♪ a former sue-- hussein ally is killed in iraq. living in fear migrant workers arm themselves against more attacks as violence spreads to the streets of johannesburg. the u.n. calls for a ceasefire in yemen, and launches an appeal to help those suffers. plus u.s. troops arrive to give ukraine a helping hand in

the fight against pro-russian rebels. and moscow is not happy. ♪ again with the breaking news out of iraq a former iraqi vice president has been killed. he is said to have helped a role in helping isil to expand. omar joining us live on the phone from baghdad. he has been on the run for more than a decade. >> yes, he was, and he was very elusive. the americans considered him the -- [ inaudible ] so was the iraqi government. he found them. he did [ inaudible ] after the execution of saadam hussein, he

became the head of the party which has been banned in iraq. he formed an armed group. he gathered all of the members of the former regime including members of the security forces the former iraqi arms and other nationalists into a movement that thought the iraqi government when they were in [ inaudible ] last year however, [ inaudible ] his men made a temporary alliance with isil. they took over power, but there were differences between the two, and then isil kind of turned their backs on them. so at the later stage he denounced isil several times. >> omar is there any reason to think that his death will have any effect on the situation on the ground? >> i'm not quite sure it will because the recent fighting is

mainly between isil and the government forces and their allies from the mobilization shores which are made of powerful shia military but i think it will have some sort of a moral impact on the [ inaudible ] group. it will demoralize them at this time. however, i don't think it will have a direct effect on the frighting on the ground. >> omar thank you so much. south african's prime minister is calling for diplomatic support from neighboring nations to stop the seen know phobic attacks. >> reporter: they have armed themselves with machetes after attempted break-ins at shops.

22 people were arrested overnight. the south african government has set up camps for the migrants to seek safety. for some in durbin it is disspare and they just want to go home. >> [ inaudible ] taken away. and they don't leave anything for now. [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: also recently graffiti has arrived. >> i adopt always go because we know the problem in our country, coming from a war country, and then some of us have some problems in our country. >> reporter: ethiopia's prime minister has joined the reaction. >> as africans we all feel we have contributed for the liberation of south -- south africa from the yolk of

colonialism and apartheid, so africans should come together and should live everywhere where they want to leave. >> reporter: resentment towards migrants has been rising. however, for others the violence is a legacy of apartheid. >> it's a combination of -- of sectors in a confluence of factors. there is no doubt a -- a mob culture and a mob movement what our minister of education yesterday called a third force at work here. >> reporter: south africa's president has condemned the violence and set up a border management agency but many fear repeat of seven years ago when

60 people were killed and many other injured in similar attacks. the united nations says it needs $275 million to meet humanitarian needs in yemen over the next two years. the situation is deteriorating with food supplies running short. the world food program says it will need to distribute food for over 100,000 displaced people in the city of aden in the next few days. it is estimated that over 10 million people are already short of food but it now says that the escalating violence has left more than 12 million yemenese in need of assistance. the world food direct no, sir yemen says the embargo is making the situation worse. >> the air strikes are on a constant basis.

as i came in here i got a message from my team in aden and sana'a, that the air attacks have been constant and there has been great tension and displaced from their homes, and seeking shelter elsewhere. the situation is bad because the -- the various commercial sectors, are providing food or fuel as well are not functioning. people are hungry. there is no -- embargo on moving shipments into the country, a country that has been totally dependent on commercial imports for both food and fuel have limited access to the food that they could purchase or be able in the local stores. to add to it is the problem of fuel which is now really making things very difficult, because the opportunities that were available for humanitarian sense, particularly a national staff who are working day and

night in the -- in the country, they find it difficult now to move. they find it difficult to move the food stocks that we had positioned in the country just before the crisis erupted. we're finding it difficult to get enough fuel to move the food to the people who need the food. the united nations has lined up a new special envoy to yemen. he has worked for 28 years with the u.n. in africa and the middle east. his predecessors resigned on wednesday. on the military front, tribes fighting on the side of president hadi have received reinforcement in the city of marie. the president's supporters have also been making gains in aden.

jamal has the latest. >> reporter: there are reenforements for the popular resistance committees and tribes fighting the houthi rebels and their allies. >> translator: we are the sons of marebe we reject the houthiings. we will not leave here except victorious and we will die fighting. >> translator: [ inaudible ] though graveyard of every invader, we will not let down our yemeni brothers who will defeat the houthis. [ gunfire ] >> in ta'izz yemen's biggest city and the birthplace of the uprising which ousted saleh in

