"A New Argument with Washington"

Arms exports: Washington is suspicious; having lifted their arms embargo, are Europeans now intending to help arm US rival China? Senators are threatening to launch a trade war. The United States fears the worst: China, which is regarded as the main rival of the US for global supremacy, could be armed by America's closest allies. In the event of a war between the two powers over the island of Taiwan, considered by Beijing to be a "renegade", European precision weapons might well end up killing American GIs. Although the Europeans intend to tighten their existing "rules of conduct" at the same time, so that ultimately - as they are assuring Washington - there will be no additional arms exports to China, doubts about this seem reasonable.

"Codename 'Alpha'"

Industrial policy: Industry and the German government have quietly settled upon a plan to restructure coal policies. The bold plan involves selling the legacies of the mining operations to the Federal Government. The overall result would be a liberation of the large corporations, and a stock market heavyweight - RAG. The deal would not only give the Frankfurt Stock Exchange a new colossus for the German index DAX. On top of this, RAG's current shareholders - first and foremost ThyssenKrupp, E.on and RWE - would be able to draw a line once and for all under their mining past, which reaches back more than 100 years. Transferring all their risks from the past would be like a deliverance for the entire industry in the Ruhr region, and would help it to secure something like a future at last. In terms of regulative policy, the plan is rather tricky. Because the deal looks a lot like the nationalisation of impending losses; even though those around RAG boss Werner Müller, who is in overall charge, claim that the project could actually make sense for the tax payer too. The status quo is not necessarily any more attractive for the Treasury. Should RAG's assets one day be used up in order to meet its obligations, the state would be liable anyway. Should the Federal Government discontinue spending billions to subsidise the coal industry, this would in fact mean the immediate end of German coal mining.

"The Virus of Freedom"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Natan Sharansky, once a prisoner in the Gulag, now an Israeli minister, about the new chances for peace in the Middle East, his role as the new "guru" of the US President, and the battle against the potential nuclear powers Iran and North Korea:

"I have no doubt that the Arabs want to be free as well. ...If one has to fight regimes with the help of weapons, then this is normally due to the fact that one has treated them too gently for too long with an appeasement policy. ... Regimes of terror can serve temporarily as tactical allies, but that does not mean that one has to indulge questionable allies for decades. ... Long-term economic relations have to be connected to the question of human rights. ... Many social groups today are against the regime [in Teheran]. This potential should be strengthened. The only problem is that we may have only a few months time, until Iran will be a nuclear power. For the Jewish state this would mean an absolute danger of death. ... I have been saying for many years now that the Palestinians could be the first democracy in the Arab world. Now, if they don't speed up, Iraqis could be faster."

"Justified Worries"

SPIEGEL interview with EU Minister for Industry Günter Verheugen about the liberalization of the service sector in the European common market:

"I object to competition being portrayed as something negative. Don't forget that the European single market generated two million new jobs between 1993 and 2003. ... Some of the things going on in Germany are quite simply illegal and must therefore be combated by the authorities with the full force of the law. Low-wage dumping, which also exists, has nothing to do with EU law either. It is a home-made problem. Other countries tackle it by means of minimum wages for individual sectors, but those don't exist in Germany. ... It's a matter of reducing trade barriers where they are unjustified."

"You'll Be Hearing from Me"

Right-wing extremism: Twelve right-wing radicals wanted to clear foreigners out of the area by means of gasoline bombs. The staid bourgeoisie paid no attention to the arsonists. With its categories of perpetrators, victims and witnesses, criminal law may pass judgement about guilt and innocence. But an entire region must face up to the question, what state a society is in that allows a gang of right-wing adolescents to start fires in its midst for months - unhindered.

