COVER

The Bold Man and the Sea (Cover Story)

Is Russell Crowe, star of Master and Commander and cinema's current hunk in a funk, really a sweetie after all? Nope. But he is full of surprises

ASIA

Police Academy 1

At an unusual school in West Java, the U.S. is training and arming Indonesian cops to fight terrorism

Buy Freedom (Letter from China)

To flee oppression, many North Korean women escape to marry Chinese men. Here are two tales of desperation

Fancy a Swim? (Letter from Thailand)

A stricken pop idol forces Thais to wake up and smell their polluted klongs

TECHNOLOGY

Coolest Inventions 2003

Among this year's favorites: fish-skin bikinis, a new love drug, transparent kayaks, a singing snorkel, the car that parks itself and the invisible man

GLOBAL ADVISER

Vino, To Go (TIME Global Adviser | Time Traveler)

How to choose a good in-flight wine? No problemexperts on the ground have done it for you

Hong Kong's Hot Tables (TIME Global Adviser | Diversions)

There are some bright new names in Hong Kong's dining firmament

Chips with Everything (TIME Global Adviser | Next Time You're in ... Sydney)

Is Star City worth a visit? You bet

Lone Rangers (TIME Global Adviser | Do It Yourself)

Four hot places to meet new people on the road

Out of the Box (TIME Global Adviser | Style Watch)

The secrets to looking fresh on the road, in one easy package

BUSINESS

Too Much, Too Soon?

China is making more cars, TVs and washing machines than it can consume. Eventually, this glut could swamp the world

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Strangers in a Strange Land (Books)

Nell Freudenberger's debut short-story collection, Lucky Girls, artfully explores life abroadand more

BRIEFING

So Sorry, Rummy (Notebook | Diplomacy)

Japan and Korea decline to help out the U.S. in Iraq

Making a Killing in China (Notebook | China)

In modern China, criminals and serial killers are finding it easier to get away clean

Not his Kind of Party (Notebook | Vietnam)

A confidant of Ho Chi Minh's is jailed by Vietnam's government for speaking out in favor of reform

Verbatim (Notebook)

Quotes of the week

Letters (Notebook)

Bollywood Goes Global