"Evasive, Vicious, Demonic"

SPIEGEL interview with Mowarrak al-Rubaie, member of the Iraqi Governing Council, about his encounter with prisoner Saddam Hussein and the hope that Europe will return to Baghdad:

"His behaviour was demonstrative. He sat, half cowering, half combative, on his cot and didn't look any of us in the eyes. We saw a dispirited, demoralized man. ... We have to deal with ten thousands of dangerous criminals set free by Saddam last year. It will take some time until they have all been recaptured. Then we still have up to 3000 foreign terrorists. The war against these people will last for years, I have no illusions about that. ... We need the Germans just as we need the UN to balance out the strong presence of the Americans and the British here. And in contrast to the British, the Germans have never colonized us."

"That is a Fair Share"

SPIEGEL interview with former Bertelsmann manager Jan Henric Buettner about the lawsuit he won against the media group, fortune-seeking and Thomas Middelhoff:

"It wasn't a matter of money for me at all. It was about the obligation to keep promises. ... You mustn't forget what an incredible amount of money Bertelsmann made through the sale of Internet businesses such as AOL Europe which we built up: ten billion euros. Cash. 200 million is a fair share of that."

"A Beneficial Shock"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with German foreign minister Joschka Fischer about his European policy after the failure of the constitution summit, the reconstruction of Iraq and the right way of handling human rights:

"The crucial question now is, what view this proud and large country has of Europe? What does Poland want to achieve in Europe and through Europe? ... The European Union is based on sovereign member states each of which sets its own standards. ... To my mind there won't be a 'European nucleus'. Instead, there will be different nuclei, different speeds. But there will be a group of countries which are involved everywhere, the nucleus of the nucleus, so to speak. ... You have to confront terrorism with toughness, because I don't see any perspective for negotiations. It will be necessary to destroy its networks and dry up its roots. However, that calls for a sophisticated approach: stabilising Iraq, stabilising Afghanistan, making progress with democratic reforms in Iran. But that will then be the business of politics."

"Brussels Adventure"

Europe: After the summit's failure, the European constitution has been shelved - quite possibly for ever. While the European governments are busily blaming each other, the French and the Germans are focussing on a "Europe of different speeds" - one out of conviction, the other for tactical reasons. The Germans and the French quickly blamed Spain and Poland for the summit's flop. Poland's Prime Minister Leszek Miller was encouraged in his hard stance by US President George W. Bush, high-ranking EU Commission officials divulge, invoking sources in the White House. After all, the Americans do not desire a strong Europe, in which Germany and France play an even more important role than in the past. That, they claim, is the reason why Washington promised the Poles "fortification and support" in return for the Poles' stubbornness.

"Meshi and His Brothers"

Terrorism: Every time there is an attack in Israel, the organisation Zaka turns out to recover the mutilated victims. The voluntary helpers do not leave a site until every last drop of blood has been mopped up. In a world of violence, gravediggers have what it takes to be heroes. Every week 35 to 40 people die a violent death in Israel. But in the worst case it can be as many as two dozen in a single second. The task can be divided into three phases. The first helpers to arrive on the scene take away the survivors. The second group to go in is the explosives experts of the police force. And finally the corpses are recovered. Sacks are filled, 50 to 60 or them, three or four per corpse. 600 men are in active service; in everyday life they are greengrocers, bank clerks, fishmongers. At any time another 2000 are waiting to join. But to become a Zaka helper you have to do lots of courses, take tests, attend interviews and receive religious instruction from rabbis. Their last exam involves the ritual ablution of a corpse. One third of applicants fail it. And those who do pass and who actually go out "into the field" are drained within a year and a half.

"America as a School Subject"

Kenya: In a camp in the north-west of the country, 13,000 Somalis are being prepared for life in the United States. Sometimes there are misunderstandings. They learn to read and write, what ketchup is and how to brush their teeth. The illiterates, whose ancestors were once abducted from Tanzania and Mozambique and brought to Somalia as slaves, are to be trained to become citizens of the superpower USA.

"I'm a Stranger Everywhere"

SPIEGEL interview with Egyptian actor Omar Sharif about his life, his film career and his comeback in the film "Monsieur Ibrahim":

"The most important film, the one which has a permanent place in the history of cinematography, is undoubtedly 'Lawrence of Arabia', for which I received an Oscar nomination. ... The terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. It is a reaction to poverty, oppression and humiliation. Despite all its learning, the western world doesn't understand that democracy will never exist in an Arab country, never, not in a thousand years. ... My savings will last for three or four years. When the money is used up I'll have to work again. There's no shame in that. ... I don't regret a thing. Regret is the silliest and most illogical feeling in the world."

"All over the World for God"

Religions: Thousands of German missionaries are trying to convert non-believers in far-off lands. While the large churches are gradually withdrawing, more and more Christians sectarians are disseminating medieval superstition by dubious methods. Both groups consider the theory of evolution to be nonsense, for example, because after all God created the world in six days; they consider homosexuality to be a sin, abortion equally so, and premarital sex is taboo. Posing as foreign aid workers they also go about their missionary work in countries where Christians are unwelcome or even persecuted. Their claim to religious absoluteness is hardly less zealous than that of Muslim extremists. Many Jesus advertisers also show little concern for the fact that they are destroying the peaceful coexistence of local communities. No wonder the Germans are sometimes unwelcome.

"Slow Death"

East Germany: Migration is leading to a rapid drop in intelligence in the East. Those people who are dynamic move to the West - those left behind have no chance of stopping the downhill trend.

"Roller-coaster to Mars"

Leisure: The "Space Park" - Europe's largest theme park for space travel - is opening its gates in Bremen. The total cost has been some 600 million euros. The concrete leviathan, packed with all kinds of rides and the latest in entertainment technology, is a risky wager on the future of the leisure industry. Projectors, monitors and loudspeakers are piled high over an area of 22,000 square metres; space ship simulators on hydraulic struts, and the latest technology for make-believe. Visitors experience a pounding, droning madhouse of illusions.

"Telltale Magnetic Traces"

Data protection: Data stored by computers, digital cameras and copiers are usually inadequately erased - confidential data can easily be reconstructed.

"Panic in Paradise"

Wildlife: Ants which were accidentally brought to the Australian Tiwi islands are creating hell for the islands' inhabitants. The insects demolish power cables, sting everything in sight and steal anything edible.

"Chopin Saved Me"

Music: Kafka as a storyteller, triumphs at the piano, the ordeal in Theresienstadt - despite some heavy blows of fate, the pianist Alice Sommer, who has just turned 100, can look back on a fulfilled life: "I'm one of the happiest people on this planet."