Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 14 Maret 2015 | 16.15
The conflict in eastern Ukraine is not NATO's responsibility despite Russia's "violation of international law", the alliance's Secretary General has said.
Jens Stoltenberg also told Sky News the UK must maintain its military contributions to the organisation, which is set at 2% of GDP.
But, asked if NATO would do anything stop Vladimir Putin's forces in Ukraine, he said: "Our main responsibility is to defend and to protect all NATO allies and no NATO ally has been attacked.
"So deterrence is working because everyone sees that NATO is a very strong alliance and we are now implementing the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence since the end of the Cold War.
"Ukraine is not a member of NATO, so there is a difference between Ukraine and NATO members, because the security guarantee is for NATO allies.
1/18
Gallery: Ukraine: The Rubble Of Donetsk Airport
A Ukrainian army tank destroyed in fighting with the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic army lies outside a terminal at Donetsk airport
The once-gleaming Donetsk airport has been one of the most fiercely contested spots in east Ukraine
Egypt has unveiled its plan to build a new administrative and business capital that will house five million people and feature a theme park "four times bigger than Disneyland".
Housing minister Mustafa Kamel Madbuli said the new 70,000 acre city, east of Cairo, would take five to seven years to build at a cost of $45bn (£30bn).
Details on how it would be funded were not revealed.
"The idea to build the new city originated from our awareness that Cairo's current population (18 million) will double in the next 40 years," Mr Madbuli said at a conference showcasing the details.
The proposed city would have "large green spaces, an international airport, a theme park four times bigger than Disneyland in California, 90 square kilometres of solar farms, and an electric train" to link with Cairo, Mr Madbuli said.
Parliament, presidential palaces, government ministries and foreign embassies would move to the new metropolis.
The plan for the new city was first announced in the summer of last year, but further details were kept under wraps until now.
President Abdel Fattah al Sisi is hoping the plan will help kick-start Egypt's troubled economy.
Mr al Sisi, who has positioned himself as a bulwark against Islamic extremists, said investing in the Arab world's most populous country would help stabilise the entire region.
Egypt's stability "is a cornerstone in regional stability," he told the conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh.
Arab states including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia pledged $12bn in investment aid.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was at the gathering, said Washington stood beside Egypt as it seeks to recover from years of turmoil.
Mr Kerry, who earlier met Mr al Sisi and the leaders of Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, told businessmen that Washington was "eager and ready and willing" to help Egypt's economic development.
But a US diplomat travelling with him said there had been "no decision" on freeing up $650m in military aid frozen during the height of a crackdown on Mr al Sisi's Islamist opponents that left hundreds dead.
Powerful winds from Cyclone Pam have caused widespread destruction in the Vanuatu islands, killing at least eight people, aid officials have said.
Unconfirmed reports say dozens more people are feared dead.
The Category Fire storm struck the South Pacific archipelago with winds of up to 167mph, threatening more than 267,000 residents.
The storm blew roofs off houses, uprooted trees and downed power lines.
Officials in Port Vila say there is no power or running water in Vanuatu's capital.
Video:Cyclone Pam Hits South Pacific
There are reports of entire villages being destroyed in more remote areas, according to Chloe Morrison, a World Vision emergency communications officer.
"It's still really quite dangerous outside. Most people are still hunkering down," she said.
"The damage is quite extensive in Port Vila but there are so many more vulnerable islands.
"I can't even imagine what it's like in those vulnerable communities."
Australia is preparing to send a crisis response team to Vanuatu if needed, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said.
"There are destructive winds, rain, flooding, landslides, sea surges and very rough seas and the storm is exceedingly destructive there," she said.
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Gallery: Red Alert In Vanuatu Ahead Of Cyclone Pam
A satellite image of Cyclone Pam. Pic: Japan Meteorological Agency
Written By Unknown on Jumat, 13 Maret 2015 | 16.15
A senior member of the al Shabaab militant group who helped plan the Westgate Mall attack in Kenya has been killed by a US drone strike.
