>> live from berlin, this is your world news on dw. good to have you with this. >> welcome. our top stories -- >> new information points to the real identity of the islamic state soldier known as g hottie -- jihadi john. and a german nurse who confessed to killing more than 30 patients is sentenced to life in prison. in his former life, he was described as gentle and extremely humble. now he is believed to be the

ruthless executioner in the propaganda videos of islamic state. >> the computer programmer from west london has been identified as the i.s. killer known as jihadi john. the revelation has shocked many, especially those who knew him. >> for many, this man is the face of islamic state. now, several organizations claim they have identified the man beneath the mask. independent analysts and journalists say he is a kuwaiti-born british citizen rom and affluent family. he moved to britain at the age of six. members of a british muslim group who have worked with him say they are shocked by his apparent radicalization. >> you might be surprised to know that the mohammed that i knew was extremely kind, extremely gentle, extremely soft-spoken, was the most humble

young person that i knew. >> journalists flocked to the apartment in west london where he is believed to have lived before traveling to syria. neighbors were stunned by the news. >> i never thought that something would happen here something scary. >> for now there has been no official word on the claims. london's metropolitan police have refused to go term jihad -- to confirm jihadi john's identity, citing security concerns. >> let's go to ours correspondent standing by. what more can you tell us? >> first of all, let me also say that all these reports are not

being backed up by any of the british security services, but from what i know from the media reports and from other institutions being in the u.k. for his formative years since the age of six from a kuwaiti family but he was born and raised in northwest london and a well-to-do neighborhood in london and also a graduate in computer sciences from westminster university, a respectable institution. he is said to be known for security services since 2010 when he tried to travel to tanzania. he resisted recruitment and has traveled to syria in 2012. >> this must come as quite a shock to many britons. what are they saying? >> well, we have some reactions. one from the u.s., family of

u.s. journalist sottlloff, who are quoted as saying that they are relieved and took comfort in the fact that his identity is apparently known and that they now want him to be found and sentenced and put into prison. also his former university has come forward and said that they are shocked and sickened. but to the wider british public, this is still a mystery. how could someone on the surface who was so well integrated into british society -- how could someone like that turnaround and actually slaughter innocent people? >> mystery indeed. thank you very much for those details. >> islamic state propaganda videos are widely known or their brutal depiction of the killing of the group's hostages. the militants have taken to advertising their destruction of

cultural treasures. >> video released on thursday shows militants thought to be in the northern iraqi city of moses -- mosul destroying a priceless collection of ancient statues and sculptures. the fighters can be heard saying they were civil to idolatry in that they must be destroyed. some of the artifacts are said to have dated back the seventh century bc. well, to eastern ukraine now where there are signs that the warring parties are implementing an important part of the cease-fire. the ukrainian military announced today that it has begun withdrawing heavy weapons from the front line. >> this follows claims by the separatist that they have already pulled back 80% of their heavy weaponry. observers from the osce have not been able to confirm these reports, but it does appear that the cease-fire is holding now. >> these ukrainian tanks are moving away from the line in the

east of the country. the pullback should have happened last week, but the government in kiev says the time is now right. the last two days have seen a significant reduction in shelling. >> we are approaching the goal of fulfilling the first article of the minsk accords -- the cease-fire. now we are creating all the necessary conditions to start implementing the second article -- withdrawal of heavy weaponry. >> the idea was to create a of her zone. under the minsk's agreement signed on february 12, heavy weaponry has to be moved between 50 and 140 kilometers away from the front, depending on its range. rebels say they began their withdrawal on wednesday but kiev immediately accused them of transporting the weapons to other areas of conflict.

osce monitors are there to try to ensure this does not happen. >> we are monitoring the movement of heavy equipment on certain routes, and, if possible to certain endpoints or collection points. >> the osce says both sides in the conflict continue to withhold details about their equipment's location, and observers have not been able to enter some areas because they are bleak too dangerous. -- simply too dangerous. >> for the latest now we're joined by our correspondent in kiev. good to see you. tell us -- the osce is supposed to begin an access in order to verify implementation of the cease-fire. why are they not getting that access? >> well, they do have hundreds of observers on the ground, but they still do not have access to all of the hot spots on the ground. a spokesman said today that

checkpoints from both sides are hindering them at getting to the place that they want to get, and there are complaints that the separatists do not coordinate their activities with the osce, so that's why the osce cannot confirm withdrawal yet, and it is very dependent on the cooperation of both sides to do so in the future. >> before the ukrainian military began with drawing their heavy weapons, they accused the separatists of doing so only in order to regroup elsewhere. is that what the ukrainian army itself is doing -- regrouping? >> i don't have any evidence of the ukrainians regrouping and not withdrawing. what they are certainly doing is keeping their military on high alert because there's a lot of distrust and they don't trust

the separatists to actual withdrawal. the process remains fragile on the grounds. >> thank you very much. >> meanwhile, there have been new indications that russia's role in the ukraine crisis may have been carefully planned. >> according to a strategy document obtained by a russian newspaper, the kremlin received advice to break up ukraine and annexed crimea and foam and unrest in the eastern part of the country well before viktor yanukovych led the country -- fled the country. >> this wealthy russian oligarch with powerful friends hired this former russian secret service agent as his security officer advisor and pr strategist.

