SPIEGEL interview with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder on the German labour market and the forecasts by the leading economics institutes. DER SPIEGEL asks Schröder whether he is worried by such prognoses, what he thinks of them and whether his re-election is threatened by the economic developments.

"We Don't Have Much Time Left"

SPIEGEL interview with Ukrainian leader of the opposition Juliya Timoshenko on the resistance against President Kuchma, on the government's difficult attempts at reform and the oligarchy's plans for a coup d'etat:

"I appear to pose a threat to President Kuchma's continued power. He wants to isolate me so that I cannot play any part in the opposition. My aim is to bring down the president by peaceful and constitutional means, and to secure early elections. … Our country is in the hands of several groups of people who have allied themselves with officials on all levels, with the heads of the army and the police and criminal organisations. All of them have only one goal: to feather their own nests. In the middle of this web sits the president, wielding incredible powers. … The downfall of Yushchenko would also be a bitter blow for the president, because the Prime Minister is his value tag towards other countries. With their manoeuvrings the Ukrainian clans want to replace Kuchma by a successor who suits them in plenty of time, one who can then continue their business undisturbed - even tougher, even more cynically."

"We Are Simply Slaves"

Nicaragua: In free trade areas all over the world, foreign companies pay the lowest of wages to have their jeans and T-shirts sewn. In Managua too, the government looks on and does nothing while labour and human rights are ignored - because otherwise the investors would go elsewhere. Throughout the world there are now almost 2000 such special zones which are cut off from the outside world by armed security forces, high barbed wire fences and walls. Some 27 million people toil away in them under conditions reminiscent of Manchester capitalism. The workers in Nicaragua earn 20 cents for a pair of trousers that will cost 21.99 dollars in shops in the United States. For company managers and shareholders the conditions are heavenly.

"Kalashnikovs in the Garden of Eden"

Cover story: Half sex bomb, half magician and bearing incense and myrrh - that is how the Queen of Sheba is portrayed in the Bible. Now German archaeologists have tracked down the ruler's palatial town. In Yemen, a virtually unknown, ancient advanced civilisation is emerging from the sands. With their large-scale project, the archaeologists are venturing into one of the darkest chapters of world history. Few other empires are surrounded by as many rumours as the caravan nation on the Tropic of Cancer.

"Crumpled Cathedral"

Museums: New York's Guggenheim Museum is causing unrest in the world of art with the expansion of its network of international outposts. Thomas Krens, the head of the Guggenheim, seems determined to create a powerful, global art group. Krens's latest coup for expansion is aimed at the Internet.

"We Seem to Be Regarded as Trouble-Makers"

SPIEGEL interview with historian Robert Wistrich on the resistance encountered by the research committee that is supposed to be investigating the controversial behaviour of Pope Pius XII during the Second World War:

"The eleven volumes of Vatican records dealing with the war only contain selected documents. So far there's been no critical appraisal: what is there, what is missing, what was forgotten or even withheld? For example: why didn't the Pope respond to the request by Berlin's bishop Konrad von Preysing to lend his support to the Jews? Pius undoubtedly knew all the details about the persecution of the Jews. … We want to get our hands on these documents, and we need to, in order to be able to form an accurate picture. … Pope John Paul II is the only person who can help. He has got to intervene and declare this important matter to be a priority issue."

"Unique Experiment"

Military: Is the growing proportion of women a symptom of the decline of the armed forces? The military historian who makes this provocative assertion is a remarkable chauvinist: Martin van Crevelt, 55, is regarded as being one of the leading military theoreticians in the world. The more unlikely wars between powerful nations as equal opponents have become, he says, the more the political and social significance of the war machine has decreased, and he goes on to say that women are very convenient as a "second-class substitute" to do badly paid jobs which men no longer want, and that the greater the proportion of women has become, the less attractive the armed forces have become to men. Rather than getting any closer to the emancipatory goal of being able to control the instruments of violence, women in the army remain a minority lacking any influence.

"Agents on the Run"

Traffic: In computer simulations, thousands of artificial pedestrians have to run for their lives. Researchers use them to test the evacuation of ships, sports arenas and pilgrimage sites in the event of a disaster. No sooner is someone standing on their feet than he (or she) becomes the object of pedestrian research. This is where the questions begin: where does he go, and where not? Why does he avoid the shopping mall in a prime location? Why does he keep stopping where there is little room, for instance immediately after stepping off an escalator? And if he goes on a cruise: where will he run when his ship hits an iceberg? As yet, pedestrian research leans strongly towards disasters. But the first pioneers are already conquering everyday life. A London company is developing agents who wander around model department stores. Armed with the shopping lists of real customers they don't stop until they have scoured the whole place.