SPIEGEL interview with the head of Bertelsmann, Thomas Middelhoff, on the alliance with the controversial Internet music exchange mart Napster and his further plans.

“I’m sure I have emotional problems. But commercial flying is objectively unbearable. I prefer my Italian jet fighter. … The latest product is an integrated software package, a convenient overall solution for clients … These comprehensive packages, so-called suites, are what made SAP big. And today the Walldorfers are no longer able to produce them. … In particular we cleaned out the individual allotments and unified the technology by introducing our own Internet software. Now our world-wide business is run centrally via two computers in California. Before that, each national subsidiary had its own marketing, its own technology teams, its own sales department.”

“Dramatic Change in Direction”

Terrorism: Legal proceedings that are among the most elaborate in recent legal history are threatened by spectacular failure. At the trial of the alleged Lockerbie assassins, doubts are growing about the defendants’ guilt. New evidence points to Syria, Germany and Norway. Following years of investigations in which the investigators questioned over 15,000 witnesses from 50 countries, and studied over 100,000 pieces of evidence, there appear to be traces that have so far been overlooked or ignored. One of the most elaborate murder trials in recent history, estimated to be costing about 1.6 million marks a week, threatens to fall apart.

“Become Huge!”

Drugs: An Internet library financed by German minister of the interior Otto Schily is very popular among athletes and their supervisors. But it contains links leading straight to dealers of performance-enhancing drugs in the USA. It is believed to be certain that German athletes are already being supplied over the Internet. The trade of the cyber-criminals has become a serious problem to customs and criminal police authorities. Following the rapid increase in trafficking via the Internet over the past few years, the Federal Criminal Police Office in Wiesbaden has set up its own observation team. At the moment, investigators are only able to intercept a fraction of the illegal imports.

Prohibition of the National Party of Germany:

The Federal Government may try to push a bill through parliament in order to be able to outlaw the right extremist NPD.

“The Role as a Substitute for Rome”

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with political scientist Chalmers Johnson on the imperial arrogance of the only superpower, and the limits and setbacks in its global mission:

“What brought down the Soviet Union was over-stretching itself imperially. … Americans think they are immune to the Russian fate. They’re wrong. … Globalisation is an American ideology. It stands for expansion on our terms, and for free trade as long as it serves us. … But that kind of policy will inevitably evoke resistance towards a state that still operates 65 major military bases world-wide. … We are reaping the fruit that we sowed. Our politicians, lulled by the absurd affluence, are third-class. We base our power on cruise missiles, aircraft carriers and financial manipulations instead of using the means of diplomacy, foreign aid and international law. We are absurdly rich and yet we don’t pay our UN contributions.”

“Dead End of Violence”

Spain: Bloodier than ever, ETA wants to bomb its way to a Basque state. But the resistance against the terrorists is growing too. The gulf between the two camps is becoming wider. SPIEGEL portrays the mood in the Basque region using three Basque women as examples: a civil rights campaigner who is fighting against the terror, a radical politician who is on the side of ETA, and the deputy mayor of San Sebastian, whose party has suffered the murder of four of its MPs this year alone.

“Deep-Sea Grave for Greenhouse Gases”

Climate: In a spectacular experiment, German scientists want to sink carbon dioxide in the sea. The world climate conference in The Hague is to negotiate the issue of using forests as permanent disposal sites for CO2. In the course of Earth’s history, whenever unusually large amounts of carbon dioxide have been released at one point in the system – for instance through volcanic eruptions, forest fires or climatic changes – particularly large quantities have been removed from the atmosphere somewhere else, disappearing into some “sink” or other. The natural self-healing powers of the planet are firing the imagination of scientists and engineers, but especially that of politicians and representatives of the business world. The climate makers believe that they can re-establish the carbon dioxide balance by means of artificial interventions.

“Rain-Proof through the Rain Forest”

Botany: The largest artificial jungle in the world is growing in the Southwest of England. The “Eden Project”, a greenhouse garden of paradise, is the daring work of a former rock musician. Already, visitors are queuing up outside the huge domes. In the old pit, Tim Smit wants to stage a “living theatre of plants”. Only plants “that have a story to tell” will go on stage here, he says. The main question behind the project is: what do people do with the plant world? Where do all the drugs, ropes, spices, clothes, colours and car tyres come from? “Project Eden” wants to demonstrate this in a multitude of scenarios.

“Infection through Donor Blood”

Epidemics: BSE is claiming more and more victims in Britain. Experts are worried that sheep, chicken and pigs may also be infectious. Slowly and mysteriously, BSE is also spreading among the cattle in continental Europe – and now even among human beings. The most recent events are casting doubt on facts that were so far considered reasonably secure. Now almost everything is once again uncertain – the origins of the epidemic as well as the transmission paths, and in particular the appropriate countermeasures.

“Like a Little Queen”

SPIEGEL interview with the successful coach Eric van Harpen on the failure of his co-operation with Anna Kurnikova, the envy among women players and the special treatment of the stars:

“I reproach her for not working at herself in a disciplined enough way … The effort she puts into her ad campaigns naturally leads to a conflict of interests with her athletic development. She is a victim of her own perfect marketing … There won’t be any new form of tennis. The technique of all the strokes has been taken to its limits, and there is no revolution in sight in racquet materials either. What remains? Physical strength, athletics. So far no one has taken it further than Venus and Serena Williams.”

“Olympics on the Amazon”

South American Indians: The money and blessings for the “Brazilian Indian Games” once came from sports minister Pelé. By now, 31 tribes take part in the archaic games. The indigenous population of the South American country is taking sports back to their origins.