"Summits on Graves"

Part One of the SPIEGEL cover story complex about D-Day: The Allied landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944, marked the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe. Next weekend, a German chancellor will participate in the D-Day anniversary festivities for the first time. For Gerhard Schröder, that means that World War II is "over for good".

"Victory at all Costs"

Part Two of the SPIEGEL cover story: Operation Overlord was the largest invasion ever attempted. Sixty years ago, the Allies landed in Normandy to fight Hitler's Wehrmacht. The operation shortened the war - and saved the West Germans from Stalin's army.

"A Mission to Accomplish"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Adnan Pachachi, member of the Iraqi Governing Council, about the tasks facing the new interim government, the relationship with the Americans and the end of occupation:

"We have to live with fear, now and later too. Attacks or no attacks: we have undertaken to build a new, better Iraq and to set the course accordingly. ... If I become president, I will carry out this office as a supreme arbitrator. I would like to be the president of Iraqi unity. ... The new Iraq must not be governed by religious narrow-mindedness. ... As soon as an Iraqi government is sworn in, it will be the official representative of the Republic of Iraq under international law. I want to make it quite clear that as of 1 July, the Iraqi government will assume full responsibility, also for security and the stationing of foreign troops. ... The American army units which remain in Iraq after the end of June must no longer act as occupying troops. They will then be a part of the "multinational force" deployed by the United Nations and consisting of troops from various different countries, including Iraq - after close consultations with the Iraqi government, of course."

"2 Weddings and 3000 Funerals"

Extremists: The terrorist pilots from Hamburg were killed in the attacks on the USA, their most important helpers have gone into hiding or been arrested. But many of their companions along the way continue to live in Germany undisturbed - as members of the hard core of the Islamist scene. A tragedy in two scenes.

"Post from the Mecca Warrior"

Islam: Liberal Muslims in Germany are being pressurised by their radical brothers in faith. Anyone who tries to resist is bombarded with hate mail. The reactions to secular Muslims range from their being excluded and verbally abused, through to their being threatened; because to radicals any deviation from their own interpretation of the Koran is a renunciation of the faith. Their protests are spurred on by mailing lists and Internet sites. Liberal believers are constantly faced with the allegation of not being Muslims.

"Violence as a Valve"

Almost one billion people live in slums. Soon they will account for one in three of the world's population. Particularly in North Africa, there is an increasing willingness to become radicalised. So it is not just humanitarian reasons that are driving Western relief organisations to become involved in these crisis ghettos. It is also a matter of protecting the First World barricades against refugees and fanatics. There are no strategies for solving the migration problems whose most obvious manifestations are the slums. Every year, in the Far East alone, about half a million children die because of smog or because they can only drink polluted water.

"Poverty is Fate"

SPIEGEL interview with cultural researcher Gerhard Schweizer about the unrestrained growth of the slums and the danger of social unrest:

"We must assume that this could become the dominant form of existence in the age of globalisation. ... There will continue to be work in the slums; there is always a demand for goods and services, though at a low level. However, if there is a serious bottleneck in terms of food or drinking water, the danger of a social explosion grows enormously of course. ... Mass poverty certainly cannot be eradicated altogether. Only survival will be possible. But if one managed to lower the birth rate, things would already look very different."

"Uniformed Accomplices"

Bosnia: Despite international supervision, the Bosnian police is failing. Many officers have ties with the underworld. The arrest of the deputy chief of the Bosnian section of Interpol, Asim Fazlic, in February gave some indication of how deep the morass goes. In view of conditions like these, many Bosnians prefer to keep their knowledge of criminal goings-on to themselves - for fear of their report getting into the wrong hands. In order to effectively combat the disastrous symbiosis between the underworld and its corrupt uniformed accomplices, the EU police has suggested setting up a hotline, a practice which has been paying off in Britain for more than 20 years.