2011, houthi fighters are stationed on the main roads. they have been trying to con late their control of the city which has seen as the gateway to southern yemen. but further south, it's the opposition who appear to be gaining momentum. they are making gains every day, particularly in aden. street to street battles continue in the middle of the city. with tanks and heavy shelling as they try to force the houthis to retreat or surrender. aden's streets are practically empty, except for fighters on both sides. rubbish is piling up everywhere because there are no government services. some young yemenese are risking their lives to clean the streets

themselves. president bashar al-assad has given an interview to a swedish tv network. friday is syria national day and meant to be a time of yunty, but the country remains bitterly divided. terrorism is a global issue, assad said. >> as long as you have terrorism growing in different european countries, sweden cannot be safe. as long as the backyard of europe especially the mediterranean, and northern africa is in chaos and full of terrorists, europe cannot be safe. >> syrian government forces have stepped up attacks in idlib. activists say barrel bombs were dropped on the eastern side of aleppo city. at least ten people were killed in two neighbors. and bombs containing toxic gas

reportedly dropped by government aircraft. human rights workers say there have been more than 100 strikes in the area recently. since the arrival of nearly 300 u.s. yups in eastern ukraine is russia says could seriously destabilize the region. as fighting continues with pro-russian rebels in eastern ukraine. rory challands has more on the reaction from moscow. >> reporter: you can probably assume that the kremlin is a bit more worried about this than they are letting on. they will see this as part of a continuation of nato encroachment on russia and they have always been against the joining of ukraine into the nato security umbrella. obviously this isn't going that far, but they are not going to look on this kindly at all.

another thing that the russians will be watching very very closely is exactly who is being trained by these u.s. paratroopers because included in ukraine's national guard are various irregular units that have been fighting against the pro-russian separatists in the east. and some of those are on the far right of the political spectrum. so if it is proven that brigades like the bah italian are included it will give the russians a very strong case that the u.s. is training armies. behind bars without charge or trial, israel continues to detain thousands of palestinians despite protests. and why some of the world's best coffee beans are leaving a bitter taste for traders in kenya. ♪

♪ welcome back. here are the top stories now on al jazeera. a former iraqi vice president has been killed. he is said to have played a role in helping isil expand. he created one of the most powerful sunni armed groups which have been fighting the iraqi army in tikrit in recent weeks. south african's prime minister is calling for diplomatic support from neighboring nations. they have dispersed migrant men

armed with machetes after attempted break-ins at shops. the u.n. is asking for funds for civilians in yemen. more now on the war in syria. u.n. security council members were moved to tears by graphic pictures of suspected chlorine gas attacks in syria. they also heard first-hand accounts from syrian doctors who treated the victims, including children. >> reporter: this shocking video was filmed in the immediate aftermath of a chemical attack in syria last year. the pictures of doctors trying to revive young children were shown to security council ambassadors. they were shocked. many were moved to tears. >> the video in particular of the attempts to resuscitate the

children, i don't -- i mean if the there was a dry eye in the room i -- i didn't see it. it was -- it's just devastating to see the facts of what this regime is doing. so people were visibly moved. >> some of the worst stuff i have ever had to watch, i have got to say. there were moments where all i wanted to do was to look away and then i realized that the people we were seeing had to live through this and regrettably they had to die through it. >> reporter: security council members heard evidence from two syrian doctors, and from a survivor of a chemical attack. they later briefed reporters. >> translator: in the video you can see that the patients were one on top of the other, and that's because we received many sick people in a short amount of time. as far as my feelings of course it was very disturbing. every time i rewatch the video, i remember that events that occurred. >> reporter: this man says he

was one of the victims of an air rin attack. >> they gave up on me because they thought i was dead. until a friend of mine realized i was still alive. called the doctor again, and gave me for treatment, and for some reason i came back to life. >> reporter: the video was filmed just ten days before the security council vote. the u.s. is among security council members condemning what they say is a clear act of deviance by the say sawed-- assad government. russia would almost certainly block any condemnation of the syrian government in the security council and the obama administration remains reluctant to take any military action. james bayes, al jazeera, the united nations. palestinians are honoring

pilsner's day. there are thousands in detention. some stay in jail for years without ever knowing why. >> reporter: these pictures show the israeli army rounding up palestinians on wednesday. a scene that is repeated across the occupied west bank almost every night. when israel carries out these raids, palestinian security forces are not informed. israel currently holds 6,000 palestinians in its prisons, 450 are held in administrative detention. this means detaining them without charge or trial on indefinitely renewable military orders. this man spent over 13 years in administrative detention. he was released two weeks ago, and while detained he has missed the birth of his two children some of their weddings and the

