"War of the Diplomats"

Foreign policy: Berlin is doggedly enlisting support for the expansion of the UN Security Council and a permanent German seat on it. The German government is trying to incite the Third World against the blockade by China and the United States.

"The West Doesn't Have to Love Us"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Vladimir Putin's chief strategist Vladislav Surkov about guided democracy, the verdict in the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsy and fears about the virus of the Ukrainian revolution:

"Of course there are different movements within the administration, sometimes diametrically opposed to each other; of course there are arguments and differences of opinion. But according to the constitution, it is the President of the Russian Federation who lays down the guidelines for practical policy-making. We are only his apparatus. ... There won't be any rebellion in our country. Of course we see that these events have impressed many of our local politicians. And numerous foreign NGOs which would like the scenario to be repeated in Russia. We understand that. Nowadays there are actually technologies for coup d'etats and schools where you can learn the trade."

"Kill the Slaves"

Sudan: A civil war is raging in Africa's largest state, that has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Yet the international community is still hesitating and failing to intervene. A substantial proportion of the troubled Darfur region is now under rebel control. Although the oil is produced in the south, it is largely the north of the country that profits by this wealth, fanning the flames of hatred. At the same time, the rebellion against Khartoum is also a rebellion against sharia law. In the meantime, the rivalry over resources has turned into a war of extermination. A commission set up by the British government as well as various relief organisations estimate that between 180,000 and 400,000 people have died since the beginning of 2003. But no one is intervening. The United Nations, the European Union, the United States - all of them are pointing to the African Union. The Africans are insisting on the sole mandate for solving the conflict - and expect abundant funding in return.

"Cracks in the System"

Banks: Will there soon be no banks left under German management? The take-over of the HVB Group by Italy's Unicredit has jolted the industry. Now even the biggest taboo of German banking is being called into question - the existence of a public-law sector.

"Survival in the Jungle"

TV shows: Donald Trump's life is full of superlatives, now his show has become a world-wide success. With "The Apprentice", the real estate billionaire introduced American capitalism into television entertainment - creating a lucrative marketing machine. It was his own television show that catapulted him to world-wide superstardom. 41.5 million Americans watched the final show of the third cycle. The sequel is currently in the making. "The Apprentice" has been imported by more than 40 countries. Rarely before has a television series been marketed so excessively, and there is still no end in sight. There is a board game, T-shirts and buttons bearing the "You're fired!" slogan, a glossy magazine entitled "Trump's World", even a brand of table water bears his name; and all of them are huge hits. The Trump perfume sold out within four days. And of course the new Trump business suits for up-and-coming managers have broken all the records too.

"Fetching the Incomprehensible Home"

Museums: To this day, art historians are divided over whether Paul Klee was a German or Swiss. Now a spectacular museum is being dedicated to the painter in Bern. The "Paul Klee Centre" is meant to be an American-style multifunctional museum, the implication being that anyone intending to study and see Klee absolutely has to visit Bern. 4000 paintings, watercolours and drawings are on permanent and intermittent display. In addition, the centre includes Paul Klee archives and a children's museum, conference rooms, a restaurant - and a concert hall, because Paul Klee also played the violin and was married to pianist Lily Stumpf for 33 years.

"The Mother of All Machines"

Robotics: US researchers are working on a robot capable of building virtually any piece of equipment, perhaps one day even its own successors. A print head suspended from a tabletop crane is able to squirt droplets of plastics or molten metal from its ultra-fine jets. The droplets solidify building up the desired structure layer by layer. The blueprints for the creation are stored in the memory of a computer, which controls the robot. For the moment, the end results may be quite modest, but theoretically there is virtually nothing such an automaton could not build: from a child's tricycle through to any shape of mobile phone.

"Farewell to the Spare Wheel"

Cars: Tyres that keep rolling even after a puncture are winning through. The most straightforward principle appears to be winning the battle among the competing systems. BMW is the first manufacturer in the world to fit most of its vehicles with so-called "run-flat" tyres as a standard feature; tyres that keep going even when there is no air left in them. Run-flats have strengthened walls able to bear the weight of the car even when they are unpressurised. The risk of an accident is therefore largely averted, and the troublesome and hazardous process of changing wheels by the roadside also ceases to be necessary.