COVER

TIME Forecast 2003 (Cover Story)

Prediction is a risky business, but TIME peers into the political, economic and social trends that will shape the next, scary new year

ASIA

Family Feud

China's patience for North Korea's diplomatic brinkmanship has worn thin

Timor's Lost Boys

Years of unrest has torn a generation of kids away from their parents

BUSINESS

Lean Machines

Time to throw out the old boob tube? Flat-screen TVs are taking off, thanks to lower prices, better quality and more choices

BRIEFING

Dam Nation (Notebook)

One of Japan's massive pork-barrel building projects is finally coming down

Bangladesh Cracks Down (Notebook)

Dhaka faces up to accusations of harboring terrorists by locking up its critics

Fever Pitch (Notebook)

A traditional Chinese anti-malarial agent is the best bet yet against the tropical disease

Milestones (Notebook)

Pedro Almodovar and Pamela Anderson win film awards (of different kinds); plus, "Little Sweetie" gets arrested

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Playing Safe

China's greatest director crafts a masterpiece. Meet the Hero maker

Not Resting on His Laureate

Gao Xingjian, China's exiled Nobel Prize-winning novelist, hits the stage with a defiantly innovative opera

Curry Without the Hurry (Food & Wine)

Forget tandoori chicken and chappatis. The new Indian restaurants in Asia are for gourmets only

TRAVEL

Hot Spot

Half Vatican, half Disney World, the Holy See cathedral is a particularly fitting home for Caodaism

Detour

Strange Brew: Vietnam's ruou, a berry-red medicinal rice wine

Short Cut

The Minsk motorbike club of Hanoi is all about the ralliesand the cheap, Eastern-bloc bikes