"Pocketed"

Court actions: Who invented the Walkman? A German inventor has been struggling against Sony for over 20 years. Now the two adversaries have reached a settlement. Only now, five years after the death of the company founder, has Sony given way and reached an out-of-court settlement with Andreas Pavel. The contract, the content of which is being guarded by both sides like a state secret, appears to be so embarrassing to Sony's managers that it took them more than three months to confirm: "We have reached an amicable agreement and put an end to all legal disputes."

"Going for a Walk with the 'Firm'"

Espionage: More and more often, young Russian journalists returning from Germany are being visited and questioned by the domestic intelligence service FSB. It is a widely known fact that pressure is exerted on awkward journalists in President Vladimir Putin's Russia. What is new is the attempt to systematically sound out people working in the media. According to experts with the German intelligence service, interrogating people when they return home has once again become common practise in the organisations which took over from the KGB - not only among journalists. In a brochure on industrial espionage addressed to the German business world, the Cologne authorities issue specific warnings about the FSB's intelligence activities.

"Crisis? What Crisis?"

Music industry: Clive Davis is a legend as a record company boss. He turned Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen and Alicia Keys into stars. The 71-year-old is not interested in the Internet and pirate copying - which is precisely why he is now once again in charge of the main record labels of the Bertelsmann media group. At first sight, Davis's return simply seems to be the revival of a successful manager. But it isn't. Davis is an anachronism, the last analogue man in a music industry obsessed with a single question: how to survive in the digital world of Internet piracy, pirate copiers and MP3. This is all about one thing alone: superstars, world hits, selling millions of records. Only global pop products can still generate money. Davis is supposed to turn talents into stars.

"Heart in a Funnel"

Medicine: A host of medical pioneers wants to revolutionise heart surgery through minimally invasive "key-hole surgery". Now doubts are arising: should doctors be allowed to propagate a method which is not better but more expensive, simply because patients don't want such a large scar? The gulf dividing the heart surgeons is indeed deep. On the one hand, those who have pioneered the minimally invasive method. On the other hand, sceptics who pose the question: Why risk the very good results of cardiac surgery for the sake of a new technique offering questionable advantages?

"Underworld in the Heavens"

Speleology: For more than fifty years, the science fiction writer Herbert W. Franke has been exploring the caves of the Alps. Now he wants to investigate whether there are caves on Mars, too - and has therefore gone to visit the volcanic island of Hawaii. For years, scientists have been speculating about the hidden underground worlds in the heavens: extensive systems of volcanic caves may exist not just on Mars but also on Mercury, Venus and Jupiter's moon Io.

"Arriving Somewhere (or Other)"

Adventures: A strange pastime is acquiring an increasingly large following throughout the world - going on expeditions to the places where lines of latitude and longitude intersect. The initiated refer to the strange ritual as a "zero dance". Equipped with portable GPS receivers, which point the direction to the target by getting fixes on satellites, a new generation of discoverers is roaming the Namib Desert, the Amazon jungle and the Arctic ice. Around the globe, some 13,000 points of intersection are still waiting to be discovered.

"Farmers of the Seas"

Fishing: In future, halibut, cod and tuna are to flourish on aquafarms on the open sea. Marine biologists hope that this method will put an end to the pillaging of the oceans. The demand for protein from fish is increasing. For some time now, growth has only been possible thanks to aquafarms. But these are ecologically controversial. The initial results of an American experiment with a new generation of enclosures that are suitable for deep-sea use are encouraging: fish seem to flourish better on the open seas than the same species kept in net pens along the coast.

"The Ruhr Area Has a Different Mentality"

Music business: The Ruhr area is demonstrating a new cultural pride with numerous festivals and exciting projects. This week, Essen is opening its philharmonic hall, and other concert halls are to follow. But will the general public be lured by this abundance of art, or is the region biting off more than it can chew? Already, the various different signals could be drowning each other out and endangering the new cultural dawn before it has got properly started. The coal for which the Ruhr is famous ended up being stockpiled; will the culture produced here also end up on a great big heap - too much of a good thing, at too great an expense? Already there are increasing signs of a teetering economy on the ground.