Adan Garar and two other people are believed to have died in the strike near the town of Bardhere in Somalia, US and Kenyan officials said.
Garar was also suspected of planning failed attacks on Kenya's coastline and in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, according to a Kenyan official.
Kenyan authorities said police foiled a planned attack in the coastal city of Mombasa in March 2014.
The attack on the Westgate Mall was the largest in Kenya since 1998
Al Shabaab militants had planned to carry out simultaneous attacks on the city's airport, a ferry crossing and a supermarket.
The attack was foiled when anti-terror police intercepted a car packed with explosives.
Video:How Gunmen Launched The Attack
Al Shabaab has vowed to carry out violent attacks in Kenya and Uganda in retaliation for the countries' contribution to the African Union force supporting Somalia's government.
Some 67 people, including six Britons, were killed in the Westgate Mall attack in September 2013.
The attack was the largest in Kenya since the 1998 bombings by al Qaeda of the US Embassy in Nairobi.
The night after two police officers were shot, Ferguson took a step back from the violence that has scarred its streets for nearly eight months.
Protesters gathered at the police department, as they have done every night since unarmed black teenager Michael Brown was shot by a white police officer.
But fears the attack might trigger yet another spasm of conflict between police and protesters proved unfounded.
Anger at Mr Brown's killing, and the perceived lack of justice, remains raw, but despite the evident tension, it was controlled.
Handling the aftermath of an attack on their own represented a huge challenge for the police here.
Video:On Tape: Moment Officers Were Shot
A week ago the city police were officially declared racist by a Department of Justice report, removing what little credibility remained among Ferguson's African-American community.
On Wednesday, the police chief resigned, leaving St Louis County officers to lead operations.
Officers spent the day conducting house-to-house searches and at least one raid, which led to the brief detention of three people, but no one has been charged, and no weapon recovered.
Video:Police Chief: Cop Shot Under Eye
Come nightfall they had to police the same streets where they came under fire, and some of the same protesters who provided inadvertent cover for the gunmen.
Their response was controlled and proportionate. That has not always been the case in a city that deployed military-grade hardware against its own citizens as recently as November.
When protesters briefly blocked the road, Lieutenant Jerry Lohr led half-a-dozen officers, all in shirt-sleeves, to formally warn that they could be arrested. Protesters dropped back, and so did the police.
Video:Police Rep Heckled In Ferguson
From a side door of the fire station, officers in riot gear looked on. Clearly they were ready for an escalation.
But with rain falling, and apparently little appetite for a long night on either side, the protest had broken up by midnight.
It was a restrained end to another difficult day for a city that finds its struggle for justice and equality played out on a international stage.
Video:Ferguson Shooting: Cops 'Targeted'
How long the uneasy peace will last remains to be seen.
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Gallery: Violence On Streets Of Ferguson, Missouri
Fury has erupted into fighting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, where two police officers have been shot during a demonstration
The city's police chief Thomas Jackson quit his post following a report that exposed racism in his department and a profit-driven court system
Islamic State has accepted a pledge of allegiance from the Nigerian terror group Boko Haram and called on Islamists to fight in Africa.
Abu Mohammad al Adnani, a spokesman for IS, announced in an audio message the group's leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, had accepted the loyalty of the Nigerian militants.
"Our caliph, God save him, has accepted the pledge of loyalty of our brothers of Boko Haram so we congratulate Muslims and our jihadi brothers in West Africa," he said.
It comes after an audio statement attributed to Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau was released on Saturday through the group's Twitter account.
The statement urged "Muslims everywhere to pledge allegiance to the Caliph".
Video:Boko Haram Pledges Allegiance To IS
The apparent alliance highlights increased co-ordination between the two terror movements across North Africa and the Middle East.
IS has declared a caliphate and captured large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.
The group has also faced global condemnation for killing or kidnapping members of ethnic and religious minorities, as well as Western hostages.
