The Week V. 1012

What happened The Islamic State militant known as “Jihadi John” – notorious for fronting a series of horrific propaganda videos featuring the beheading of journalists and aid workers in Syria – was identified last week as Mohammed Emwazi, a 26-year-old computer studies graduate from west London. The revelation prompted a row over the perceived shortcomings of the security services, which kept tabs on Emwazi for years. Born in Kuwait, Emwazi arrived in Britain at the age of six. It’s unclear exactly when he became radicalised, but he was already on MI5’s radar in 2009 when, weeks after graduating from Westminster University, he was refused entry to Tanzania amid suspicions that he was en route to Somalia to join the terrorist group al-Shabaab. The Tanzanians put him on a plane to…

What happened One of Russia’s best-known opposition leaders was shot dead in central Moscow last week in what many supporters claimed was a Kremlin-backed assassination. Boris Nemtsov, an outspoken critic of President Putin, was walking home from dinner when a gunman opened fire just outside the walls of the Kremlin. He was hit four times in the back and died instantly. Two days later, tens of thousands of Russians marched through the centre of Moscow to pay their respects to Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister. The Kremlin denied any involvement in the murder, described by Putin as “vile and cynical”. But allies point out that the killing came as Nemtsov stepped up his attacks on the regime. In a recent interview he denounced Russia’s “mad, aggressive” war in Ukraine,…

Controversy of the week It “bodes ill” that Ed Miliband should have deliberated over his university tuition fees policy for several years – “and still come up with the wrong answer”, said The Independent. His plan, first trailed back in 2011, was finally unveiled last week, after much agonised argument within the Labour Party. Miliband wants to cut fees at English universities from the current maximum of £9,000 per year – charged, in practice, by most courses – to £6,000. The £2.7bn annual cost will be offset by cutting tax relief on pensions for high earners. This may sound good to students facing average debts of £44,000, and their parents, said Camilla Cavendish in The Sunday Times. But it is “not the bargain it appears to be”. At present, graduates…

Oldenburg, Germany Killer nurse jailed: A German nurse suspected of killing dozens of patients by injecting them with lethal overdoses has been sentenced to life in prison by a court in Oldenburg. The 38-year-old man, identified only as Niels H under German privacy laws, was convicted of two murders and two attempted murders. He had, however, told a psychiatrist that he’d given overdoses to some 90 patients, 30 of whom died. Investigators are now looking into the deaths of 200 patients at Delmenhorst hospital near Bremen and at his previous workplaces. Niels H apparently told the psychiatrist that he had administered overdoses of the heart drug Gilurytmal so that he could then show off his “excellent” resuscitation skills. He claimed to have selected only patients with “an extremely poor prognosis”,…

Madison, Wisconsin Walker pulls ahead: Governor Scott Walker has surged ahead of establishment favourite Jeb Bush (brother of George W.) in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, according to the latest polls. Admired by conservatives for winning a showdown with labour unions in his home state of Wisconsin, the 47-year-old Evangelical Christian (left) has turned a six-point deficit into an eight-point lead over Bush in the past month. He also fared well at the recent right-wing Conservative Political Action Conference, which is a key audition stage for candidates, coming in second to grass-roots favourite Rand Paul. Washington DC Netanyahu’s warning: Israel’s prime minister used his controversial address to Congress this week to warn the Obama administration that its proposed sanctionslifting deal with Iran would lead to nuclear war. Although…

Margolyes makes enemies Miriam Margolyes is in trouble with her friends. The British actress is an outspoken critic of Israel – whose policies she believes are directly responsible for the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. “People understandably and correctly associate Israel with Jews and Jews are killing people – innocent people,” she told Matthew Stadlen in The Daily Telegraph. “It’s being done in my name and I simply can’t accept it.” Her critics claim this is naive and self-hating. “My friend Maureen Lipman is disgusted with me and speaks clearly about that publicly. As does Howard Jacobson, whom I don’t really know, much admire and wish that I knew. But he pillories and lampoons me in a very public way. I totally accept his right to do so but it…