“Are You on the Right Track?”

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Allianz boss Henning Schulte-Noelle and CEO of Dresdner Bank Bernd Fahrholz on insurance reps, customers’ wishes and the big plans of the finance group of the future:

Schulte-Noelle: “Insurers and banks were wise to keep their businesses carefully separate from one another in the past. But the times have changed, and that’s particularly because of having to provide for old age, something which we can no longer rely on the state for. …” Fahrholz: “Customers don’t want to be meeting new people all the time who talk to them about money. … That’s why the merger with Allianz makes so much sense to us. Our consultants will become even more valuable to the company and to our customers. In future they will be able to provide far more comprehensive advice. …” Schulte-Noelle: “You will find many examples in the 1980s where full-service concepts failed. But that’s a long time ago. The world has changed, and today I would say this approach has far greater chances of succeeding. Let’s give it a try.” Schulte-Noelle: “This merger has had a positive effect on profits right from the start, you won’t find that in many other transactions of this kind anywhere in the world. That trend is actually increasing, the profits will continue to rise substantially over the years to come. I think that’s an exceedingly attractive aspect of the whole business.”

Just who are the people arrested on suspicion of being accomplices of Osama Bin Laden? What are his connections to Germany?

“Victim’s Money in Tax Haven”

Crime: A former bank manager from Ukraine is in prison in Hannover. He is believed to have embezzled 86 million marks paid out by Germany for victims of the Nazi regime. His case is putting a strain on the forthcoming billion-dollar compensation payments: will the money really end up in the hands of the former slave workers? The legal proceedings against Sherditsky are something of a political issue between Ukraine and Germany, since the people’s deputy enjoyed excellent relations in Kiev, all the way up to the present prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko. Ukrainian opposition leaders suspect that the government leaders looked the other way when Sherditsky brought off his coup. The former German government is also likely to be embarrassed by the incident. It demonstrates just how carelessly Bonn pumped hundreds of millions into the East without caring whether or not the money reached the victims.

“Fiery Signal”

Contemporary history: The Reichstag fire in 1933 signalled the start of the Nazi’s reign of mass terror. To this day its background has remained a matter of controversy. Some scientists read the recently discovered documents as suggesting that the Dutchman Marinus van der Lubbe did not start the fire on his own. Was the Dutchman really the sole perpetrator, as he later maintained before the police and the court, or was Hermann Göring, President of the Reichstag and the first politician at the scene of the fire, right in saying: “This is undoubtedly the work of the Communists.” Or is the explanation that was widely accepted after the war correct: that the National Socialists were actually behind the arson attack themselves? They clearly stood to profit by palming off the act on the communists, thus justifying their later terror against the left.

“Hot Job in Tokyo”

Automobile industry: Daimler manager Rolf Eckrodt is to put the Japanese car manufacturer Mitsubishi back on its feet, using western methods. The problem is that the company’s boss is someone else, a Japanese. Even after the planned take-over of a three percent share so far held by Volvo, DaimlerChrysler will only own 37 percent of Mitsubishi Motors. The Mitsubishi conglomerate, which also includes steel, electronics and chemical companies, still holds a 35 percent share in Mitsubishi Motors. And while Eckrodt is responsible for MMC’s entire operational business, the actual boss of the company is Takashi Sonobe. In future, the Japanese will have to rely on joint developments with Chrysler. But although it will be several years before the new models find their way onto the market, DaimlerChrysler boss Jürgen Schrempp is demanding that Mitsubishi already pull itself out of the red within the current business year.

“Russian Roulette”

Kosovo campaign: Criminal Albanian clans control certain sections of organised crime in Europe – while the German Armed Forces stand by and do nothing. Secret services and security experts are already sounding the alarm: a German detective complains that Mafia-like cliques from Kosovo are already preparing to considerably expand their influence in Germany, Europe and the United States. Kosovo-based organised crime is, he says, one of the greatest threats to Western countries from criminal activities.

“Cheated by Bush”

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with the black US writer Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi, who was born in Hamburg, on the new Republican administration in Washington and the continuing discrimination against African-Americans in the United States:

“The controversial circumstances under which Bush was granted the electoral victory have embittered the blacks and further polarised the races in our country. African-Americans feel cheated and are convinced that Bush stole the elections … On a social level, blacks and whites keep to themselves. And racism continues to exist – in a different shape: it has become more cautious, more sophisticated. … I hope there will be people whose commitment will serve as an example and a role model, teachers and clergymen, who will set a good example – as Martin Luther King once did.”

“Sensitive for One’s Own Anxieties”

SPIEGEL interview with Finnish president Tarja Halonen on the risks of Nato’s expansion to the east, the stability of the Baltic region and Europe’s relationship with Russia:

“Finland certainly won’t become a member of Nato in the near future. I am still convinced that non-alliance is the best thing for Finland, and also for stability in the Baltic region. … We must bear in mind that in their classical view of themselves, the Russians have always regarded themselves as a part of Europe. At the same time they are highly sceptical as to whether Europe shares this view. That’s why the EU should reinforce those powers in Russia that are thinking along European lines. … It would help to ease and relax the situation, if there were two, three or more leading nations. That corresponds to the political realities, too, and is incredibly soothing – for the Russians of course. And it’s a particular challenge for Europe.”

“Damned Daring”

Music: US star conductor Kent Nagano is turning Berlin into the capital of the musical avant-garde. In his concerts he crosses even the most sacred cows of classical music with experimental new sounds. With Berlin’s German Symphony Orchestra he heads what is as yet little more than a stable ensemble of the musical C class. But under his care, the ensemble that emerged from the former RIAS Symphony Orchestra has good chances of rapidly rising into the Champion’s League – and without all the saccharine, obsequiousness and hot air of the philharmonic mainstream. It’s been a long time since concerts were so little of a picnic, or since there was such a thrilling sense of making a fresh start.

“Life after the Last Rinse”

Recycling: In Berlin, robots dismantle washing machines, separating out recyclable parts from the remaining waste – in future they are even to cannibalise cars.

“Rockers in the Cockroach Trap”

Traffic: Noisy motorbike gangs are terrorising Japan’s citizens. Now the police want to combat the plague with the help of a new invention: adhesive strips on the roads. A belt of flat aluminium boxes is laid down across the road. As soon as a motorbike’s front wheel crosses one of the boxes, the lid springs open and an adhesive strip beneath it wraps itself around the back wheel. This tape in turn is attached to a rope with rubber stoppers. The motorbike can carry on for another 30 metres; after that the police steps in.

“Well-mannered Submarine”

Basketball: For the first time in eleven years, the Dallas Mavericks have qualified for the play-offs. And the fans are not the only ones who realise to whom they owe this success: Dirk Nowitzki from Wurzburg. America has great plans for the wonder boy who is so exemplarily normal.

“Fishing around in the Data Is Widespread”

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Mainz epidemiologist Jörg Michaelis on electromagnetic smog, leukaemia and the perils of medical statistics:

“One of the dilemmas faced by epidemiologists is that the authors themselves are often not critical enough to wrap up their results securely. People would also like to use them to secure new research funds, or to become well-known. But that’s difficult when you are dealing with surprise results. It’s very important to distinguish between two things: on the one hand you have a primary hypothesis which your study is designed to check. And then there is something else that we call exploratory data analysis. Some people also refer to it rather disrespectfully as fishing around in the data. You use a computer to comb through the data and fish out something. … Our hope, and perhaps also our future perspective, lies in linking epidemiology with genetic methods. That way our predictions could become more precise.”