COVER

Forward Thinking (Cover Story)

From earthquake-watchers to fashion-trend gurus, TIME brings you the seers who predict our future

Hitting the Big Time (Cover Story)

Thailand's Tony Jaa could be the next Bruce Leeif he survives his own stunts

ASIA

China's Quest for Oil

Voracious demand from the Middle Kingdom is playing a key role in driving oil prices to record highs

GLOBAL ADVISER

The Grand River Ride (TIME Global Adviser)

Follow the wake of John Wesley Powell down the famous Colorado river

Home Shopping (TIME Global Adviser)

Two fashion retailers are styling their stores to look like the perfect living room

Read All About It (TIME Global Adviser)

A literature website boosts German writers and their works in three languages

Tech Watch (TIME Global Adviser)

Keep the Recorder. Lose the Cassette

Your Health (TIME Global Adviser)

F is for Folic Acid

WORLD

The Global Battleground (United States)

Americans abroad are registering in record numbers, and their votes could swing the U.S. election

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Truth Be Told

V.S. Naipaul's insights into the developing world made his nonfiction famous, but it is his novels that deserve the acclaim

Murakami's Flying Circus (Theater)

A dizzying adaptation of surreal Japanese fiction, The Elephant Vanishes defies logic—and dazzles

BRIEFING

Out of Captivity (Notebook)

A former Guantanamo detainee masterminds the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers

Separating the Trash (Notebook)

War-zone waste from places like Iraq has made India a dangerous dumping ground

Letters (Notebook)

The World's Most Happening City