Exclusive interview with the head of Germany’s Telekom about the profits earned on the auction of third-generation mobile telecommunications licenses and the expected effect on Telekom’s international strategy.

Great Britain’s brash venture in cloning has put pressure on the German government to redefine its position on genetic technology.

"November 9th as a public holiday"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with foreign minister Joschka Fischer about the battle against right-wing extremism and a suitable way of reverting to the concept of the nation-state:

"We must see that a stop is put to violence against strangers, against people who look different. That is the yardstick… It is not only the organs of the state that are challenged here, but above all society at large in the Federal Republic... After many catastrophes and detours, the Germans have arrived in their nation-state. This united Germany needs all the more to work away on the accomplishment of European integration. That, namely, is our prime national interest."

"The naval general staff is lying shamelessly"

SPIEGEL-interview with environmental campaigner Andrei Solotkov about the nuclear time bombs in the Arctic Ocean:

"The military have once again demonstrated that they cannot or will not give the general public objective information, just like in Soviet times… We do not even have the essential specialist divers who could operate for a longer period on the wreck; those exist only in Britain, the USA or France… 16 nuclear reactors are lying in the Arctic, six of them with fuel elements, while in the Kara Sea are the remnants of the plant on the nuclear ice-breaker "Lenin". All these reactors belong in the category of equipment whose sinking is strictly forbidden by international agreements."

"Like a Fiesta"

SPIEGEL-interview with the Libyan negotiator Rajab Azzarouq about errors during the negotiations for the release of the hostages at Jolo and Abu Sayyaf’s fears of a military assault:

"We spoke about development aid. That will be provided by the Ghaddafi Foundation… The amount of 25 million dollars being touted in the press is completely wide of the mark... We cannot not lay down for the government of the Philippines what it does when the hostages are released."

Hong Kong: "Tests of pluck at the Cape of the Fish"

Since July 1998 a new mammoth airport has assumed the role of Kai Tak. It is called Chek Lap Kok and lives up to its name, Cape of the Fish. It is situated, namely, in the middle of the sea, between a wide channel for shipping, the Urmston Channel, and Lantau, Hong Kong’s southern island with its high mountains clad in green jungle. Nobody here permits any doubt to arise that Chek Lap Kok is a symbol of all that Hong Kong stands for, „the bridge into the 21st century,“ as Minister Gordon Siu puts it. People are intoxicated with visions of growth and the first stage of expansion is already planned, this time to 87 million passengers a year. Tenders have also been invited already for the construction a of sea ocean container port wth an eye on China’s future as a world trading giant.

Philosophy: "God’s assassin"

Who was Friedrich Nietzsche – a nihilist who wrote, a tremendous superman, a harbinger of madness on race and breeding, or really a philosopher of genius? 100 years after his death the controversial thinker emerges once more, as a spinner of visionary thoughts.

"Complying with the Führer's Wishes"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with British historian Ian Kershaw on the interaction between Hitler and the Germans, the link between war and holocaust and the advantage enjoyed by a biographer who was not a contemporary:

"Hitler’s profoundest motivation was a desire to raise Germany to become the dominant world power. That involved not simply defeating the opponents, but literally destroying them… There was indeed interaction between Hitler and large sections of the population, who projected their desires, longings and expectations on the Führer. Certainly, the first signs of hubris in Hitler were there even before his rise. Yet it was the cult of the leader that first brought this hubris fully into play."

Medicine: "Hysteria in the sandpit"

One million people in the world die every year from measles. While the World Health Organization wants to stamp out the disease, in Germany opponents of vaccination are mobilizing. The goal set of a „Measles-free Europe“, originally for the year 2007, will not be achieved by the Europeans. The Germans are to blame. Whereas countries like Sweden and Finland are almostentirely free of the virus thanks to systematic vaccination campaigns, in Germany around 100,000 people are contracting measles every year – between 30 and 80 of them with very serious complications that are fatal for another ten.

Computers: "Safe as a rock"

To protect digital data against destruction, an entrepreneur has constructed a secret computer centre – in one of the Swiss army’s fortresses in the Alps. Neither an earthquake nor a bomb explosion could endanger the data hidden in their special bunker, vouches the businessman. Around 100 Swiss companies, above all banks and software firms, have already locked away their confidential computer data, including safety copies of client files, confidential financial analyses, code numbers for cheque cards and electronic keys to trading on the Internet.

Biology: "The power of green mush"