In his audio message, al Adnani called on Muslims who could not join IS in Iraq and Syria to enter combat in Africa instead.
He added that Boko Haram's pledge had opened a "new door for you to migrate to the land of Islam and fight".
Video:Fighting Boko Haram
"We are calling you up for jihadis, go."
The group, which rejects all but its own limited interpretation of early Sunni Muslim theology as heresy, also issued a threat to Jews and Christians.
"If you want to save your blood and money and live in safety from our swords... you have two choices: either convert or pay jezyah," he said, referring to tax for non-Muslims under Islamic rule.
"(Otherwise) you will soon bite your fingers with remorse."
Written By Unknown on Kamis, 12 Maret 2015 | 16.15
Australia's 'Jihadi Jake' In Suicide Attack
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Video:'Jihadi Jake' In High School Video
A Melbourne teenager who went to Iraq to join Islamic State has reportedly been killed carrying out a suicide bombing.
An image from video apparently released by the group, which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria, showed a white four-wheel-drive with an inset image of a young man who looks like Jake Bilardi sitting behind the wheel.
Another image posted on Twitter showed the 18-year-old sat beneath an IS flag with a caption that suggested the Australian had been involved in a "martyrdom" operation.
Militants carried out 13 suicide car bombings on security personnel positions in Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province on Wednesday.
Bilardi travelled to Iraq to join Islamic State in 2014
Two soldiers were killed and eight others wounded in the near-simultaneous attacks, Sabah Karhout, head of Anbar's provincial council, said.
In a statement posted online, IS said the suicide blast had been carried out by foreign fighters from Australia, Belgium, Syria and Uzbekistan.
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Gallery: Iraqi Forces Enter Tikrit
Members of Iraqi government forces drive on the outskirts of the city of Tikrit as they prepare to launch a military operation to take control of the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters
The Iraqi forces enter a northern neighbourhood of Tikrit, marking a new stage in the operation launched 10 days ago to wrest the city back from jihadists, army officers said
]]>
Members of Iraqi paramilitary Popular Mobilisation units, which are dominated by Shi'ite militias, carry a box loaded with weapons on the outskirts of the northern city of Tikrit
]]>
Some 30,000 Iraqi soldiers, police and the increasingly influential paramilitary Popular Mobilisation units, which are dominated by Shi'ite militias, have been involved in the operation
]]>
Iraqi fighters in north Tikrit. The city has been one of the jihadists' main hubs since they overran large parts of Iraq nine months ago. Continue through for more pictures
]]>
Images of other fighters said to have been involved in the attacks also appeared on the internet.
Australian authorities have been unable to confirm that Bilardi has died in Iraq.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the reports were "absolutely horrific".
"It shows the lure, the lure of this death cult to impressionable youngsters and it's very, very important that we do everything we can to try to safeguard our young people against the lure of this shocking, alien and extreme ideology," he said.
The teenager, described as a shy but gifted maths student, converted to Islam after the death of his mother while he was at high school.
He travelled to the Middle East last year and after two months reportedly contacted his family to tell them he was training to become a suicide bomber.
However, he later told them he had changed his mind and was travelling to Syria to fight there.
Bilardi's passport was cancelled in October on the advice of security agencies, Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop said.
Police said they first learned about Bilardi when he was reported missing in late 2014.
Video:IS Militants Bulldoze Ancient City
While searching his home in Melbourne, officers found chemicals that could be used to make an explosive device.
No actual devices were found, police said.
Meanwhile, details of a blog reportedly written by the teenager have emerged.
In a long post entitled From Melbourne to Ramadi: My Journey, Abu Abdullah al-Australi, understood to be Bilardi's pseudonym, writes about his research into Islam and his upbringing.
"My life in Melbourne's working-class suburbs was, despite having its ups and downs just like everyone else, very comfortable. I found myself excelling in my studies, just as my siblings had, and had dreamed of becoming a political journalist," the blog reads.
"I always dreamed that one day I would travel to countries such as Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan to cover the situations in these lands."
