Exclusive: Kurdish Plea For Help In IS Fight

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

The Islamic State terror threat to the West will increase if the Kurdish Peshmerga are not given more help fighting the Islamist militants, their commander has warned.

Speaking exclusively to Sky News on the eve of a major conference, Lieutenant General Jabar Manda delivered a message to the 21 foreign ministers gathering in London.

"We need more equipment, we need new weapons and we need the air strikes," he said.

"We need the continuous support and training. We are in need of ammunition. We need new weapons to win this war."

He thanked the British military for their help training his troops and said it has helped the Peshmerga push IS fighters back.

Despite this, 800 Kurdish soldiers have been killed and 4,000 wounded because of insufficient protection and Lt Gen Manda said armoured cars are needed to stop so many soldiers being killed.

A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter in a military vehicle on the outskirts of Mosul

He also said that stores of ammunition are decreasing after an early rush of donors.

"IS is an international terrorist group threatening all over the world just like we saw in France. They are threatening America and Britain and other countries," he said.

Video: Fighting Islamic Terror Groups

"If the other nations like to fight alongside us then we have no problem with that, we would like to fight with them.

And he warned that if they do not get the support, "The threat to Europe and other countries will be more."

His words will be read closely by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and US Secretary of State John Kerry as the two men prepare to host a conference on IS in London.

The main players of the 60 nation coalition will attend. So too will Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

The chief points of discussion will include cutting off the insurgency's funding, stemming the flow of weapons to Iraq and Syria, exploring further military options and how to relieve the worsening humanitarian situation.

However, it's not clear if anything of note will be announced because of the number of countries and interests involved.

As if to prove that, there is still some discussion over the exact format for the post-summit media conference.

The Iraqi delegation doesn't want its prime minister to stand alongside John Kerry and Philip Hammond at the podium because they regard the two foreign ministers as junior in rank.

Hanging over the conference are the lives of two Japanese hostages.

IS released a video on Tuesday morning threatening to kill them unless a ransom of $200m was paid in 72 hours. That time runs out on Friday morning.

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Video: Unarmed Black Man Shot Dead By Police

Newly released footage has revealed the moment a man was shot dead during a police traffic stop in New Jersey as he got out of a car with his hands raised.

The footage, captured by a police dashboard camera, shows officers making a traffic stop in Bridgeton, New Jersey, on 30 December.

But the situation becomes increasingly tense as one officer warns his partner that he has seen a gun in the glove compartment of the Jaguar car.

Officer Braheme Days repeatedly shouts at the passenger "show me your hands!" while warning him not to "reach for something" inside the vehicle.

He then appears to reach into the car and remove a gun, but the passenger, Jerame Reid, gets out of the vehicle and is shot several times.

Video: Protesters Take To New York Streets

Officer Days and his partner have been placed on leave pending a Cumberland County prosecutor's office investigation.

The shooting has sparked protests in Bridgeton and comes after months of demonstrations over the killings of unarmed black men by white police officers in New York and Ferguson, Missouri.

In the footage, the officers pull over the Jaguar for going through a stop sign.

Officer Days steps back, pulls out his gun and tells the men inside the car to "show me your hands".

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1. Gallery: Archive: Protests After Eric Garner Grand Jury Decision

   Protesters took to the streets after a grand jury decided not to charge a white policeman over the chokehold death of an unarmed black man

Father-of-six Eric Garner, 43, died after he was restrained by police

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Ukraine Crisis Talks Agree Heavy Weapons Deal

Talks on the crisis in Ukraine have led to an agreement to pull back heavy weaponry from a demarcation line defined in last year's Minsk agreement.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier brokered the deal with his counterparts from France, Russia and Ukraine during talks in Berlin.

"A lot depends on the question if that what we have agreed on will not only remain printed paper, but will also change the situation on the ground," Mr Steinmeier said.

In a joint statement released by the German foreign ministry, the ministers noted "with serious concern" that fighting in eastern Ukraine had severely escalated, causing the loss of many human lives.

"This must stop immediately and the regime of quiet must be restored," the statement said.

Video: Russia Accused Of Terrorist Attacks

They called on signatories of the Minsk peace plan to meet in the coming days to implement the ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons.

Kiev and Moscow blame each other for failing to implement a ceasefire agreed in Minsk last September to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where more than 4,700 have died in fighting between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian rebels.

The development comes after the Ukrainian President claimed more than 9,000 Russian soldiers are currently backing up pro-Moscow fighters in the separatist east of the country.

In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Petro Poroshenko said Russian troops were backed by a range of heavy weapons including tanks and artillery systems.

"We have more than 9,000 troops of the Russian Federation on my territory, including more than 500 tanks and heavy artillery and armed personnel carriers," he said.

"If this is not aggression, what is aggression?"

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov challenged Kiev to "present the proof".

US officials later cranked up the diplomatic pressure on Russia with Secretary of State John Kerry calling Russia's actions "a blatant land grab".

:: BAFTA-winning filmmaker Ross Kemp has witnessed Ukraine's bloody conflict against pro-Russian separatists.

In the first instalment of Extreme World 4, showing on Sky1 HD tonight at 9pm, he looks at the country's fight against the rapid rise of far right groups.

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IS Demands $200m Ransom For Japan Hostages

Islamic State has issued a video threatening to kill two Japanese hostages unless a $200m (£133m) ransom is paid within 72 hours.

In the video, a black-clad militant brandishing a knife addresses the camera in English as he stands between two hostages wearing orange jumpsuits.

"You now have 72 hours to pressure your government into making a wise decision by paying the $200m to save the lives of your citizens," he says.

