailand indicates that bird flu can be transmitted from one human to another

The City as Hope and Horror (Essay)
A new book about Bombay reveals the future for all of us


Up in Arms
Taiwan says it will strike back in kind if China sends missiles its way

Keeping the Home Fires Burning
As the Australian election campaign winds up, domestic issues remain at the top of the agenda

Milestones
Geoffrey Beene dies; Britain's Gurkhas gain rights

Verbatim
Quotes of the Week

Letters
The Struggle Within Islam

Art, Liberated (Exhibition)
For the first time in 125 years, a Japanese shrine displays its hidden treasures in all their splendor

Tokyo National Museum (Art)
Lost and Found


Day Tripper: La Dolce Veloce (TIME Global Adviser)
Transports of delight to see the Italian countryside

The World's Loveliest Dining Room (TIME Global Adviser)
Even three-star restaurants can't compete with the starry Parisian night sky

Style Watch (TIME Global Adviser)
Art Deco Rates

Adventure in Style (TIME Global Adviser)
Going off the beaten track needn't mean roughing it. A mini-guide to winter jaunts

Your Health (TIME Global Adviser)
Diet vs. Exercise

Grapevine (TIME Global Adviser)
Cream of the Cybercrop