funerals of his mother and two siblings. >> translator: israeli policy is based on net letting inmates know the reason for detention. this causes a psychological conflict. >> reporter: palestinians protest the policy regularly, and this is one of many demonstrations held in the west bank to honor palestinian pilsner's day. one in every four palestinians has at some point been detained since israel began its occupation. for decades the united nations has been calling on israel to stop detaining palestinians without charge or trial, because it violates the geneva convention. israel says administrative detention is a legal tool it uses sparingly and insists detain detain's have the right to

appeal. >> when fighting vicious terrorist organizations -- who have no hesitation in murdering israelis we have no choice. >> reporter: abuseings of inmates also occur according to palestinian legal organizations. >> translator: testimonies from lawyers confirm that many prisoners are suffering from illnesses as a result of torture and the policy of medical negligence. >> reporter: in the last year the number of palestinians held in administrative detention has tripled. with no political progress on peace talks, palestinian prisoners have little hope that things will get any better. italy is appealing for help to cope with an unprecedented flow of new arrivals as migrants continue to make the dangerous

journey across the mediterranean mediterranean. hundreds arrive on friday. over the past week more than 7,000 people mainly from africa and the middle east have braved the journey to escape poverty or conflict. this expert says the spike in arrive may spark new action from the e.u. government. >> many things are now on the table. there are many many discretions around different solutions to be implemented. but i think what happened over the last few days is going to put more pressure on e.u. leaders to take the appropriate solutions. now i think the idea of relaunching the maritime operation which has been advocated for by many high-level stakeholders is one solution that could be clearly discussed

today or tomorrow and implemented in a pretty fat manner. a memorial service has been held for the victims of the germanwings plane crash. relatives, rescue workers, airline employees and top politicians gathered. all people on board were killed last month. the co-pilot is thought to have deliberately crashed the jet after locking the captain out of the cockpit. police in bah rundy have fired tear gas and protesters protesting against the president running for reelection. it is has been 40 years since fighters first marched

into the cambodian capitol phnom penh. an estimated 2 million cambodians were killed during the four-year rule of pol pot. amnesty international says the jail of a political leader is persecution. her lawyers say she will appeal against the conviction for leaking state secrets to foreign news organizations. the 71 year old became famous for her hard hitting reports on the elite. >> reporter: the conviction of the 71 year old journalist comes as no surprise to those watching here as the state also controls china's court. he was arrested for divulging state secrets. the secret in question is a

memo known as document number 1. in that document it is revealed that the chinese party leadership is concerned over the infiltration of western ideals which could corrupt and lead to the disintegration of china's leadership. it came out that the political reform that the chinese government has been talking about is possibly not true. that he intends to keep things exactly as they are, and the human rights violations that are seen will continue. her conviction is just the latest in the growing list advocates say of human rights violations perpetrated by the communist party here in china. she intends to appeal. kenya produces exceptional coffee enjoyed all over the

world, brings in millions of dollars and provides job as well. but production is on the decline. and that worries many kenyans. >> reporter: this man begins his weekly task of tasting dozens of pots of coffee. he grades them so his employer can decide what to bid for. coffee exports provide kenya with a lot of money each year. downstairs traders collect the samples for tasting. but many are worried about the business because coffee production has been going down since the 1980s. this coffee is some of the best in the world and is surrounded by hundreds of samples. a lot of the leading coffee

brands include kenyan coffee in their blend to bring up the value. and because of this kenya coffee fetches as high of price as it can on the international market. but they say there are a number of factors between here at the exchange and the farmers that grow it that mean a lot of those farmers don't want to grow it anymore. a lot of coffee plants around the city have been pulled up and the land sold to developers but new properties don't provide jobs in the long term. this is one of the farmers who is still growing coffee. she is 81. she says he is gets a fair price. but she says many of her neighbors gave up. >> translator: sometimes the cooperative meals were not well organized. there were a few people who could help and advise so people opted out. >> reporter: this is the ceo.

>> price is not a problem, production is the problem. when you look at the production capacity of a bush it can go up to even above 40 kilos per bush. currently we are producing [ inaudible ]. and that's not a problem. >> reporter: here kenyan coffee may make good money, for the farmers to earn enough they need advise and investment. the government says it is trying to help. everyone in the business including robert hopes for a turn around in the coming years. millions of kenyan jobs depend on it. how is this for a near miss. keep watching the video is coming. it is not running backwards. it's the falcon nine rocket returning after delivering supplies to the international

space station. the second time touchdown has ended in fiery failure. the engineers are hoping the third time will be a charm. a reminder you can keep up to date on all of the news by going to our website, aljazeera.com. challenging president obama executive action on immigration, you are looking live at a protest in new orleans, as a panel of judges prepares to hear a lawsuit that seeks to block any path to citizenship. we are outside the courthouse. american boots on the ground in ukraine. we'll get the kem listen's response to a symbolic move by the pentagon live from moscow. and an ohio man set to appear in court within the hour