SPIEGEL cover story:

The Chechen terrorists maintain ties with other combat groups throughout the world.

"That's Hypocritical"

SPIEGEL interview with former deputy prime minister Said-Hassan Abusmuslimov about the terrorist act in Moscow, the links with the Taliban and the support of the West for President Putin:

"The young people in Moscow are not under the command of the Chechen underground president Aslan Mashadov. They have nothing to do with the president. It's a desperate act by the young generation of Chechens against the genocide being committed against us by the Russians. … We are not part of an Islamic world revolution pursuing some abstract goal. We have been fighting for a home of our own for over 200 years … We've been outraged for a long time at the position taken by Western governments, particularly by the USA, England and Germany. By looking the other way they are helping to wipe out an entire people. Simply because it is allegedly a matter of Russia's territorial integrity. That's hypocritical."

"Message to the West"

Terrorism: Al Qaida has been reorganised, its leader Bin Laden appears to be alive. Germany is increasingly becoming a focus of the threat and investigators are worried that new, spectacular attacks could take place. The Federal Criminal Police, BKA, is warning the local police authorities that never before in Al Qaida's history has Germany been so directly at risk. The BKA's prophecy appears to have come true - the more Germany becomes involved in the war against terrorism on the side of the United States, the greater the danger. The involvement of the German armed forces in Afghanistan, the participation of the KSK special forces in the hunt for Al Qaida followers, the German navy off the Horn of Africa, and the first trial against a suspected accomplice in the September 11 attacks, which began last week in Hamburg, all these appear to have convinced the Islamists of Germany's loyalty to the alliance.

What information has top terrorist Ramzi Binalshibh, who was seized in September, revealed so far?

"Pact of Terror"

Contemporary history: 25 years ago, Germany was shaken by a series of terrorist attacks carried out by the left-wing Red Army Faction. The account now given by a former RAF member allows the story of the so-called "German Autumn" to be told from the point of view of the terrorists themselves. The implication is that the orgy of violence would have been impossible without the help of Palestinians. For a long time, the terrorist pact between the RAF and the Palestinians was considered a sideline aspect of the history of German left-wing terrorism. But in the meantime the contours of the German/Palestinian network are becoming more apparent; forged long before the autumn of 1977 and extending far beyond it, the full details of the network are still not known to German investigators today.

"We Cannot Set Trends"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Stefan Persson, 55, Chairman of the Board, principal shareholder and son of the founder of Hennes & Mauritz, about the secret of the success of his cheap clothes, the downside of growth, and the question why he himself still buys underwear on staff discount:

"The disadvantage of a public limited company is at the same time its advantage: it's constantly being externally assessed. … I regret the fact that we are becoming more and more alike world-wide. We read the same magazines, buy the same cars, watch the same programmes on television, wear the same fashions and in the process we lose part of our cultural roots and identity. … I think our success is a mixture of clever imitation, inspiration and own ideas. You would be doing an injustice to our 95 own designers if you accused them of only copying from others. … The fashion industry calls more for an international image. If there is nevertheless something typically Swedish about us, then it's our efficiency, our opposition to red tape and our internationality itself."

"My Sweet Mann"

Authors: The excitement over a purported "discovery" in some literary archives in Prague proves to be exaggerated, but hitherto unknown letters from the first wife of the author Heinrich Mann do offer further moving insights into the growing tragedy of an unhappy love. For his grandson Jundrich Mann, 54, the question is: who is the legitimate owner. The material in the 15 cardboard boxes was undoubtedly the property of his mother, Heinrich Mann's only daughter Leonie (1916 - 1986), who married the Czech writer Ludvik Askenazy and who left Czechoslovakia together with her two sons in 1968. The things they left behind in their flat were confiscated by the government. Although the find comprises well over 1000 individual items, they are not so much unknown letters written by Heinrich Mann, as letters to him, most of them of a casual nature.

"The Vulture Archaeopteryx"

Museums: Finds of inestimable value are going to waste in the natural history and archaeological collections of the German capital. International experts have sounded the alarm: in order to save the cultural heritage of mankind, the researchers suggest that museums could also serve as theme parks.

"Work for Centuries"

SPIEGEL interview with Dietrich Wildung, 61, the director of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, about the treasures going to waste in its depots, the hoarding of junk, and rescue by sponsors:

"Apart from the art museums, all of the collections in Berlin are enormously behindhand in their documentation. The German capital is unfortunately a prime example of the fact that the bulk of the scientific assessment of stocks is still in its infancy. … To this day we still don't have a precise overview of what was lost during the war, nor of the artwork that was seized as booty during the war. … Germany has an underdeveloped tradition of sponsorship. It's no coincidence that many colleagues look abroad, flirting with the Californian Getty Foundation or the New York museum association Guggenheim. Both of them have turned art into a business. I view this development with great scepticism. There's no alternative to state sponsorship."

"Aid to Memory"

Brain research: A US researcher is developing prostheses which are to be implanted in damaged brains. Electronic chips containing switches are to behave like nerve cells. Theodore Berger's aim is to develop a chip that works like chunk of brain tissue. Artificial helper neurones could, according to Berger, help the brain to maintain its memory. But the more electronic cells can be squeezed onto a chip, the more apparent the difficulties of constructing a prosthesis become. The unique features of every single neuron have to be discovered. Berger is cautious about making any promises. He would be happy if before long he could simply build chips capable of learning and interlinking to a limited degree - the natural cells they are modelled on do this to a very high degree. However, so far the artificial cells on the chips just sit there next to each other unconnected, serving only as direct links between biological neurones.

"Emotional Aspect"

Olympics: Even before the inspectors of the National Olympic Committee visit their last station, it is already becoming clear that the city of Hamburg - with its idea for "City Olympics" on the waterfront, and an Olympic centre near the Elbe river and the inner city - is one of the favourites in the national qualifying competition. On 12 April of the coming year, the members of the NOC will be voting on who is to run for Germany. The host of the 2012 Games will be chosen by the International Olympic Committee, IOC, in 2005. Hamburg's strong position will not necessarily be obvious from the report submitted by the NOC patrol, a report which is to be completed by February to aid the NOC in its decision and which rates both the infrastructure and competition sites, as well as the regional promotion of sports. However "the emotional aspect" of this site's concept could, according to a high-ranking NOC official, be a decisive factor.