"We'll Take a Look at Their Candidate"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder about the reforms he has planned for the new year, ongoing conflicts with his own party and the presidential elections that are due to take place in May:

"Only a strong Germany can credibly play a self-assured role in the Alliance ... For economic reasons, but also for social reasons, we need modern immigration laws and a further continuation of the pension reforms, a debureaucratisation of the Riester pension scheme and the incorporation of what we call the sustainability factor. In 2004 we also have to make a serious attempt at reaching the top again in areas where Germany has forfeited its economic leadership. ... The conflict in Brussels in the middle of December was in essence a conflict over differences in the weighting of European and national interests. For Germany and France: when in doubt, EU integration takes precedence."

"Cash on the Mekong"

Globalisation: From Morocco, through Moscow to the Mekong, Germany's Metro AG is expanding at a breathtaking pace. The retail group stands for transparency and globalisation - but also makes pacts with dubious regimes. More than 48 percent - and rising - of its turnover are achieved abroad, as well as the bulk of its profits. This year alone, the managing board will be investing two billion euros, particularly in Eastern Europe, Russia, India and China.

"In the Government's Stranglehold"

SPIEGEL interview with the former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, about his imprisonment, the changeover of power in the country, and the lack of prospects for democratic renewal:

"I've been in solitary confinement right from the start; you have hardly any contact at all with other prisoners. The only visitors I am allowed are my closest relatives - 45 minutes a week. And I am probably the only prison inmate in the country whose cell door is monitored by a camera right round the clock. ... When Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi took office, he piously declared his intention to embark on a crusade against corruption and to respect the principle of the separation of powers. However he had heartily little to say about setting out towards true democracy. Even now, for every little offence, the draconian rules of the laws for internal security are still immediately invoked."

"Floating Summerhouse"

Egypt: A deeply German ship has re-emerged in the Red Sea: the former luxury yacht of Hitler's Reichsmarshal Hermann Göring. Immediately after being launched, the boat became a popular venue for secret meetings. Nazi greats such as Heinrich Himmler and Martin Bormann, but also the Führer himself, are said to have enjoyed Field Marshal Hermann Göring's hospitality on board.

"The Rotting Dragon"

Caucasus: In the Russian republics of Dagestan and Ingushetiya, Muslim extremists are drawing a large following. The Kremlin is trying in vain to keep the situation under control. Eighty percent of all Russians who make the pilgrimage to Mecca come from Dagestan, the largest mosque in the Northern Caucasus stands in Makhachkala. Dagestan has two Islamic universities, as well as Islamic colleges with twelve subsidiaries, 650 Islamic schools in which mullahs are trained, and three Muslim political parties. And it keeps attracting militant Islamist troops - last month, for instance, heavily armed units attacked the south of the country.

"Stamping with Molecules"

SPIEGEL interview with US chemist George Whitesides, one of the pioneers of nanotechnology, about building using atoms, living computers and the health risks associated with nanoparticles:

"The principle is this: take components and allow them to self-assemble into the ordered structures that they want to ... Ultimately I think nanotechnology is particularly accelerating a trend that is happening anyway, and that is the shift from an economy that has a physically tangible foundation, to an economy that is based on information. ... Oh dear, all this talk about things being released into the world - the only thing I'm really worried about is new pathogens of natural origins: Sars for example. ... In terms of nanotubes, I can see no applications in which they would be released into the environment."

"The Final Battle against the Pathogen"

Public health: The new year will be a decisive year for those fighting polio. Poliomyelitis will disappear from Earth forever - or else it will return with a vengeance. This triumph against one of the scourges which has haunted mankind for centuries would be the second since the WHO announced its victory over smallpox in the late 1970s. Like military leaders, the WHO planners want to bundle all their resources over the coming months for the final offensive against the pathogen. Mass vaccinations have only been scheduled for the six countries in which the virus is endemic, as well as a dozen neighbouring countries. The concentric final onslaught harbours a risk, because immunity is dropping in neglected regions. The danger that the virus will succeed in breaking out of its secret refuges in polio-free areas is increasing by the week.

"The March of the Damned"

Antarctica: The British Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton became famous as the man who saved his men. But now three new books are telling a forgotten tale which scratches at the image of the polar hero: Shackleton sent off a supply expedition, the "Ross Sea Party", on a lethal mission. In the air-conditioned archives of the Scott Polar Research Institute, protected by armoured doors, a very different heroic account lies in storage, largely forgotten. A story that no one is very keen to remember. It tells of the fate of nine young men who dragged more than two tonnes of provisions 4000 kilometres through a frozen hell; three of them paid with their lives. But most of all, this story casts a shadow on their boss: Sir Ernest Shackleton, generally admired as the man who brought home all his men alive.

"To Each His Own"

Memorial: It is not only the Holocaust Memorial that is being erected in Berlin, but an entire ensemble of monuments. In the process, a hierarchy of Nazi victims is being created - some are commemorated, others forgotten. Would a monument to all the victims have made more sense after all?

"People Want Sensuousness"

SPIEGEL interview with British artist and winner of the Turner Prize Grayson Perry about his new fame, the magic of sexual fantasies and his dislike for concept art:

"It may be that the Turner Prize Exhibition was for a long time considered a place were taboos were guaranteed to be breached. But that's worn out and simply seems tedious. What does it mean anyway, shock? One person gets worked up about a supposed provocation, while another is bored by it. I certainly don't want to shock anybody, and I didn't deliberately come up with provocations in order to win this prize. ... My works are proof that art can be sensuous, even poetic. Of course content is important to me. But I also believe that a work of art should be able to exist as an aesthetic eye-catcher, independently of its message, if it has one. And works of pottery, in particular, have a very warm, very human feel."

"Land without Laughter"

SPIEGEL cover story: Germany is shrinking - and turning grey. The Federal Republic's birth rate puts it in 185th place of 190 nations. Four in ten German academic women renounce the joys and stresses of motherhood. Have women gone on a child-bearing strike? Or men on a fathering strike? Before a concept can be developed to combat the child deficit, its causes must first be analysed - however those are extraordinarily complex and varied. The high cost of child care, together with low incomes - thanks to this vicious circle, having many children has become the biggest risk factor for poverty in Germany.