affiliates through a plan for the breakup of the ukraine and for the russian annexation of large swathes of its territory. >> russian business often functions in this way. run by pr people and protected by a powerful security apparatus . god only knows by what wylie means they establish contact with the president. >> has he become a modern gave us be written, a highly influential advisor to the kremlin? it says his plan was highly detailed and foresaw the annexation of the crimean peninsula and large parts of eastern ukraine. the newspaper says the memo was submitted to the kremlin shortly before the ousting of ukrainian president viktor yanukovych after mass pro-democracy

protests. the editor says he received the document from a reliable source. >> we have sources close to the government. we have worked with one for a long time, and he has never let us down. >> according to the paper, the document called viktor yanukovych politically bankrupt and argued that russia should no longer support him but instead intervened directly. it described ukraine's pro-democracy protesters as criminals and hooligans under the control of the british and polish secret services, and it accused the west of hoping to take a share of the spoils if and when the ukrainian state disintegrates. according to the documents this plenty of support for russia in many regions, and sympathizers were likely to gradually with neighbors across the border in russia because of strong economic ties. it warned that if russia did not intervene, it would lose the

entire ukrainian gas market and its infrastructure along with the ukrainian military industry. the memo recommended organizing demonstrations and a media campaign then moving quickly towards the goal of holding referendums on autonomy in some regions. it is suggested the secession process could be overseen by local figures such as now the russian-backed leader of crimea. a war was not foreseen in this scenario. the authors expect -- the authors apparently expected a peaceful transition of power. >> the document has confirmed our worst fears. because it shows that the kremlin did not just react to the situation and the events taking place in ukraine. no, it was a political plan. >> but he said the plan could not succeed fully because a majority of ukrainians did not want to become part of russia.

the staff are expected to face charges for the report, but they say they think the revelations are worth the risk. >> according organ germany has sentenced a former nurse to life in prison after finding him guilty of three murders and two attempted murders of patients he was treating. >> he had already confessed to killing more than 30 people with lethal injections. prosecutors are investigating the deaths of over 150 patients. >> one of the most troubling aspects of the cases that the former nurse apparently killed his patients out of boredom. >> he entered the courtroom late last year. in 2008, he had already been convicted of attempted murder and was jailed for 7.5 years. since then, he has been implicated in many more cases and will now go to jail for life . he worked for years in the intensive care ward of this clinic.

he was in charge of older and seriously ill patients. some of them had been placed in an artificial,. he admitted injecting many of them with an overdose of heart medicine. he then left and waited for the alarm so he could rush back and try to resuscitate them. former colleagues dubbed him a rescue rambler. he boasted about his exploits when he saved them, but many times, patients could not be revived. police are investigating up to 200 more suspicious cases, summit of the clinics where he had worked. just this week, they exhumed bodies of people who had been in his care. the verdict marks just the beginning of what is likely to be a lengthy investigation. >> were going to take a short break now. when we come back we'll be looking ahead to the german parliament's decision that will be taken on friday on if they

should extend the bailout for greece. >> that is already part of business news. there will be more of that as well in a minute from now. don't go away.

>> welcome back. anti-semitism remains a serious problem in europe. there have been deadly attacks on jews in several european countries within the past year. many are living in fear again. >> with anti-semitism apparently rising in europe, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has called on jews to consider emigrating to israel. in the next report, we hear from one young german jew, who is determined to stay. >> he is paying on his own today here in berlin's center for jewish students. most other students only come on the jewish holy day. he is german, but sometimes, he does not feel like he belongs. >> the existence of jews in germany is still something

extraordinary, and i don't know when it will become normality, but i'm proud to live here as a jew. >> he believes the jews have to support each other in times like these. anti-semitism is on the rise in germany, to. anti-semitic attacks increased last year by 10% according to an organization citing unpublished organization figures. he admits to feeling uneasy. >> i would not say i'm afraid, but the spirit of anti-semitism is in the air. sometimes i feel uncomfortable on the street, but i don't think you should let yourself he deterred. >> even if many jews from other european countries are immigrating to israel at the moment he is adamant that he wants to stay in germany. >> the eu's top court has backed a decision by germany to deny asylum to a former u.s. soldier who deserted back in 2007 and that of obeying in order to

fight in the iraq war. >> who walked off his base in southern germany and spent 19 months on the run before applying for asylum. here is his side of the story. >> this memorial commemorates soldiers who deserted the german army during the nazi era. andre shepherd often visits the memorial. as a u.s. soldier he served in the iraq war but when he was due to be sent back, he left the barracks where he was stationed without permission. >> i refused because i was not satisfied with the reasons why we were fighting this war. we had learned in recent years that the iraq war was based on nothing but lies. >> he was posted to iraq in 2004. he was a helicopter mechanic but hoped to qualify one day as a helicopter pilot. he says he was looking for adventure and financial

