"Off to Afrika"

Foreign policy: Joschka Fischer is acting the role of trouble-shooter in a Sudan torn by civil war. The German government wants to prevent a catastrophe like the one in Rwanda ten years ago, to prove Germany's suitability for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council and to draw attention from problems on the domestic front.

"Germans from a Retort"

Right-wing extremists: The sale of a former German army property to a Neo-Nazi is causing unrest in Lower Saxony. The estate is aimed at serving the preservation of the Nordic race. The "Wilhelm Tietjen Foundation for Fertilization Ltd.", for whom attorney Jürgen R. Rieger acquired the land, proves to have nothing to do with "genetic maize or fertilizers" (as the village councillors had at first assumed). The purpose of the London-registered letterbox firm is research into fertility. It seems fair to suppose that extreme rightist Rieger is concerned primarily with German offspring. What is truly disquieting is the fact that Rieger is apparently systematically securing legacies from old comrades and has now built up a substantial property empire that can be used for the benefit of extreme right-wing groups.

"The Hour of the Strategists"

Germany's largest energy group is preparing to enter the Russian market. A pipeline is to be built in cooperation with gas multinational Gazprom. Stakes in gigantic gas fields and in electricity groups are also planned: A lucrative business with a high risk. Gazprom aims to acquire direct access to potential end-consumers on the European market via E.on. During the negotiations Alexei Miller has accordingly persuaded the Düsseldorf-based group to build up new marketing and power station companies in Britain and also in Germany, in which the Russians can take stakes as a quid pro quo. Should Gazprom really act on its announcement and become more deeply involved in the oil and gas business, then a truly serious new competitor would then emerge on the European market, which could even deprive E.on of considerable market shares.

"A Real Humdinger"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with E.on chief Wulf Bernotat on his group's entry into gas exploitation and the opportunities and risks on the enormous Russian market:

"It is a tremendous step forward that Russia and our partner concern Gazprom should offer us such an excellent stake. ... In general the background conditions on the Russian market have grown a great deal better than just a few years' ago. For German companies, especially, the climate is extraordinarily good. ... In the medium term, our stake in the gas field will also contribute substantially to the security of supplies for Germany."

"Suddenly at the Top"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Greek prime minister Konstantin Karamanlis about the European football championship, the new sense of national pride among the Hellenes, the Olympic Games and Greece's role in the EU:

"We have worked alongside all those countries especially experienced in countering terror and we have done everything humanly possible. Yet nevertheless we have had a bad press, which has sometimes spread sheer hysteria. In this climate the European Cup came as heaven sent. It proved that we are capable of achieving something surprising."

"The Power of the Young"

Iran: Young Iranians are seeking an escape from the narrow confines of their everyday life in drug taking and partying to excess. Young Iranians today do what they like. For they possess a power that makes the Mullahs' rigid regime look ancient: There are so many of them. Around 50 million Iranians, or over 70 percent of the population, are under 30.

"They Believed in the Threat"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with ace reporter Bob Woodward on the preliminary history of the Iraq war, George W. Bush's lack of self-doubt and the forthcoming presidential election:

"Naturally it is the President who makes the decisions. But when the military planning is already under way, once the CIA is mulling over its undercover campaigns, when Donald Rumsfeld and - in this instance - George Tenet are in full cry, then it is very hard to stop the whole thing again. ... There was no rush or march to war, it was like people were driven into it.... Bush really believed that Saddam represented a danger. After September 11th, in the light of the potential threats, he did not wish to display weakness of any kind.... I have no gut feeling yet on whether or not Bush will be re-elected. It will depend on his position in the days before the election. If he succeeds in ensuring a mood that sees war as tough yet necessary, and there is some prospect that the soldiers will be withdrawn from Iraq and things are improving there, then people could give him a second chance and vote for him. Yet in the event that things do not change, then people could be of the view that John Kerry should take his chance."

"Turning up the Heat in Wolfsburg"

Automobile industry: For the VW group, the whole basis of its business is crumbling away: Customers are no longer accepting the carmaker's high prices. A drastic programme of savings is intended to come to the rescue. The aim is for costs to be reduced by altogether three billion euros.

