"False Friends"

Contemporary history: Thousands of German exiles fought for the Allies against Hitler during World War II. Now, at Hilary Clinton's instigation, the US President has for the first time decorated two of them. But what neither Clinton nor the military authorities realised is that the two Germans proposed for the Silver Star did not only fight against Hitler in the name of freedom, they also spied on the American allies on behalf of Moscow. Documents from the SED (the ruling Socialist Party of former East Germany), to which DER SPIEGEL has access prove beyond doubt that both Anton Ruh and Paul Lindner were Soviet spies.

"Making the Novelty Audible"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with pianist Alfred Brendel, 73, about disrupting coughing during concerts, his eccentric poems and the difficult search for truth in music:

"I'm a sceptic. I consider the state of the world highly alarming. For that reason alone I find it entirely legitimate to set up a counterworld. Combining sense and nonsense, which incidentally seems to me to be a particularly realistic attitude. ... When I play a piece of music I do so with conviction. But I'm fundamentally against a single truth. I think that is potentially very dangerous. Almost all conflicts in the world in which people are knocking each other's heads in, are to do with absolute truths. I want to find truths in the plural, I keep trying to do so. ... One should understand what was new about the music when it was composed and make something of this audible today. To me, novelty remains a sign of a composition's quality. ... I don't want a piano recital to disconcert people, I want it to produce respect, astonishment, instruction. Emotion, joy, rapture."

"Strategist, Friend, Brother"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with US tennis coach Brad Gilbert, who coaches the world's number two tennis player Andy Roddick, about trials of patience with his enthusiastic player, psychological tricks on the court, the sexism of the pros and his liking for the colour black:

"The tennis court is a map, and you have to know the right places from which to score the point, or as I say: to kill the ball. It makes no difference whether it's the second or the tenth ball, the place has to be right. It can be fatal to hit 40 winning points in a match because you may also make 50 unforced errors; sometimes it's better to produce just ten winners and ten of your own mistakes. ... To me, black is the colour of true greatness. The colour of calmness, my power colour."

"Train through Hell"

Foreign aid: A German entrepreneur wants to build a railway line 4000 kilometres long through southern Sudan. It would be the biggest project of its kind in the world - in a ravaged country. What is at stake is gold, oil and a new state "made in Germany". Kapoeta, a ghost town in the middle of nowhere in southern Sudan is the starting point for one of the most gigantic construction projects in Africa: a cement factory here is to deliver the sleepers for over 4000 kilometres of railway tracks. These could link Southern Sudan, the new country on the White Nile, with Uganda and Kenya, continuing right through to Mombassa on the Indian Ocean. The railway is to transport petroleum, mineral ores and teak. In particular, the railway would do what the Union Pacific Railway did for the United States and the Wild West, and what the Trans-Siberian Railway did for Russia: it would bring together a far-flung country and turn it into a nation.

"We Need Imagination"

Environment: Greenpeace is in an identity crisis. The environmentalists are hoarding millions, but they are running out of ideas. Now the headquarters in Amsterdam are taking vigorous action to organise their troops more tightly. Behind closed doors there have been quarrels about the future course, because the Rainbow Warriors are in a deep identity crisis. The managers are having trouble coming up with worthwhile and popular campaigns, while a unwieldy apparatus suffocates any initiative. Now the international headquarters in Amsterdam want to take assertive action to force the national groups back on course.

"Tailors of the World"

Globalisation: At the end of this year, all import quotas for textiles are to be dropped. Economists expect far-reaching consequences for the entire business world if China swamps the markets. Consumers can look forward to falling prices, but Third World producers such as Bangladesh face collapse. The liberalisation will lead to massive shifts in the global movement of goods; it reaches deep into the established network of the international division of labour - with serious consequences for the 40 million strong, mainly female workforce in the textile industry.

"Transatlantic Theatre"

Aviation: A trade war is developing between Europe and the United States over subsidies for the large aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing. In actual fact, big military business is at the heart of it. Rarely in the history of German-American trade has an economic thriller been as cleverly arranged as the quarrel over subsidies between the last two manufacturers of large civilian aircraft remaining in the world. And rarely before has the timing been as favourable as now, on the eve of this year's US presidential elections, in which the battle to protect jobs plays a key role.

"The Highway of the Coke Coolies"

Netherlands: Thousands of "pellet eaters" bring tonnes of cocaine to Europe from the Netherlands Antilles via Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. Cocaine trafficking is probably the island's most important industry. The drug is almost as important to Curaçao as petroleum is to Saudi Arabia. The drugs come from the South American mainland. The big business is done by the wholesalers, who supply about two dozen middlemen. The "grote jongens" of Curaçao recruit most of their air messengers in Fuik, a sprawling settlement in the south where the colourful tropical gaiety of the cheerful island paradise fades into grey-brown bleakness.

"Cheerful Dances"

North Korea: The population is not as submissive as it seems. Unnoticed by the outside world, fierce resistance is flaring up against Kim Jong Il's regime. Slogans against the dictator are appearing on railway wagons, bridge piers and factory walls. Leaflets castigating the incredible pomp of the dynasty have even been found fluttering around outside the Kumsusan Mausoleum in Pyongyang, in which lie the embalmed remains of Kim the Elder.

"China Outside, America Inside"

Computers: Intelligent search engines, talking computers, digital ink - the "Microsoft Research Asia" laboratory in Beijing is considered the world's most innovative software research centre. This makes it a perfect example of China's transformation from a cheap workshop to a driving force behind global progress. 150 permanently employed researchers are working away on all fronts of modern communications technology: the ultimate merging of PCs, television, music and video; the most natural interface between human beings and computers; the intelligent search engine that will not only find information on the Internet, but also understand it. Western companies have set up more than 300 research labs in the Middle Kingdom.

"The Perfect Terrorist"

Islamists: The Jordanian preacher Vissam al-Dimawi fought against America and the West, using words alone. But then he was taken prisoner by the United States, and remained missing for two years. Now, having returned, he is more dangerous than ever. Vissam al-Dimawi is just 28 years old and has already found the role of his life: he will explain America to his brothers in faith and preach, in his own elegant way, the hatred that he has inhaled: the perfect terrorist.

"Chemical Mace from the Pharmacy"

Epidemics: Malaria is raging in Africa, more deadly than ever. Some countries want to use DDT against the mosquitoes that transmit the disease, to the horror of many environmentalists.