"The Miracle Will Soon Be Over"

SPIEGEL interview with the deputy minister of China's national environmental office, Pan Yue, about the risks of economic growth and the serious ecological damage:

"Our raw materials are scarce, we have too little land and the population is growing all the time. 1.3 billion people now live in China, twice as many as 50 years ago; in 2020 there will be 1.5 billion of us. But since the towns are growing and the desert areas are expanding at the same time, the amount of land that is inhabitable and useable has shrunk by half in the last 50 years. ... We are losing between 8 and 15 percent of our gross national product because of air and water pollution. And that doesn't include the health costs. ... The faster the economy grows, the faster we are risking a political crisis if political reforms fail to keep pace. If the gulf between the rich and the poor increases, the regions and society will become unstable. ... My office has always swum against the tide. As a result there have always been conflicts with powerful interest groups, strong local governments. But the people, the media and science support us. Pressure motivates me. I will not allow myself to be driven off course."

"The Friend Centre"

Society: With the mobile phone as a news machine, modern man is always within calling distance of his friends and family. CeBIT is now presenting mobile communications equipment that promise cyber-togetherness right round the clock - even by video. Social scientists are investigating what this might lead to. Mobiles are gradually becoming a companion in life whose absence can lead to severe withdrawal symptoms. For many people they are the first device to be touched in the morning (even before the coffee maker) and the last to be laid aside at night (right next to their bed). Mobiles are beginning to display all the features of a living creature that coexists symbiotically with its owner. Younger users, in particular, enjoy making as drastic a show as possible of this physicality. But life on the fast track comes at a price: that of being permanently on the alert.

"Matured to Become an Art Form"

SPIEGEL interview with games developer Julian Eggebrecht, boss of the video games company "Factor 5", about video games for adults, the threat to adolescents, lifelike adventures and love in cyberspace:

"I find the criticism that video games turn people into murderers absurd. ... Of course it's a pity that these teenagers tend not to ride around outdoors on their bicycles any more the way earlier generations did. But at least the next games consoles will liberate these adolescents from their isolation, because in future most games will be played online. ... As the Playstation generation grows older, so too the games are becoming more grown-up and more sophisticated. ... Just as cinematography matured in the 20th century to become an art form, so too video games will evolve in the 21st century and convey new types of emotional and artistic content. ... 'Emergent gameplay' is becoming possible: a player intuitively develops a game for which the programmer only sketched the rough framework. ... There will also be games in which players will actually have to crawl if they want to crawl, and climb if they want to climb. That's when virtual reality will become truly exciting."

"Life from the Ice"

Research: Was all life on Earth created in frozen oceans? German scientists have grown molecules that may be able to multiply on their own. Protected by the marine ice, RNA molecules were created from basic building blocks, and these joined together to form longer and longer chains. RNA chains in turn can make copies of themselves. Creation probably achieved this molecular masterstroke some 3.8 billion years ago. Another 200 million years later, RNA developed into DNA, the molecule that now carries the genetic information in the cell nuclei of all living organisms. During that era, 3.6 billion years ago, the primordial cell must have emerged from the molecules of life, to become the mother of all life on earth.

"An Eye to the Gods"

Archaeology: A German-Peruvian team of archaeologists has discovered huge ritual images from vanished cultures scratched into the bare ground. They may be 3000 years old. The find is in danger of being trampled out of existence by tourists.

"The Big Bluff"

Cosmetics: L'Oréal is the world's largest cosmetics company, the most profitable - and also the cagiest. This secretiveness is not without reason: the dreary reality of the Parisian chemical workshop would only disrupt the dream world of the billion-dollar product presentations.

"A Journey into the Unknown"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with British professional sailor Ellen MacArthur about her record-breaking voyage around the world, the mortal dangers of being alone on the high seas, the rapid development of boat technology and her success in conquering a male domain:

"Every intervention, every movement has to count. You have to maintain your respect for the forces of nature - but blank out thoughts of danger as far as is necessary to keep control of yourself. ... I love sailing. I loved it even as a little girl. I enjoy the expanses of the oceans. I'm happy with that and I never wanted anything else. I can't explain this passion any better, sorry. ... No day is like any other, and you never know beforehand what the day will be like. Everything is about survival: you sleep when the weather lets you; you eat because you have to. Eating on board is never a pleasure. Even when I'm hungry, I don't have any appetite for anything specific. ... I say quite openly that I'm part of a team. That also protects me from thoughts of giving up when I'm at sea. What could I say: 'I've had enough now'? I would have disappointed many people."