Cover story: Unscrupulous scientists, spies and dealers - an international black market for nuclear technology reveals how helpless UN inspectors are against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. North Korea, Iran and Libya have already helped themselves in the laboratories of the atomic pirates; who will be the next? At the centre of the bomb trade lies Pakistan and its "Dr. Strangelove".
"A Nuclear War Is Drawing Closer"
SPIEGEL interview with chief weapons inspector Mohammed al Baradei about rogue states and the nuclear black market:
"We have had a great many successes with the non-proliferation treaty over the past 35 years, but things can't go on this way: we desperately need to adapt it to present-day actualities - to increase and expand security inspections, and to introduce sanctions for violations. In particular, though, we should put all the plants world-wide which produce weapons-grade material, such as highly enriched uranium or plutonium, under multinational control. ... I am extremely concerned about the developments in North Korea. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Pyongyang already had an operational atomic bomb at its disposal. ... I am afraid that the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is beginning to fade. I am afraid that nuclear weapons will fall into the hands of dictators or terrorists. I am also afraid of the nuclear arsenals of democratic states, because as long as these weapons exist, there's no absolute guarantee against the disastrous consequences of theft, sabotage or accidents. In human history, no great civilisation has so far managed to voluntarily give up its most powerful weapons - let's see if we can be manage to be the first."
"Toni's Tour of the Services"
Judiciary: For the prosecutor, the surprise witness was the last hope in the Al Qaida trial. But the man has had a career as a story-teller. Because all that is truly new about the confidentially treated witness is his name: Toni. Security authorities in Germany, Canada and the United States have known the Iranian for years. So the credibility check announced by the Federal prosecutors will not take long. The results are to be available by the end of next week, after which Toni is unlikely to be of any use as a witness against Abdelghani Mzoudi.
"Bitterness Is a Luxury"
SPIEGEL in-depth interview with the widow of US journalist Daniel Pearl, who was murdered by Al Qaida in Karachi. Mariane Pearl has written a book describing her husband's life and his death. An interview dealing with terrorism and the death penalty, her meetings with George W. Bush and Perez Musharraf, and her battle for normality:
"I know what these people want to achieve: terrorists seek symbolic targets, and of course Danny was that kind of a target. And they want to paralyse their enemy. ... They kill the will to live. They murder desire. That is what constitutes the true effect of terrorism. My response to that is this: these terrorists are not going to achieve their goal with me. I will deny them that triumph. ... I believe that Omar Sheikh devised the operation but that he handed his hostage straight over to Al Qaida. ... I wrote a letter to President Musharraf asking him to have Sheikh executed. Never in my life did I imagine I would ever write that sort of letter. ... Musharraf believed Danny had gone too far; that this had nothing to do with journalism. Presumably he even suspected that Danny was a spy. Pakistan is unfamiliar with such a thing as investigative journalism. ... I told Bush that bitterness is a luxury I cannot afford. I would lose my soul, and if I lost my soul I would also lose Danny within me. It was a strange encounter; Condoleezza Rice was present; so was Donald Rumsfeld. They knew that I hadn't come to receive their condolences."
"The Monster Next-door"
SPIEGEL in-depth interview with US film director and actor Kevin Costner about the return of the Western as a genre, the ups and downs of his career, his latest film "Open Range" and Hollywood's aversion to chocolate on camera:
"I'm interested in getting good stories on the screen - about issues that mean something to me, and for people who mean something to me. ... Many decision-makers in Hollywood only ask one question: How can I earn the most money? In their view, Westerns aren't one of the ways, and values don't mean anything to them. In my films, things are different: "Open Range" has entertainment value - and the men in the film communicate values that not only apply in the USA, but that are honoured all over the world. ... In "Open Range", the people in Hollywood didn't want the scene in the candy store, they didn't want people to talk about china teacups. To them, china is simply there to be shot to pieces. ... I have travelled the world a lot and I've kept meeting people to whom my films meant a lot - even the ones that were torn to pieces by the critics and which failed at the box-office. ... I've always had a high opinion of artists, for whom their personal integrity went before all else. And when I see them changing until they end up no longer being themselves, that fills me with anxiety."
"War against the Weak"
Contemporary history: At the beginning of the last century, American scientists, politicians and livestock breeders decided to "create a superior northern race". Sixty-thousand men and women, most of them poor or coloured, underwent compulsory sterilisation - an idea that stimulated the Nazi's eugenics programme. The full extent of this medical crime has been described by American journalist Edwin Black in a sensational book. Aided by dozens of research assistants, he has collected some 50,000 relevant documents from American and European archives.
"Harvest from the Orbit"
Astronomy: Some 100 gigabytes of data have arrived so far. An area of over 1.8 million square kilometres, more than half the size of Europe, has been photographed by the special-purpose camera - one picture every two milliseconds. Together these are creating an image of Mars with a hitherto unparalleled resolution.
"Economical Stinker"
Cars: European car manufacturers fear for their most important trump card: stricter EU emission limits threaten to put an end to the diesel engine.
"Small Sliced Loaf"
China: The urban middle classes are discovering the car as a status symbol. The Volkswagen Group, in particular, is benefiting. The secret of its success among China's courted consumer collective is this: back in 1984, VW - whose Chinese name is "car company big masses" - invested in a joint venture and achieved a decisive sales advantage through technology transfer, the development of a supply industry and the setting-up of a nation-wide service network.
"E-Mail to the West"
Figure skating: The pair-skater Alyona Savchenco could no longer find a partner in Ukraine. She applied in Chemnitz - and has recently won the German championship title. The ailing skating association is dreaming of putting an end to its situation. Alyona Savchenco's story is typical of figure skaters from former Soviet countries, and at the same time it is unusual. Many skaters from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Minsk or Kiev have come to the West over the past decade, to escape the fierce competition at home, or the wretched living conditions. But while soloists do not need to take anyone else into consideration in their decision, pair-skaters and ice-dancers are almost always driven abroad in search of a suitable partner after a separation.
"Back to the Stars"
Artists: Julian Schnabel, a painter of house-sized pictures, was a favourite of the art market in the 1980s; in the 1990s he became the principal object of its derision. Is he about to have a comeback? The Schirn art gallery in Frankfurt is exhibiting 50 paintings providing an overview of Schnabel's work to date. The new millennium, with the uncertainties of terrorism and war, prefers to stick to timeless values and disciplined sensuousness: this includes a renaissance of painting, which is also turning the spotlight back onto half-forgotten bygone protagonists.
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