"Killing Children, Carrying off Women"

Terror: Shortly before the start of the first lawsuit over the September 11 terrorist attacks, a friend of the defendant Mounir al-Motassadeq has been arrested. Now two mammoth trials may take concurrently.

"Just Let Them Come"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Iraqi vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan, about the confrontation with Bush's America, the stance taken by Berlin and the possible consequences of a new Gulf War in the Arab world:

"To this day, double standards have been a characteristic feature of American politics: they accuse us of possessing weapons of mass destruction even though they know very well that this isn't true. At the same time, they know that many countries in this part of the world do own weapons of mass destruction - Israel for example. But no one accuses Israel of threatening world peace with its forbidden arsenal. ... As far as we're concerned, the inspectors are welcome to search and inspect, how they want and where they want. The Americans, on the other hand, want to wait until they have forced through a resolution which will permit an attack on Iraq. ... The argument over the weapons inspectors is only a pretext. Bush is interested in Iraq's oil. Washington wants to blackmail the world: starting by gaining access to the oil reserves in the Gulf region, and ending up with three quarters of all the world's oil deposits being controlled by America. Only an independent Iraq can thwart this plan. ... We would prefer to avoid a war, but if the Americans insist on one, we're already looking forward to tackling their ground troops. The solidarity of the Iraqi people with their leaders is very strong, much stronger than it was in Vietnam. If war does break out, though, it won't stop at the borders of Iraq. American interests will be threatened everywhere. The Americans will be taught their lesson."

"Modern-day Alcatraz"

Terrorism: The Turkish citizen Murat Kurnaz travelled from Bremen to Afghanistan as a Taliban sympathiser, and was arrested. Since then he has been detained at Guantanamo Bay, deprived of all his rights. Almost a year after Kurnaz's arrest, the Americans are fairly confident that the "Bremen Taliban" was at most one of the small fry in the world-wide jihad. A fellow-traveller who might have become one of Bin Laden's mujahedin - but fell into the hands of the US before that could happen. The prisoner from Germany, who is however a Turkish citizen, has still not been allowed to see a lawyer or to speak to his family. He has not even been told yet, what evidence there is against him. Thus on Cuba the Americans have created precisely what they have always accused Fidel Castro of: a no-man's-land in which law and justice do not exist, only the arbitrary rule of the military. Even the Americans privately admit that many confused or misguided fellow-travellers are being detained in Guantanamo Bay. So far, the Americans have refused to release these harmless prisoners - probably also for fear of them telling the outside world too much about the inhuman conditions inside.

"Don't Follow America!"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with US sociologist Richard Sennett about the decay of American society, the weakness of the President and the good example set by Europeans:

"Deep down in their souls, Americans have the feeling: We're the winners. People feel invincible. The fact that everything can collapse is something that Americans only know from history, not through personal experience. People aren't prepared for something like September 11. This is only a suspicion, but I think the war with Iraq is supposed to make people forget that we are vulnerable. ... The average American doesn't begin to realise how strong a resistance there is to American politics in Europe at the moment. It simply doesn't reach them. All they ever see is Bush, Cheney or Rumsfeld. I think Schröder, and in particular Fischer, were very right in the way they acted. And some of the people I know think so too, but most Americans don't know the arguments of the Germans at all. Europeans must stop talking to the American government. They must talk to the American people. ... To me, George W. Bush represents a special type of American decadence. It gives you a sense of not having to make any effort. Everything you need is there. You don't need to know anything about other people. Complacency can be a form of decadence, and Bush has that. This seems to me to be the moment where America is right now. It's rotting."

"Dr. Strangelove Is Unaware of Anything"

Inaccurate information supplied by Western intelligence services is helping Saddam Hussein in his propaganda war. The Al Dora factory, which used to manufacture vaccines and which according to British and US dossiers was rebuilt and is still operating today, is in fact totally destroyed and utterly unusable. Anyone who says otherwise is, according to UN diplomat Hans von Sponeck, contributing to the "US authorities' systematic campaign of false and inaccurate information."

"The Ravens of Evil"

Iraq: Times are changing on the Tigris. Saddam Hussein senses that his rule is threatened. Diplomatic offensives, religious mobilisation and staged elections are to save the regime of the Baghdad dictator. The strategists in Saddam's political clique believe that the Americans won't wait with their attack until the beginning of next year, when the temperatures in the Gulf region are more bearable. The attack could perhaps take place as early as the end of November, without any respect for Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. Baghdad has read the signs correctly and is sending out signals of its willingness to compromise on all channels, in order to avert its fate. Saddam's diplomatic emissaries are telling their neighbours in the region that Iraq is prepared to do almost anything to prevent a wildfire on the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile the regime is trying hard to patch up the glaring cracks in society with the help of religious cement.

"The World on the Edge of an Abyss"

Contemporary history: The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was the most dangerous moment in the Cold War. Today, key documents are accessible to the public in Moscow and Washington: misunderstandings and misjudgements brought the superpowers to the brink of a nuclear disaster.

"Cashing In and Clearing Out"

Cover story: In their quest for quick money during the years of the stock market hysteria, the banks disappointed their customers and neglected their traditional business. Now German financial managers are caught up in a vicious circle which could drag down the entire economy with it. The situation is about as dramatic as can be. Hardly a day goes by, without bank shares pulling down the stock markets to even greater depths. Hardly a day goes by, without new mass redundancies (Dresdner Bank), rumours of profit warnings (Deutsche Bank) or even imminent liquidity problems (Commerzbank). Behind the mirrored facades, helplessness prevails. Germany's once so powerful banks are facing the biggest test in their history.

