"Driving out the Evil Spirits"

Europe: The attacks in Spain are changing the face of Europe. Cooperation between the national security authorities is being hastened forward, and a compromise is also in sight in the argument over the EU constitution. However the terrorist threat emanating from a close-meshed network of religious warriors still remains substantial.

"As Though You Were at War"

Blinded by religion and extremely dangerous - German security authorities estimate that the German Al Qaida network comprises some 270 followers of Bin Laden who are quite ready to use violence. Are attacks imminent in this country too?

"Against Blind Conformity"

SPIEGEL interview with the foreign political spokesman of the Spanish socialists, Miguel Angel Moratinos, about the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq, the change in the relations with America and the future closer cooperation with Spain's EU partners:

"We want the United Nations to assume the leading role in the peace process. But if the UN does not determine the entire process, we will be unyielding and call back our troops on 30 June. ... The new Spanish government seeks a self-assured relationship with the USA, one that is based on dialogue, not blind conformity."

"Terror Produces Xenophobia"

SPIEGEL interview with the Moroccan author Tahar Ben Jelloun about the consequences of the terrorist attacks in Madrid, the ability of Islam to undergo reform, and the peaceful coexistence of Europeans and Muslims:

"It's typical that the Islamists proclaim a return to the origins, to the supposedly pure faith. To them, the war between the civilisations is not so much a means of expansion as a way of cutting themselves off. ... With the war on Iraq, the United States set the bad example of a major power disregarding international law. ... Democracy is a culture which has to grow in a society from the bottom up, and which should be promoted from above. ... Europe can make an important contribution to the modernisation of Islam, just as the Muslim community in Europe can prove that Islam isn't allergic to democracy. Spain, France or Germany is where it will be decided whether or not Islam is capable of adapting to a modern, democratic and secular society."

"Preliminary Skirmish in the Skies"

Lufthansa: A power struggle is raging in the upper echelons of Germany's largest airline concerning the future orientation of the company. Parts of the holding and departmental boards want to cut back Lufthansa to its core business, passenger transport, and leave domestic and European services to its own low-cost subsidiary Germanwings. But the new director of the managing board, Wolfgang Mayrhuber, and his head supervisor Weber will not hear of this, at least not for the time being, and instead want to continue cutting costs in this widely diversified group. Critics inside and outside the company argue against this approach, claiming that economising alone will not be nearly enough in order to survive against low-cost carriers like Ryanair, Easyjet or Air Berlin.

"Atomic Bomb Delivered to Your Doorstep"

Nuclear smuggling: Blueprints for bombs change hands in plastic bags, gas centrifuges are shipped unchecked. New intelligence service findings demonstrate that the nuclear black market is out of control. Much like the terrorist network Al Qaida, the nuclear mafia also appears to have developed metastases. According to experts, not even the Pakistani quagmire has been cleaned up yet, in part because so much energy has been wasted in other ways.

"The Power of the Puppets"

Iraq: The American-appointed governing council in Baghdad has developed from a parliament of model pupils to a functioning political laboratory. Its interim constitution is the most modern legal text to be seen in Mesopotamia since the tablets of Hammurabai. Gradually, politics is emerging. With every fraternal kiss, with every new newspaper, with every audience, with every phone call and every phone number, the vacuum is being filled by a web of that slow-setting cement of pledges, commitments and interests that will one day turn into power.

"The Big Banks Have Failed"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with WestLB boss Thomas Fischer about his restructuring strategy for the ailing bank, the strengths of the savings banks and the new order in the German banking industry:

"The original task of the regional banks was to supply products to the savings banks and to act as an extension for them on the international financial markets. WestLB should and will perform this task again in the future. And that's also in the interest of the savings banks."

"The Big Brother Project"

In the war against terrorism, Europe is also placing its hopes in a new technology: biometrics. Soon passports and visas are to contain computer chips carrying physical data. The corresponding systems are an export hit for German high-tech companies. Governments all over the world view biometrics as a sort of wonder weapons against terrorism. In fact such systems can only expose terrorists who use a false identity - not assassins who are unknown and can therefore travel under their own, true names.

"As Valuable as Gold Dust"

Raw materials: German steelworks threaten to grind to a halt; they lack coke. Until now, that has been supplied by the Chinese, but now they need it for themselves. The price of high-quality coking coal has sky-rocketed on the world market. The steel-makers are in trouble as a result; and with them the economic upswing, because they are putting up their prices accordingly, and the price of steel has almost reached the highest level in ten years. Now the German steelworks are paying the price for having terminated their contract with the local coal mining industry in 1999, which secured their coal supply for 20 years. German coal was considered too expensive at the time.

"The Discovery by the Black Rock"

Archaeology: A diver from Hamburg has recovered a twelve-century-old wreck in Indonesian waters, containing what is probably the biggest treasure ever to leave ancient China. The find stems from the dawn of a forgotten age, when the Middle Kingdom became a ruler of the seas. The items recovered date back to the Tang dynasty (618 - 907), making this the oldest cargo ever to be recovered from the sea by treasure-hunters in Asia. The find is very important - ancient ceramic objects and filigree items made of gold and silver, of a kind rarely ever seen before by experts - and the story of how it was discovered is equally fantastic.

"Serious Misgivings"

Interview with virologist Reinhard Kurth, head of Berlin's Robert Koch Institute, about the risky influenza experiments of US scientists:

"I think it's perfectly justifiable to begin the experiments now; only I would strongly urge that they be carried out under strictly controlled conditions at a small number of locations in the world. Things mustn't be the way they've been in recent years, with a large number of laboratories working with extremely dangerous pathogens. ... One could construct viruses in the laboratory whose lethal potential has not yet occurred in nature - and might never occur there at all."

"Master in the Box"

Inventions: In Paderborn, engineers have built a replica of the first recorded chess-playing automaton - and uncovered its last secret in the process.

"Killer Pet Cemetery"

Crime: The stakes are high, the spectacle bloody, and the whole affair is illegal; at secret dog fights, breeders set their pit bulls on each other, usually until one of the animals is dead.

"Made in the Backyard"

Fashion: Berlin has established itself as a new centre for young, creative designers, the "place to be". Their customers regard the German capital as a stronghold of affordable elegance. Fashion was Berlin's main industry until well into the 1930s, but the long-standing tradition became a thing of the past after the so-called Reichskristallnacht, in November 1938. At the time, almost all fashion shops were destroyed or looted; their often Jewish owners and staff were chased away or abducted by the Nazis. Only now, more than 60 years later, is the industry gradually returning. The Berlin style is just what you need in a metropolis, hovering between glamour and underground: muddy and earthy colours, firm fabrics, robust and dynamic, yet elegant, though often only at second glance.

"Leaping into a Better World"

Figure skating: After the demise of Soviet state-funded sports, the drill and careful selection practised under the old system long continued to have an effect in the field of figure skating. In the meantime, Vladimir Putin has rediscovered the propagandistic value of successful athletes - and many parents regard figure skating as a vehicle for social advancement. Competitive sports, once controlled by the state, have suffered numerous set-backs over the past 13 years. Some sports were swamped by chaos and poverty, others became playthings of the oligarchs, and others again were exploited by Western profiteering. The national ice-hockey team was virtually unbeatable in Soviet days; now it has failed to win any Olympic or World Championship tournament since 1993. The football players, too, have been mere accessories at international tournaments since the radical political changes took place. Russia's figure skaters, on the other hand, have defied this trend.