COVER

The Good Samaritans (Persons of the Year)

For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono are TIME's Persons of the Year.

The Constant Charmer (Persons of the Year)

The inside story of how the world's biggest rock star mastered the political game and persuaded the world's leaders to take on global poverty. And he's not done yet

From Riches to Rags (Persons of the Year)

Imagine a kinder, humbler Microsoft—one designed to spend money, not make it. That's the kind of philanthropy Bill and Melinda Gates have invented. The story of a very risky venture

"We Just Go Off" (Persons of the Year/Interview)

Bono, Bill and Melinda Gates talk to TIME

Standing Tall (Persons of the Year / Asian Newsmaker)

Mixing statecraft and stagecraft, Junichiro Koizumi has Japan feeling good againbut he's straining regional relations

A Fond Farewell (Persons of the Year / Milestones)

Saying goodbye to Pope John Paul II, Peter Jennings, Rosa Parks and many others the world lost in 2005

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

The Lying Lens (Exhibition)

A Tokyo retrospective of the work of Japan's legendary Hiroshi Sugimoto plays with illusion and reality

GLOBAL ADVISER

Franklin Slept Here (TIME Global Adviser)

The U.S. founding father's last standing home gets a new lease on life

Amuse-Bouche (TIME Global Adviser)

The best eating from around the globe

BRIEFING

A Scientific Scandal (Notebook)

Beset by allegations of falsified research, stem cell pioneer Hwang Woo Suk defends his results

Scenes from a Protest (Notebook)

Korean agitators descend on Hong Kong for the World Trade Organization meeting

Verbatim (Notebook)

Quotes of the Week

Letters (Notebook)

The Most Amazing Inventions