"He Has a Lot to Answer For"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with the biographer of Wilhelm II, John Röhl, about the Kaiser's responsibility for the outbreak of World War I:

"He didn't want it the way it happened. ... I would point out that I put a question mark after the expression 'premeditated war'. One thing's certain: the Kaiser's advisors had been saying ever since 1911 that the optimum time for a war would be coming in a few years' time. ... On July 3 or 4 - we don't know exactly when - the Kaiser noted in the margin of a document: 'Now or never. We have to sort out the Serbs, and soon.' That was a plea for Austria-Hungary to go to war against Serbia. ... He probably reacted like this because of a conversation he had with a general staff officer and expert on the Balkans on July 3."

"We Don't Check the Beds"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Hamburg suffragan bishop Hans-Jochen Jaschke about the secret children of priests and the rule of celibacy for Roman Catholic clerics:

"A priest must stand by his responsibility. He can either say: 'That was a slip-up whose consequences I will bear, but I want to remain in office and not marry the woman; however I will take responsibility for the child as far as I am able to.' Or else he must give up his office and start a family. ... I trained young priests for a long time, and there were always some girls who particularly idolised these young theologians. The priest as a man of God holds a certain attraction. ... The majority of bishops have said over the last few years that they want to adhere to celibacy. ... A woman knows she is committing a sin by entering into a liaison with a priest."

"Sweet Poison"

Manager salaries: For quite a long time, stock options have been regarded as a performance incentive as well as a luxurious privilege for top management. There will soon be an end to that. New laws and stockholder criticism are forcing management boards to reconsider their policies.

DaimlerChrysler has reacted to the criticisms of its shareholders. In future, the board of directors will no longer award stock options to its executive staff.

"A Mad Business"

Biotechnology: So far two companies in particular have been making money on the BSE tests that are required throughout Europe. Last December, a case of mad cow disease was discovered for the first time in the United States. Since then the two companies, Prionics and Bio-Rad, have been hoping to do big business abroad. The potential is gigantic: with almost 100 million head of cattle, more animals live on US pastures than in the entire European Union.

"Tightrope Walking"

Iran: A theocracy at the crossroads - the controversial parliamentary elections are not simply about who is to wield power in Teheran's representative body. The continued rule of the mullahs is also at issue. Reformers and right-wingers are mobilising their last ounce of strength.

"European Obsession"

Turkey: Angela Merkel and Gerhard Schröder are visiting the awkward EU candidate on the Bosporus. Kind words at the eleventh hour, or a firm date for membership talks?

"The Queen's Construction Soldiers"

Iraq: While bombs continue to explode in and around Baghdad costing hundreds of lives, the zone controlled by the British in southern Iraq has so far largely been spared from terrorist attacks. There are several reasons why, apart from some skirmishes last summer, the resistance against the occupying forces in the British sector is confined to peaceful demonstrations and verbal attacks. The Britons' gesture of exchanging their helmets for berets and leaving their protective vests in the barracks is appreciated by the population. And they refrain from provocations. But in spite of its politeness and professionalism, the army does not want to dispense entirely with heavy equipment.

"Sparkling Eyes"

India: An elaborate advertising campaign is meant to cast the proper light on the government's successes during this election year. Poverty and unemployment are discreetly glossed over. The reason for all the triumphant cheering is that the governing Hindu-nationalist party BJP wants to call the attention of international investors to the current economic upswing through an international PR campaign - and most of all, it wants to make a good impression on its citizens. Because parliamentary elections are due to be held soon.

"Storm of the Have-Nots"

Bolivia: His predecessor has only just been ousted, now President Mesa too finds himself threatened by Indians and cocoa farmers - Washington is worried about the disintegration of the Andes nation. The reputable New York Council on Foreign Relations warns that the unrest in the Andes could destabilise the entire subcontinent. The half-life of presidents in the region has already dropped dramatically: in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru, elected heads of state have had to step down before their term in office was over. Now public anger is directed at their successors.

"Lost Daughter"

Family: A child from Afghanistan who was injured by a mine received surgery in Thuringia in 1999; since then she has been living there with a host family. Now her parents are calling for their child to be returned.

"Houses Straight from the Printer"

Construction technology: A US engineer plans to revolutionise house-building. He is developing robots that spray concrete through a jet. Within a single day, he promises, entire buildings can be 'printed' in this manner. The German Degussa group has expressed an interest. Koshnevis's machine has nothing to do with what currently happens on construction sites. It does not build houses, it prints them. His robot mixes special concrete to form a quick-setting mixture, a sausage of building material which it deposits at the precise point where the computer wants it. The machine receives its instructions from the architect's computer, creating precisely what he has previously drawn using a standard CAD (computer-aided design) program. Khoshnevis has called his technology "Contour Crafting" (CC). For architects and prospective home-owners it promises the beginning of an era of unlimited playful experimentation.

"So Infinitely Lost"

Contemporary history: She was the first well-known female news presenter of the German television network ZDF. Now Wibke Bruhns has written a fascinating book about her father, who was sentenced to death by the Nazis in 1944. Bruhns has been searching for the truth about her father for 25 years. It was not until her mother's death that she was able to sift through his extensive estate: an unusual profusion of diaries, letters, genealogical tables, and all sorts of other documents. Bruhns outlines the biographies of her great-grandfather, grandfather and father, also describing the family of her mother Else in great detail. Her father knew about the attempted assassination of Hitler on 20 July 1944. When it failed and the conspirators were picked up one by one, he too was arrested, sentenced and executed.

"Word by Word into the Muddle"

Literature: Since the lightning career of Jonathan Franzen, German publishers have been serving up new great narrators with the quality seal "Made in USA". Their most recent discovery is Colson Whitehead. But this fashion has its perils: the translations are becoming poorer and poorer. The enormous competition, particularly among translators out of English, has led to decreasing prices per page, and thus to increasing time pressure. On the other hand, the editorial offices at the publishing companies are increasingly being burdened with marketing tasks. This leaves them no time to supervise translations as carefully as is always necessary - particularly in the case of epic novels, which even a brilliant translator would have to leave for several weeks before taking a fresh look in order to spot instances of his own awkwardness or clumsiness.