The footage, identified as being made by the militant group's al Furqan media arm and posted on militant websites, also sees the militant criticising the Japanese government's support for US-led airstrikes against IS.

But the Japanese government has said it will not bow to extremism.

Video: July 2014: Haruna Yukawa In Aleppo

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a news conference in Jerusalem: "I strongly demand they not be harmed and that they be immediately released.

"I am extremely indignant at such an act."

The militant who appears in the video is apparently the same man involved in the beheadings of other IS captives.

Speaking in a British accent, he says: "To the prime minister of Japan: Although you are more than 8,000 and 500 kilometres (5,280 miles) from the Islamic State, you willingly have volunteered to take part in this crusade.

Video: Japan Will Put People's Lives First

"You have proudly donated $100m to kill our women and children, to destroy the homes of the Muslims."

The two hostages are identified as Kenji Goto Jogo and Haruna Yukawa.

In August, a Japanese citizen believed to be Mr Yukawa - a private military company operator - was kidnapped in Syria.

Mr Goto is a freelance journalist who went to report on Syria's civil war last year.

Video: 24 Dec: Coalition Pilot Captured

IS has seized swathes of territory across Iraq and Syria to form an Islamic Caliphate.

Videos featuring a British-accented jihadi were published showing the murders of US hostages James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British hostages David Haines and Alan Henning.

The Foreign Office said it was investigating the video and reports that the militant is British.

"We are aware of the video and we are studying the content," a spokeswoman said.

Video: Sept 2014: British Jihadis Report

The Japanese Prime Minister is currently on a six-day visit to the Middle East.

Last week, he pledged around $200m in non-military assistance for countries battling IS.

Japan's foreign ministry said it was checking the video, but if it was genuine "such a threat by taking hostages is unacceptable and we are extremely resentful".

:: Ransom demands and the countries who pay up

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Obama Demands Action On Taxes and Terrorism

By Sky News US Team

President Barack Obama said it is time for the US to "turn the page" on years of hardship, as he urged Republicans to back tax increases on the rich to help struggling American families.

During his annual State of the Union speech in the House of Representatives, a bullish Mr Obama declared that "the shadow of crisis has passed" after two wars and a "vicious recession".

The President, whose approval ratings are on the up, appeared undaunted by Republicans who have just assumed control of both houses of Congress for the first time since he came to office.

He said: "Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well?

"Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?"

Video: State Of The Union: Tax And Terrror

He added: "So the verdict is clear. Middle-class economics works. Expanding opportunity works."

The Democratic President wants to increase the capital gains tax rate on couples making more than $500,000 (£330,000) per year, from 23.8% to 28%.

Republicans will not pass the increases, but he will place them in the tricky spot of blocking measures that could offer a lift to working families.

In his nationally televised, hour-long speech, he also called on lawmakers to pass a new authorisation of military force against Islamic State militants.

He said the US-led effort to stop the extremists from advancing in Iraq and Syria is working without sucking the US into another Middle East ground war.

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1. Gallery: Key Moments From State Of The Union

   A bullish President Barack Obama has delivered his sixth State of the Union speech in the US House of Representatives

The main aisle of the chamber was thronged as usual with lawmakers eager to greet him as he arrived to give his address

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Obama Pokes Fun As He Urges 'Better Politics'

"The shadow of crisis has passed. The State of the Union is strong."

Bold words for a President who has a habit of saying things that come back and haunt him, but with his approval ratings finally lifting and the economy improving Barack Obama is happy to sound confident again.

The crisis was the 2008 financial crash that caused the Great Recession and if Barack Obama is sounding optimistic he is not the only one. Many Americans seem to share his confidence that, as he put it, the page is finally being turned.

The President could walk into the lion's den of a Republican-controlled US Congress with a spring in his step, thanks to a resurgent US economy. If Republicans were expecting a more conciliatory tone given the thumping they gave his party in last year's mid-term elections they will have been sorely disappointed.

This year's State of the Union speech had a very different tone. He has tried pleading in the past, and occasionally preaching to persuade his Republican rivals to co-operate. This year he seemed done with all that.

Video: Analysis From Sky's Dominic Waghorn

He mocked them at times, knowing the television pictures would be in his favour. As he suggested opponents of a minimum wage tried living on $15,000 for a week, the pictures cut to rows of well-heeled looking Republicans sitting glumly as Democrats applauded on their feet.

He listed the ways America is making progress economically and Republicans again did not join the standing ovations, making them looking churlish. When he pointed out he had no more elections to win, they could not resist a mocking hand clap, but he had the last laugh with a presidential put down: "I should know. I won both of them," he said with a satisfied grin.

He talked of his yearning for a "better politics" and said he believed cynics were wrong to say gridlock and partisanship were inevitable in Washington.

Video: Reaction From Republican Senator

"I still believe we are one people," he said. Americans, he added, "expect those of us who serve here to set a better example".

But at the same time he is promoting a tax agenda guaranteed to encourage more opposition from his opponents, and he knows it. His plans to pay for middle class tax breaks with higher taxes for the very rich are a non-starter for Republicans. So why push them?

He may well believe they are the right thing to pursue, but it is also clever politics. Promoting them in a speech watched by 33 million Americans increases his leverage in negotiations with Congress to come.

Video: Will Obama's Plans Get Passed?

And he is also hoping to frame the debate as the countdown to the 2016 presidential elections begins.

Income inequality is a big issue in the US and only likely to become more so in the next two years.

Republicans risk alienating voters if they appear to oppose efforts to tackle it. But they'll upset their wealthy patrons if they don't. They could be drawn onto politically treacherous ground.

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