Report on the trail of the Hamburg al-Qaida cell

International law: Virtually unnoticed, Germany has adopted its own Code of International Criminal Law. An argument with the USA is inevitable. War crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, no matter who commits them or where, no matter whether Germans are involved or not, can be investigated and brought to court by any public prosecutor. However, limits have been imposed on the reappraisal of history before German district courts. Only genocide can be prosecuted retrospectively, but no other violations of international law.

"A Dreamer with an Atom Bomb"

India: Frail and not always all there - Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is giving rise to doubts concerning his capability of managing a crisis. Despite an all-clear from the USA, a nuclear exchange with India's arch enemy Pakistan remains an acute threat. The very next act of terrorism - no matter who is behind it - could already serve as an excuse for the Indian armed forces. Apparently, the general staff senses that this might be the last chance to deprive Pakistan of its military power. Pakistan's missiles and nuclear warheads are believed not to be ready for nuclear retaliation this year. After the monsoon, the onset of the rainy season, conditions would be favourable for an Indian blitzkrieg.

"Greed without Frontiers"

SPIEGEL cover story: Fraudulent accounting and bearish markets are fuelling doubts about the American economic model, which is increasingly turning out to be a type of predatory capitalism. Without fundamental reforms, the crisis in confidence could spread - with disastrous consequences for the world economy.

"The Tsar of the Black Gold"

Cover story: Michael Chodorkovsky is regarded as the richest man in Russia, and a man with a colourful past. He controls huge oilfields, breaks stock market records and claims to want to emulate US tycoons. Is Chodorkovsky an exemplary entrepreneur or an unscrupulous robber baron?

"In a Terminal Condition"

Interview with the governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, 69, about the inability of the government to implement reforms, and the need for increased military armament:

"No matter which prime minister is in office, our country cannot be saved any more by the LDP. The party has outlived itself. Our political system is already in a terminal condition. … Japan cannot simply go to war with North Korea off its own bat, but we must first of all make it clear to the regime that we will not shy back from war either. If the other side responds to that by military means, we would also have to give a military response together with the USA, in the context of our security pact. After all, US president George W. Bush views North Korea as part of the 'Axis of Evil'."

"Those Who Are Poor Die"

Epidemics: A pharmacist from Thailand has developed the world's cheapest drug against Aids. Now she is fighting the major companies and the state authorities. As the head of the research department at the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO), she manufactured a pill which is highly effective at keeping the virus at bay in the human body. This is certainly not a medical sensation. The three active agents, so called anti-retrovirals, have long been part of the standard treatment in the West. The sensational thing about the combination pill is its price. A year's dose of GPO-Vir costs 330 dollars, the three individual components together come to more that 20 times as much. In the West, anti-retroviral drugs have turned Aids into a treatable chronic disease, like diabetes. Health insurance companies cover the cost of the pills for infected patients. In many developing countries, on the other hand, the immune deficiency disorder has grown into a humanitarian disaster. At the World Aids Conference in Barcelona the pharmacist is fighting against the patent rights of the pharmaceutical industry, and becoming a heroine for anti-globalisation campaigners.

"Breath in a Box"

Medicine: A new lung made of plastic is to save the lives of people suffering from serious lung diseases. In trials using sheep, the beer-can-sized device has already take over the entire function of the respiratory organ. The plastic organ would allow patients whose lungs threaten to fail, to bridge a period of three to six months while waiting for a suitable donor lung. So far the new artificial lung has not yet been implanted in a human being; but it is already clear that the technical innovation will be associated with certain risks too.

"I Want to Use the Power of Pictures"

SPIEGEL interview with press photographer James Nachtwey about his work and its portrayal in the film "War Photographer":

"I record dramas. So I have to accept these pictures too - even if they haunt me. That introduces a certain sadness into my life, which I cannot escape. The sadness is the result of the tragedies I have experienced. But I know that my work is useful … I am attracted by extreme situations, they are part of my motivation. I want to get to the heart of the problem. I want to understand what is going on, and to capture that in my photographs. This is why I go to extreme limits, sometimes also to the edge of a precipice."