The images of Bilardi and the other suspected suicide bombers were released the day after video emerged that appeared to show a young boy shooting dead a man IS claimed was an Israeli spy.
The parents of the Israeli Arab victim told Sky News they believed he had been killed because he had tried to run away from the group.
French officials said the boy and the man with him were French citizens who could be related to Mohammed Merah, who killed seven people in attacks on a Jewish school and paratroopers in 2012.
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Australia's 'Jihadi Jake' In Suicide Attack
We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.
Video:'Jihadi Jake' In High School Video
A Melbourne teenager who went to Iraq to join Islamic State has reportedly been killed carrying out a suicide bombing.
An image from video apparently released by the group, which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria, showed a white four-wheel-drive with an inset image of a young man who looks like Jake Bilardi sitting behind the wheel.
Another image posted on Twitter showed the 18-year-old sat beneath an IS flag with a caption that suggested the Australian had been involved in a "martyrdom" operation.
Militants carried out 13 suicide car bombings on security personnel positions in Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province on Wednesday.
Bilardi travelled to Iraq to join Islamic State in 2014
Two soldiers were killed and eight others wounded in the near-simultaneous attacks, Sabah Karhout, head of Anbar's provincial council, said.
In a statement posted online, IS said the suicide blast had been carried out by foreign fighters from Australia, Belgium, Syria and Uzbekistan.
1/10
Gallery: Iraqi Forces Enter Tikrit
Members of Iraqi government forces drive on the outskirts of the city of Tikrit as they prepare to launch a military operation to take control of the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters
The Iraqi forces enter a northern neighbourhood of Tikrit, marking a new stage in the operation launched 10 days ago to wrest the city back from jihadists, army officers said
]]>
Members of Iraqi paramilitary Popular Mobilisation units, which are dominated by Shi'ite militias, carry a box loaded with weapons on the outskirts of the northern city of Tikrit
]]>
Some 30,000 Iraqi soldiers, police and the increasingly influential paramilitary Popular Mobilisation units, which are dominated by Shi'ite militias, have been involved in the operation
]]>
Iraqi fighters in north Tikrit. The city has been one of the jihadists' main hubs since they overran large parts of Iraq nine months ago. Continue through for more pictures
]]>
Images of other fighters said to have been involved in the attacks also appeared on the internet.
Australian authorities have been unable to confirm that Bilardi has died in Iraq.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the reports were "absolutely horrific".
"It shows the lure, the lure of this death cult to impressionable youngsters and it's very, very important that we do everything we can to try to safeguard our young people against the lure of this shocking, alien and extreme ideology," he said.
The teenager, described as a shy but gifted maths student, converted to Islam after the death of his mother while he was at high school.
He travelled to the Middle East last year and after two months reportedly contacted his family to tell them he was training to become a suicide bomber.
However, he later told them he had changed his mind and was travelling to Syria to fight there.
Bilardi's passport was cancelled in October on the advice of security agencies, Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop said.
Police said they first learned about Bilardi when he was reported missing in late 2014.
Video:IS Militants Bulldoze Ancient City
While searching his home in Melbourne, officers found chemicals that could be used to make an explosive device.
No actual devices were found, police said.
Meanwhile, details of a blog reportedly written by the teenager have emerged.
In a long post entitled From Melbourne to Ramadi: My Journey, Abu Abdullah al-Australi, understood to be Bilardi's pseudonym, writes about his research into Islam and his upbringing.
"My life in Melbourne's working-class suburbs was, despite having its ups and downs just like everyone else, very comfortable. I found myself excelling in my studies, just as my siblings had, and had dreamed of becoming a political journalist," the blog reads.
"I always dreamed that one day I would travel to countries such as Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan to cover the situations in these lands."
The images of Bilardi and the other suspected suicide bombers were released the day after video emerged that appeared to show a young boy shooting dead a man IS claimed was an Israeli spy.
The parents of the Israeli Arab victim told Sky News they believed he had been killed because he had tried to run away from the group.
