>> isil says that it detonated a car bomb outside of the u.s. consulate in erbil killing three people. 27 more have died in attacks in baghdad. hello, you're watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up, foreigners arm themselves in south africa after shops are torched overnight in johannesburg. the u.n. abeals appeals for millions of dollars to help in

the fight against yemenis. >> the french helped america win the war of independence over 200 years ago. there have been a series of bombings in iraq, including in a city where these sorts of attacks are rare. the u.s. state department has condemned an attack at a consulate in erbil where it killed three people and another five from injured. gunfire was heard shortly afterwards. that explosion followed a number of bombings in the capital of baghdad. 27 people died in those attacks. no group has claimed responsibility for the blast in the iraqi capital. the most lethal attack dame when a car bomb went off in a daughter dealership in eastern baghdad. let's get more from erbil where

that bomb went off outside of the u.s. consulate. >> the car bomb went off at about 5:45 p.m. local time in the district near the u.s. consulate. we were very close to this explosion when it happened. it was very loud. local sources are telling us that three people have been killed. possibly more. eight people have been injured including two americans and one turkish national. this is very unusual for erbil. usually it's very safe and it's feared much the violence that has been seen against isil in iraq. in baghdad 27 people were killed on friday in a wave of bomb blasts. most deadly of which in the east of baghdad and a car dealership. u.s. officials and kurdish officials have applauded the gains made in iraq, but i think

it's clear to say that with these latest attacks it's too early to say that the tide has been turned. >> in other developments iraq's outlawed baath party are denying reports that one of its high-profile members have been killed. a former deputy to hasan hussein. he was the king of clubs in the famous members of saddam's regime. there are calls on the leaders of south africa to do away with the attacks in the african country. >> in is a zulu war chant.

these men want african migrants out of south africa. they accuse them of stealing jobs. >> that's people must go and commit crimes back where they come from. but they don't rob people where they are they come from. the government only about themselves not us. >> fear spreads in johannesburg. >> it's been the scene of the worst violence certainly here today. behind me these men with been turning tires there is a burned out vehicle here. they have vowed to kick the foreigners out of this area. >> earlier police use rubber-coated bullets and tear gas. this is one of two car shops

owned by nigerians that was set on fire. the government has promised to put an end to the violence against migrants. the police are investigating text messages allegedly invite inciting hate against foreigners. >> the government needs to give us a chance. >> we are one africa. and we love south africa. that's why we are here. >> ethiopia's prime minister is one of a number of african leaders who have condemned the violence. >> as africans we all feel that we have contributed to for the

liberation of south africa from apartheid. so africa should come together, and should live where they want to be. base >> no matter what politicians here and across africa say it did little to stem the tied of violence in south africa. >> the united nations has launched a new appeal for aid to help people displaced by the war in yemen. amper said that it needs $275 million over the next three months. most of it for food aid. it already costs more than 10 million people who are food insecure that number has risen to 12 million.

they need 100 tons of food per month to help those in yemen but they currently have only 37,000 tons. >> there are people who are extremely vulnerable at this moment. we have food stops that could reach out to 300,000 people in the coming days. right now our distributions are taking place in aden. we've had contributions to people in aden, however the security situation is so grave that people who are out doing the distributions are finding it very difficult to reach those in need. there are people who are retreat because their houses and shelters are no longer in existence. >> they have called on all sides to respect aid missions.

>> we hope that everyone will respect the aid operations. we call for everybody to respect and observe all the channels that are open for contact and coordination. >> well, on the military front tribes fighting on the side of president hady have received reinforcements not far from the capital of sanaa. supporters have been making gains in aden but have so far failed to take control of taiz, yemen's most populated city. we have the latest on the fighting on the ground. >> pick up trucks pick up fighters east of the yemeni capital. they are reinforcements for the popular resistence in fighting shia houthi rebels and their allies. both sides have been battling