"We All Made Mistakes"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Rolf Breuer, president of the Federal Association of German Banks, and board chairman of Deutsche Bank, about the reasons for the existential crisis facing the business, the role of US rivals and possible ways out of the disaster:

"One of the reasons why the situation is so worrying is that many of the problems are actually self-made. Take Germany, for instance: we have a huge structural problem, too many branch offices, and a poor profit situation. Also, the three-pillar model consisting of savings banks, cooperative banks and private banks is out-dated, it has no future. We have to find a way to achieve more cooperation. In addition, drastic consolidation is long overdue. ... To me the most promising model for the future is a bank which is clearly focussed, which works in its key areas of business while at the same time not forgetting its private customers. ... Today, the credit business has a tendency to act procyclically; that's unfortunately true and it worries me. All our highly intelligent risk models, prognoses and calculations see the world through a rear-view mirror. ... To my mind, we need better early-warning systems. We have to think more in terms of scenarios rather than mathematical one-way streets."

"I Intend to Fight"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Klaus Lederer, probably Germany's most hated manager, about his responsibility for the bankruptcy of Babcock, the accusations that have been made against him since then from all quarters, and about a life after the storm of newspaper headlines:

"I'm going to explain every single point to the public prosecutors and I'm going to refute every one of them, because there's no truth in the accusations, none at all. In one or two years' time, people will have an entirely different picture of Lederer. ... The main thing is that I should have stayed with Babcock after the sale of HDW - until the last step of my restructuring had been completed. Perhaps Babcock's insolvency could have been avoided then. That was my mistake. But I resent being likened to a criminal because of it. ... First of all I intend to fight. I want to restore my reputation. I'm going to face the investigation and clear up all the accusations. Once I've succeeded in doing that I'm sure I can get a decent job again. Sitting in a corner twiddling my thumbs is something I just can't do!"

"The September Lie"

Myths: Nutcases? Enlightened informers of the general public? Hopeless cases? Conspiracy theorists believe that the CIA, Mossad or other secret services were involved in the September 11 attacks. Particularly for German intellectuals, such theories fit their anti-American world view. All over the world, proponents of such truths are linked by computer in forums or through newsletters. They run all their key words related to September 11, all the alleged evidence, rumours and their own delusions, through the search engines at Google, Lycos and Yahoo, putting their speculations through their paces on the Internet and exchanging the latest clues like precious stamps, self-assuredly working to uncover the "truth" behind the official "version". They don't have a shred of evidence for their counter-theories; yet they are quite convinced they are right. While right-wing extremists have their "Auschwitz lie", left-wingers may soon have their "September lie" - dispelling the truth so as not to have to change one's view of the world. Even without believing in a global conspiracy, there are still plenty of questions, plenty of material for very real, unsettling stories. But the unreal ones flourish better. Now they are growing rampant because everyone who has a computer and a phone line can have a say.

"Full Speed into the Crater"

Contemporary history: Did lunar exploration begin in 1945 on the Schwäbische Alb? Historians have stumbled across some little known rocket research projects carried out by the Nazis. The test flight on March 1, 1945, was one of the most exciting in German aeronautical history. Urged on by Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, engineers launched a rocket into the atmosphere - to aviation expert Horst Lommel this represents a "first small step in the direction of manned space travel". Hans Holzer is astonished that "absurd and almost entirely unknown enterprises" were pushed ahead with great urgency. Towards the end, the SS hoped it might break the supremacy of the Allied forces in the air with the help of plywood and other cheap materials, such as alcohol distilled from potatoes as rocket fuel. It is now becoming increasingly clear that the rocket pioneers of Peenemünde, who spent billions on building the V2 "wonder weapon", were not alone. Wernher von Braun had competition.

"Corporal Without a Past"

Brain research: Following an accident, Corporal Adrian Mills lacks any recollection of himself - even though his head itself was not injured. Psychologists and neurologists believe that his memory loss was caused by stress. Too many stress hormones might damage the brain in the same way as a stroke. The amygdala and the hippocampus are the bottle-necks of memory. They lie in the limbic system, a region of the brain which is old in evolutionary terms. In both animals and humans, this collection of nerve cell networks, which is referred to in old textbooks as the "olfactory brain", plays the part of a judge, deciding whether we consider something good or bad. Hence the amygdala and hippocampus sit at the control centre of human emotions. At the same time they influence what information is passed on to long-term memory. Only things that we feel are particularly important are worth being stored permanently. As yet, it is not clearly understood why most people remain in control of their memories even after being tortured and imprisoned, while others - an unfortunate few - lose their past while harmlessly riding out in Tuscany.

"Germs in the Duct"

Medicine: Extremely dangerous germs, such as hepatitis or Aids viruses, can be transmitted during intestinal endoscopic examinations. Now checks are to be introduced. But are these adequate?

"Queasy in Baghdad"

Careers: The Germans are popular in Iraq. Bernd Stange, who was born in Lusatia, is being celebrated there as the national soccer team's new coach, with whose help they hope to take part in the next World Cup. Stange has a vision: in four years' time he would like to preside over the Iraqi national team in a World Cup game against the United States, in Leipzig, Munich or Berlin. That is a chapter in politics which he would be happy to help write.