French officials said the boy and the man with him were French citizens who could be related to Mohammed Merah, who killed seven people in attacks on a Jewish school and paratroopers in 2012.
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As the investigation into Boris Nemtsov's murder continues, friends and former colleagues have warned of the dangerous climate of hatred and fear they say Russia's opposition now faces.
Pussy Riot singer Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who spent more than a year in a prison camp after her band's protest against Vladimir Putin, told Sky News she gets threats every day, and that Mr Nemtsov had recently urged her to hire a bodyguard.
Ms Tolokonnikova: 'They listen to this, and they want to kill us'
She blamed what she said was propaganda whipped up by Kremlin-controlled media, vilifying opposition leaders as 'national traitors' and 'fifth columnists' - a term used to denote agents provocateurs - citizens supposedly working against the Russian state.
"I think this aggressive mood is the first reason why Boris Nemtsov was murdered," she said.
Video:Public React To Nemstov Death
"I'm not an investigator, and I can't say by who, but my version is that it is a strict consequence of all these propaganda words."
"They create an image of the enemy and it is the Ukrainian people, or people who support Ukrainian people, who are against this war - so this is the 'fifth column', this is us, this is liberals."
"Every day they listen to this, and they want to kill us. I have to say that we don't only have a war in Ukraine, but we really have war here."
Ilya Yashin, co-leader of Mr Nemtsov's opposition party, said political responsibility for the murder must lie with the Russian president.
"It was Vladimir Putin who introduced the term 'national traitors'," he explained.
"It was Vladimir Putin who was inciting and provoking hatred towards Boris Nemtsov and people who are like him. In the end Putin's hatred has materialised in those bullets, which took Boris' life."
He showed Sky News the material Mr Nemtsov had been working on at the time of his death, including the handwritten notes he had been using to communicate because he believed his offices were bugged by the security services.
Video:'I Saw The Body Of My Close Friend'
He was gathering evidence he said would prove Russia's military involvement in Ukraine.
Yashin vowed to continue the work in Nemtsov's name and said he would not be intimidated into silence.
"Putin feels like he can do anything," he said. "He is sure that he can do absolutely anything without punishment. Putin must be stopped."
But voices like Ilya Yashin's are increasingly marginalised and denied access to the state-controlled TV channels, from which an estimated 90% of the population say they get their information.
Instead they feature 'patriots' like Yulia Berezikova - Russian mixed martial arts fighter, world champion kick-boxer, and one of the leaders of new pro-Kremlin movement 'Anti-Maidan'.
She says their movement is entirely independent of the government, and made up of ordinary citizens determined to stop those who would try to foment a Ukrainian-style colour revolution in Russia.
"The goal of the Anti-Maidan movement is to prevent colour revolutions," Berezikova explained.
1/6
Gallery: Boris Nemtsov: Funeral Of Murdered Putin Opponent Held In Moscow
People stand in line at a memorial service before the funeral of leading Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov in Moscow
Several hundred Russians, many carrying red carnations, queued to pay their respects. Mr Nemtsov was shot dead by an unknown gunman last week as he walked with his girlfriend
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Video:Police Officers Shot In Ferguson
By Sky News US Team
Two police officers have been shot during a protest against police racism that turned violent in Ferguson, Missouri.
Officers, many in riot gear, formed a guard around the police headquarters and witnesses have told how they heard four shots and saw two of them fall to the ground.
Immediately, other officers drew their weapons as the two on the ground were dragged away.
Michael Brown, 18, was on his way to college
Fighting also erupted among the crowd of demonstrators, with television footage showing people throwing punches.
The demonstration outside the police station and court building was taking place shortly after the resignation of police Chief Thomas Jackson, who quit following a scathing government report that exposed racial biases in his department and a profit-driven court system.
