"Every Country Can Decide for Itself"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with defence minister Peter Struck about possible Nato involvement in Iraq, solidarity with Turkey and the disadvantages of a volunteer army:

"When talk turns to Nato, you don't immediately have to think in terms of German soldiers. Every country in the Alliance has the right to decide for itself. If Nato wants to be involved in Iraq at the request of the United Nations, we certainly won't bar the way, but we won't be involved. ... I must tell you that in a volunteer army the problems outweigh the benefits. Enormous problems arise finding new recruits, personnel costs increase and the average age of the troops becomes too old. ... The Federal Army must be in a position to send up to 35,000 soldiers to any conceivable corner of the world, on peace missions and if necessary also for combat operations. The troops have to be able to stick it out for a year while at the same time also handling minor operations."

"We Are a Poor Country"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing about China's friendship with Germany, the threat of war in the Far East and the willingness to open up politically:

"On the truly central issues - are all countries adhering to the rules of the World Trade Organisation, dispensing with import barriers and granting China the status of a free market economy - Germany behaves more wisely than others. That's why trade relations have developed particularly well this year. ... Western politicians keep making the mistake of believing that the whole world ought to be like their own country. They consider the systems in other countries wrong. But any child knows that the world is a big place and home to many different cultures. All peoples have the right to decide their political system on their own. We are surprised at politicians who plead for democracy at home but forget democratic principles in their international relations. ... We try to seek positions in which North Korea and the USA agree. This is in the fundamental interest of all parties concerned, but it is a troublesome process. It requires time, patience and intelligence. Otherwise there will be a disaster with unimaginable consequences - not just for the region itself, but for the entire world."

Bank mergers: After three long years of crisis, all the large banks in Germany are tottering, and they are dirt cheap into the bargain. This whets many an appetite, particularly abroad. It is not just any old bank that is threatened by take-over, there is plenty to suggest that even Deutsche Bank could be swallowed - and soon.

"The Empire Strikes Back"

Car industry: Trouble in Korea, a lawsuit in the USA - anyone who wants to be represented everywhere, like the global DaimlerChrysler group, also becomes vulnerable everywhere.

"Our Home: the USSR"

Russia: The alliance "United Russia" wants to broaden the power base of President Putin by winning the elections to the Duma on Sunday. The resistance of communists and scattered liberals against the widespread and unscrupulously favoured Kremlin party appears to be in vain. According to a survey by the institute Wziom-A, the Kremlin party "United Russia" has now reached a 29 percent support in the electorate, ahead of the communists at 23 percent. Seventy percent of all Russians are not interested in the Duma elections at all, because they think they already know the outcome, say the opinion researchers.

"Blind to Anger and Joy"

SPIEGEL cover story: One person in ten is unfamiliar with happiness and grief. Now researchers are looking into the brains of such emotionally blind individuals - and finding the answers to many mysterious questions: How do people notice that they are experiencing hatred? What role does the body play? And why are men emotionally less sensitive? The inability to sense emotions in oneself and others, and to talk about them, is known as alexithymia. The phenomenon is a surprisingly common one. It affects rich and poor, young and old - and men distinctly more often than women. Psychological tests in Finland have shown that 13 percent of 1200 subjects display alexithymia - 10 percent of women and 17 percent of men. Few other psychological phenomena shake the foundations of human interaction as fundamentally as this form of emotional blindness. When intuitive emotional communication suddenly ceases to function, that leads to considerable insecurity. There is a lot to suggest that alexithymia might be a kind of protective armour that people enclose themselves in after particularly awful experiences. Instead of reacting with emotions, people with alexithymia often react to stress or emotional strain with physical sensations. Before exams they have stomach aches rather than fear; and when they are cheated they feel dizzy rather than angry - often so much so that they will go and see a doctor about it.

"Snails Have Emotions Too"

Interview with neurobiologist Antonio Damasio about his theory of feelings, the interplay of mind and body, and the disadvantages of a life without fear:

The ability to feel pity is crucial for us human beings. We are not just able to have our own feelings, but also to share in those of others - by simulating their emotions, so to speak. ... Your body produces a wealth of reactions even before you notice a feeling. ... Your brain is constantly listening to your body, like an attentive member of the audience in a theatre, and is being bombarded non-stop with signals from it. ... A feeling is always based on changes in your body. ... There are lots of examples of people losing their capacity to feel fear, for instance when the so-called amygdala is damaged, say by a tumour. These people also fail to recognise fear in the faces of other people."

"Living, That's Hard Work"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with British writer Doris Lessing about her childhood in Africa, her entanglements with Germans, about communists and other idealists, about President George W. Bush and about the pleasure of telling stories:

"Where we lived, every farmer hunted to have something for his cooking pot. Every child knew how to shoot - though I should say that I was probably the only girl in our district that went out hunting. But I didn't just have hunting. I had a box full of books. That was my education. ... The exciting thing about writing is creating order where none existed before. Making a story out of nothing."

"Bigger, Taller, More Luxurious"

Sailing: In Southampton, in the south of England, American millionaire Joseph Vittoria is building a sailing yacht of superlatives - a toy for the super-rich. The technical risks of the ship's huge scale are enormous. The mast alone has to withstand a force of 450 tonnes - the equivalent of nine Leopard II tanks. No one cares to imagine what would happen if the sensitive carbon fibre structure were to break under the strain.

"Big Bang as a Way of Getting Hooked"

SPIEGEL interview with astrophysicist Günther Hasinger about the search for dark energy in the universe, life on distant planets and the looming decline of German space research:

"We could find out more about the character of dark energy, for instance, if the space observatory Lisa could succeed in intercepting the gravitational waves which are produced when two black holes collide and which were predicted by Einstein. ... The direct observation of Earth-like planets outside the solar system is an incredible technical challenge. That's simply because the light of a star exceeds that of its planets many times over. For that reason we need a totally new generation of space telescopes. ... The big risk is that only very few German researchers will be using the new international super-telescopes in the first place, because the budgets for national space research have been drastically cut back again and again for years.

"Cannibals in Kinshasa"

Congo: A transition government is to lead the exhausted country into a peaceful future. But its success is doubtful: the new rulers are yesterday's crooks. The UN special envoy to Congo, Iulia Motoc, speaks of a continuing "massive violation of human rights". The situation is claimed to be particularly bad in Ituri, "one of the richest regions in the country thanks to deposits of gold, diamonds, cobalt, wood and oil". And yet the people have never been more hopeful than they are today.

"Farewell, Base World of Ivory Keys"

Music: More and more frustrated celebrities from the world of classical music are turning their backs on concert halls. Now French star pianist François-René Duchâble has announced his departure. In future he only wants to play for outsiders, at the Tour de France and on Mont Blanc. Why is someone like François-René Duchâble stopping? Why has such a splendid career suddenly run out of verve, fun, enjoyment? Duchâble is no isolated case; as someone who has decided to opt out he is in good company.