COVER

"This Is Our Tsunami" (Cover Story)

Hurricane Katrina's late-summer tour of the U.S. Gulf Coast created what could be the country's largest catastrophe ever. A special TIME report into the disaster

How Did This Happen? (Cover Story)

Why a natural disaster became a man-made debacleand what this catastrophe says about U.S. rescue capabilities four years after 9/11

Dipping His Toe Into Disaster (Cover Story)

Slow, awkward and at times tone-deaf, Bush mishandled the storm's first days. Now he has his own recovery problem

ASIA

Koizumi's War

In Japan's parliamentary elections, the Prime Minister is out to devastate his foes, transform his party and challenge the status quo. Is it suicide— or genius?

The Play's the Thing (Viewpoint)

Koizumi's deft political stagecraft will do nothing to further real reform

BRIEFING

A Bridge in Baghdad (Notebook)

A tragedy at a pilgrimage site brings Sunnis and Shi'ites togetherfor now

Letters (Notebook)

Lose That Spare Tire!

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

GLOBAL ADVISER

Worth the Wait (TIME Global Adviser)

Dallas-Fort Worth's artful new airport terminal

Aw, Shucks (TIME Global Adviser)

Four days of fun and feasting at Galway's International Oyster Festival

The Smell of Success (TIME Global Adviser)

Slick restaurants are mushrooming in the Indian boomtown of Bangalore