1/12
Gallery: Violence On Streets Of Ferguson, Missouri
Fury has erupted into fighting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, where two police officers have been shot during a demonstration
The city's police chief Thomas Jackson quit his post following a report that exposed racism in his department and a profit-driven court system
]]>
Protesters had been calling for Jackson's removal since the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white Ferguson police officer on August 9 last year
]]>
Following Jackson's resignation, crowds gathered outside the City of Ferguson Police Department, quickly turning violent overnight
]]>
Before Jackson, city manager John Shaw and then Municipal Court judge Ronald Brockmeyer stepped down from their jobs
]]>
The wounded officers were a 41-year-old from St Louis County who was shot in the shoulder and a 32-year-old from nearby Webster Groves who was shot in the face.
Both were taken to a local hospital, where they were conscious, St Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said.
He described their injuries as "very serious".
One protester, Marciay Pitchford, said: "I saw the officer go down and the other police officers drew their guns while other officers dragged the injured officer away," adding that the demonstration had been mostly peaceful until then.
Video:Ferguson Police Chief Stands Down
"All of a sudden everybody started running or dropping to the ground".
Chief Jackson is the sixth Ferguson city official to quit or be fired in the wake of the reports, the first of which cleared white police officer Darren Wilson of civil rights charges in the shooting of a black teenager Michael Brown last summer.
The St Louis suburb has been hit by unrest ever since.
On Tuesday, the city council voted unanimously to accept the resignation of City Manager John Shaw, who oversaw the police department.
Video:Riots And Racial Tension: A History
That followed Municipal Court Judge Ronald Brockmeyer's decision to step down on Monday.
Chief Jackson, who had previously resisted calls from protesters and some of Missouri's top officials to resign, told the St Louis Post-Dispatch he felt it was time to move on.
"I believe this is the appropriate thing to do at this time," he said. "This city needs to move forward without any distractions."
The 57-year-old embattled chief was widely criticised for his handling of the 9 August shooting of Mr Brown and subsequent protests.
Video:Ferguson Racism Report Explained
In his resignation letter, obtained by the Post-Dispatch, Mr Jackson said: "It has been an honor and a privilege to serve this great city and to serve with all of you.
"I will continue to assist the city in any way I can in my capacity as private citizen."
Ferguson Mayor James Knowles denied rumours that he would also resign, the newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The city plans to launch a nationwide search for a new police chief, it said in a statement.
Video:Attorney General On Ferguson Report
Meanwhile, Mr Brown's family have said they will file a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Ferguson and Darren Wilson.
Mr Wilson, who said he acted in self-defence, was cleared by a grand jury and the Justice Department of any wrongdoing.
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Two Police Officers Shot In Ferguson Protest
We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.
Video:Police Officers Shot In Ferguson
By Sky News US Team
Two police officers have been shot during a protest against police racism that turned violent in Ferguson, Missouri.
Officers, many in riot gear, formed a guard around the police headquarters and witnesses have told how they heard four shots and saw two of them fall to the ground.
Immediately, other officers drew their weapons as the two on the ground were dragged away.
Michael Brown, 18, was on his way to college
Fighting also erupted among the crowd of demonstrators, with television footage showing people throwing punches.
The demonstration outside the police station and court building was taking place shortly after the resignation of police Chief Thomas Jackson, who quit following a scathing government report that exposed racial biases in his department and a profit-driven court system.
1/12
Gallery: Violence On Streets Of Ferguson, Missouri
Fury has erupted into fighting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, where two police officers have been shot during a demonstration
The city's police chief Thomas Jackson quit his post following a report that exposed racism in his department and a profit-driven court system
]]>
Protesters had been calling for Jackson's removal since the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white Ferguson police officer on August 9 last year
]]>
Following Jackson's resignation, crowds gathered outside the City of Ferguson Police Department, quickly turning violent overnight
]]>
Before Jackson, city manager John Shaw and then Municipal Court judge Ronald Brockmeyer stepped down from their jobs
]]>
The wounded officers were a 41-year-old from St Louis County who was shot in the shoulder and a 32-year-old from nearby Webster Groves who was shot in the face.