security, but his views changed. after he went absent without leave him his base in bavaria he found refuge with friends. now a deserter, he spent 18 months in hiding before applying for political asylum in germany. >> should have the right to be left alone to be able to live our own lives and ultimately, we decide who we fight and who we don't. >> he has a new career now -- he is a computer specialist and works all over germany. he has been here for 10 years. he speaks german, has german friends, but he cannot travel to the united states and can only see his family via the internet. >> yes i miss you guys a lot. >> he wants to stay in germany, but the verdict from the european court means his chances of getting permanent residency are slim. >> deal or no deal -- with greece, you just never seem to know. just one day before german lawmakers are expected to vote in aber of an extension to greece's bailout, athens is

rocking the vote by demanding a partial haircut. >> berlin is not amused. still, a majority of chancellor merkel's conservatives gave their approval in a test ballot ahead of tomorrow's vote in parliament. social democrats have already indicated they will also vote in favor of the deal. >> in exchange for the extra four months of bailout funds athens has promised to fight corruption and reduce red tape. >> the german finance minister is said to be losing patience with the greek government. and he is not alone. other members of his conservative christian democratic party are becoming increasingly frustrated with the greek administration. >> because of this new greek government, there seems to be a new tone in europe that was not acceptable before. >> the greek finance minister has once again called for a partial debt write-off, angering many cdu and csu

parliamentarians. a straw poll held on thursday showed 22 party members are likely to vote against a greek bailout extension. >> now, the greek finance minister is calling for another debt reduction. i believe that would be catastrophic. we have to end this now before it gets out of hand. >> but the coalition partner social democrats are more of the on the issue. there straw poll showed all spd members back an extension. >> we support the finance minister, and we want to see an extension of the greek bailout. >> german chancellor angela merkel seemed unfazed by the revolt within her ranks. an overwhelming majority of german lawmakers are expected to approve the extension when they vote on friday. >> for more on the debate, we are joined by our political correspondent. there's a lot of unhappy german lawmakers over this. >> absolutely, and as you saw there, not least among them, the german finance minister himself.

he is really irritated about some of the noises coming out of athens, that they might not go ahead with some of the privatizations they have promised, for instance, and also, floating again yesterday run the greek finance minister, this idea that athens might be looking for a write-down of debt , the so-called haircut. there is real consternation in berlin about these kind of comments and greece ultimately owes germany directly 40 billion euros, and doubts are growing that they will ever see that money again. >> well, that's not peanuts certainly. what do you think? is germany going to approve an extension to the greek bailout? >> as you have seen in that report, they've been testing the waters today. it does seem pretty clear that the german parliament will vote on friday to extend the bailout for greece by another four months. there will be some conservatives

voting against 20 or 30, who ay that the measures, cracking down on tobacco smuggling and that sort of thing, is just not enough to put greek finances back on track, but having said that, all the parties in the bundestag are supporting this measure. that is unusual unanimity in itself, a sign of the unusual times we live in. the greek bid to stay in the euro will not be scuttled in berlin, at least not this week. >> the alternatives are very limited, as we know. thank you very much for this. >> solid as a rock -- that's how analysts describe the german labor market, which is with dan in the troubles in the eurozone -- withstanding the troubles in the eurozone. >> consumer morale hit and almost 14-year high. >> here's a look at some of the key factors. >> germany's mild winter with little snow and plenty of sun

provided perfect conditions for the construction sector. the weatherman most operations continued for the winter without a break, and that meant fewer workers registering as unemployed. optimism has returned to german business as a whole with good economic prospects leading many companies to hire new workers. there were 15,000 fewer people without a job in february than at the start of the year. there are still over 3 million people unemployed in germany. at 6.9%, that's the lowest rate since 1991. and that's not the only good news -- the country is also celebrating a 14-year peak in consumer confidence. germans are spending more thank's to good job prospects, low inflation, and increased pay. >> interest rates are going to stay at rock-bottom, partly because of the pressure put on rates by the european central

bank's decision to bypass. >> with consumer confidence riding high and unemployment staying low, gdp looks set to continue growing this year. >> all the data went down well with the dax up at record highs. >> rising consumer confidence shows that the german economy is still in a very excellent position, and it shows that consumers trust in their own financial situations, natalie because we just went up and oil prices plummeted, also because the german labor market is very stable. today, we've seen the strongest february since 1991, and this also shows that the german economy is really back on track. this all lead to a rally here on the frankfurt floor where the

dax went up to new record highs. >> here's a quick look at the numbers for you now. the dax ended the day up 1%. one 13327. the euro stoxx 50 following suit . in new york, the dow jones currently in negative territory, and the euro sliding currently. $one .1197. >> german media reporting the german bank co-chief or have to face charges of giving false evidence to a court of law. >> the charges relate to a case surrounding the collapse of the media empire owned by a german mogul. they are accused of providing false testimony to a court in the early 2000's. eventually leading to the group's demise. >> well, she's known for shocking her audience, but queen

of pop madonna came in for a shock herself airing her performance at wednesday's ceremony. >> the singer costume included a long cape fastened around her neck. it appears to have got caught forcing madonna to tumble down several steps on the stage. ever the professional, she recovered quickly and resumed her performance only slightly shaken by her fall. a real pro. >> ouch. we'll be back at the top of the hour with more news. stay with us. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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