"Heroes and Murderers"

On July 20th 1944 plotters around Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg attempted to kill Hitler. If the attack had succeeded, it would have spared millions of people from death. Yet it is only now that any great majority of Germans are showing respect for the members of the resistance. Stauffenberg's deed was the start of a large-scale attempted coup d'etat that, had Hitler died, would very probably have been successful. Several hundred members of the armed forces - such as Ludwig Beck, former chief of the army general staff - diplomats like Ulrich von Hassell, ambassador in Rome for many years, experts in administration such as the former Lord Mayor of Leipzig, Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, social-democrats (e.g., Julius Leber) and trade unions leaders like Jacob Kaiser, later a co-founder of the CDU, were all ready for a change in government. The failure of the July 20th plot was among the great tragedies of the 20th century.

"Both Stories Should Be Told"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with historian Stephan Malinowski on the German aristocracy's enthusiasm for national socialism and the role of earls and barons in the attempt on Hitler's life:

"A network of relationships certainly existed - of a kind hard for normal people to conceive - through which members of the nobility could communicate extremely discreetly and effectively, absolutely ideal for building up a network of conspirators. Since this was not tied to any organization - unlike resistance by the workers - it could not so easily be broken up by the Nazis. ... Without the nobility, there would have been no July 20th 1944 - but also in fact no January 30th 1933. The attempt on Hitler's life was the second part, to which a first also belongs. And it seems to me to be the more important one, for history runs from back to front. ... What upsets me are these conservative, bourgeois or also aristocratic onlookers who claim July 20th for themselves and behave as if the conduct of the resistance was typical. Both stores should be told, and one should not hide the fact that the aristocratic plotters were loners, very largely cut off from moral or other support from their environment. The heroism of such concern to the preservers of the legend actually tends to shine all the brighter."

"Battle Zone with House Arrest"

Middle East conflict: When the autonomous authority was created ten years ago, Fatah fighter Suheir al-Manasra dreamed of peace and freedom. Today he is Governor of Bethlehem and even now, still believes that the Palestinians want peace and are capable of governing themselves.

"The Body as a Cable"

Electronics: The Microsoft Corporation has taken out a patent on data transmission via human skin. The idea may sound like science fiction. Yet the conductivity of human skin is indeed so good that it can be utilized for data interchange between the organizer, cellphone and MP3. Yet Microsoft's have no more than a vision to offer just now. Others, by contrast, do. What for the software giant is only one of numerous ideas for the future, which may allow it to cash in licence fees some day, has already been made reality by one small company in Germany.

Networking a Volcano

High tech supersedes heroics: Researchers have strung out a network of automatic survey stations over Kilauea in Hawaii allowing them to observe all the convulsions of the volcano from a safe distance.

"The Mind on a World Tour"

Philosophy: Can the development of thought be displayed on maps of the world? A Swiss philosopher has made the attempt - and has at a stroke turned his subject inside out. As a professor in perpetuity, Elmar Holenstein has now published a geography of the mind in which Plato and Kant are actually only two wise people among many. Of equal importance, feels Holenstein, were Nagajuna of India, Wang Yangming of China, or Molla Sadra of Iran. Moreover, that's only the beginning of the surprises in his recently published "Atlas of Philosophy".

"Don Helmets for Prayers"

Motorcycles: BMW presents the most powerful motorbike in the company's history. It will reach about 280 kph. Yet it aims to appeal to eminently reasonable people. To achieve more power, BMW has had to sacrifice a long-observed design principle. Like most of its Japanese rivals, the new K 1200 is produced with its four cylinders positioned diagonally. BMWs designers pursued absolutely new courses with the drive. They have developed electronic regulation for the springs and shock absorbers for the first time, which will be available as special equipment.

"I Myself am the Horse Then"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Lisa Wilcox of the USA, runner-up in the world dressage championships, about her team's prospects at the Olympics, the intrigues prevalent among dressage riders and her daily work with stallions at stud:

"First and foremost I shall be riding for my stud farm and its excellent Oldenburger stallions. ... But when it comes to the Olympics, then I shall naturally be competing for my country, the USA. ... Yes, I am not worried about making a fool of myself. Losing is no problem for me. It's training a horse that I find fascinating. It's more important to me than Olympic medals. ... I must know my horse and consider in advance how he will react. ... The whole thing should appear as light as a ballet, not like sweating away at weight training."