Both were taken to a local hospital, where they were conscious, St Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said.
He described their injuries as "very serious".
One protester, Marciay Pitchford, said: "I saw the officer go down and the other police officers drew their guns while other officers dragged the injured officer away," adding that the demonstration had been mostly peaceful until then.
Video:Ferguson Police Chief Stands Down
"All of a sudden everybody started running or dropping to the ground".
Chief Jackson is the sixth Ferguson city official to quit or be fired in the wake of the reports, the first of which cleared white police officer Darren Wilson of civil rights charges in the shooting of a black teenager Michael Brown last summer.
The St Louis suburb has been hit by unrest ever since.
On Tuesday, the city council voted unanimously to accept the resignation of City Manager John Shaw, who oversaw the police department.
Video:Riots And Racial Tension: A History
That followed Municipal Court Judge Ronald Brockmeyer's decision to step down on Monday.
Chief Jackson, who had previously resisted calls from protesters and some of Missouri's top officials to resign, told the St Louis Post-Dispatch he felt it was time to move on.
"I believe this is the appropriate thing to do at this time," he said. "This city needs to move forward without any distractions."
The 57-year-old embattled chief was widely criticised for his handling of the 9 August shooting of Mr Brown and subsequent protests.
Video:Ferguson Racism Report Explained
In his resignation letter, obtained by the Post-Dispatch, Mr Jackson said: "It has been an honor and a privilege to serve this great city and to serve with all of you.
"I will continue to assist the city in any way I can in my capacity as private citizen."
Ferguson Mayor James Knowles denied rumours that he would also resign, the newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The city plans to launch a nationwide search for a new police chief, it said in a statement.
Video:Attorney General On Ferguson Report
Meanwhile, Mr Brown's family have said they will file a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Ferguson and Darren Wilson.
Mr Wilson, who said he acted in self-defence, was cleared by a grand jury and the Justice Department of any wrongdoing.
Sky News has spoken to a former member of Islamic State, who claims he witnessed the man known as Jihadi John murder Japanese hostage Kenji Goto.
The former translator said that the masked man in the video was indeed Mohammed Emwazi, the 26-year-old Londoner who has become the face of the world's most notorious terrorist organisation.
"Saleh" said Emwazi is employed as the chief killer of foreign hostages for Islamic State's media wing and that his murderous influence among the group is feared and respected.
Kenji Goto, 47, was killed by Islamic State earlier this year
Speaking from Turkey, where he fled to escape IS, Saleh explained in broken English how he was employed by the group to convince foreign hostages they were safe. He is the only person to admit seeing Emwazi kill.
He said: "When he killed Kenji Goto I live showed this [saw this] but not near, from a little [distance].
Video:Kuwaiti Ambassador On 'Jihadi John'
"After he was killed him, three or four person come and take over the body and put in a car. After that, John went on a different road.
"The big boss was there with them. Turkish man say 'put this camera there, change place there' but John [was] the big boss. All time, all time say to all 'fastly, fastly, fastly, we should finish'. So respect him. Only he talks orders – others do."
Saleh suggested Emwazi commanded such respect within the group because of his willingness to murder foreigners.
Video:Audio Recording Of Mohammed Emwazi
"Maybe because he use the knife," he said. "I cannot understand why he is so strong. One man can kill and all people will respect. A Syrian man anyone [in IS] can kill. But strangers [foreigners], only John."
Saleh claims foreign hostages captured and murdered by the group were subjected to numerous mock executions until the procedure became normal. It could explain why many hostages appeared calm in execution videos published online by the group.
He said: "He would say to me 'say to them, no problem, only video, we don't kill you, we want from your government [to] stop attacking Syria. We don't have any problem with you; you are only our visitors'.
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Gallery: Jihadi John's email exhanges with Cage and a reporter
This email Mohammed Emwazi sent to a Mail On Sunday reporter in 2010 revealed his first encounter and his fear of MI5
He later made contact with the campaign group Cage and told them about clashes with border control officers