control of the year which is a two-hour drive from sanaa. >> we are the sons of maryb. we reject the houthies. we will not leave here except victorious and we will die fighting. we'll sacrifice our money and all of our belongings to defend our land. >> this is a graveyard of our invader. we will not let down our brothers, we will defeat the houthies. >> from the south yemen's biggest city taiz, houthi fighters are stationed on the main roads. together with soldiers loyal to the deposed president they have been trying to consolidate the city, which is seen as a gateway to southern yemen. but further south it's the oppositation that appears to be gaining momentum. the popular resistence

organizations are making gains every day particularly in aden. street battles continue in the center of the city. as they try to force the houthi toss retreat or surrender. because of the gunfire 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 yemenis are risking their lives to clean the streets themselves to make sure that deceases are not added to the long list of challenges that yemenis have to endure. >> greece has appealed to the european union for more help policing its sea borders as more migrants arrives. it comes as italy struggles to deal with an unprecedented number of migrants headed to its shores.

13,000 people mainly from africa and the middle east have tried to escape poverty or conflict. from the ports in sicily, paul brennan reports. >> the shear numbers involved in the current mediterranean migrant crisis are overshadowing the individual physical suffering they endure as they try to make it. but aid workers say the hardships are becoming worse and worse. they come to lampedusa on friday suffering from appalling burn injuries. small children were affected. aid workers say it was the worst they had ever seen. >> usually due to the conditions they're sitting in in the boat. sitting in fuel and salty water for a few days, so they come in burnt. nothing as bad as this. >> operation tritan took over

the responsibility for patrol patrolling european borders. it's the sicilian port hundreds more were brought to shore on friday after their overcrowded boat was intercepted by italian cost coast guards. operation tritan has scaled back operations but it does not mean that they have stopped all operations. the italian coast guard picked up 300 migrant survivors from a stricken vessel. >> sicilians have shown extraordinary compassion for the migrants. the mayor says that sympathy is the only reaction to such suffering. >> we can't push these people away. it's not right. we have to save them.

they're human beings. in august 2014 we had boat containing 45 corpses. 45 bodies almost liquified inside the boat. i want to be the mayor who welcomes migrants. not the mayor who receives bodies in ignorance. >> we may never know how many migrants are drowning every day. but so far this year alone its estimated nearly a thousand people have lost their lives. yet europe still has no comprehensive plan to tackle the issue. paul brennan al jazeera. sicily. >> still to come on al jazeera, new footage which suggests farc rebels attacked colombian soldiers as they slept. >> and why there is worry over the state of the coffee market.

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>> welcome back. let's update you on the top stories. a car bomb has gone off outside of the u.s. consulate in erbil the capital of kurdistan region where these sorts of attacks are rare. and in baghdad 27 people have been killed in bomb attacks. several shops and cars have been burnt in downtown johannesburg as fighting continues between i am brands and locals in south africa. and the u.n. said that it needs $275 million to meet humanitarian needs in yemen over the next three months. well in other news ukraine wants the international criminal court to investigate alleged war

crimes in crimea and. the u.n. says over the past year fighting in the country has killed more than 6,000 people. rory challands has more on the reaction to the u.s. deployment to u.k. >> you can assume that kremlin is more worried about this than they're letting on. they'll see this as part of a 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 won't look kind kindly on this at all. another thing they'll watch closely for is who is training.

included in ukraine's national guard are various irregular units fighting against the pro-russian operatests in the east. and some of those are on the far right of the political spectrum. so if it is proven that brigades are included in this training program, it will give the russians a very strong case to be able to say that the u.s. army is training fascists and neo-nazis. farc rebels deny break the cease-fire but footage of soldiers killed in sleeping bags suggests they were killed while they slept. 11 soldiers died in the attack prompting colombia's president to order a resumption of airstrikes on farc. we have more where attorney

general's office were attacked. >> three days after the rebels killed 11 soldiers in and another 20 injured. the signs of the attacks are everywhere. there is still the blood of the soldiers that were killed. doctors without borders the international red cross and other ngos to try to understand exactly what happened that night. the government said that there was an ambush on part of the rebels in clear violation of the cease-fire they announced back in december. while farc said that there was a legitimate action following military operation notice area, there are still more questions than answers about what exactly happened here, but it seems quite clear that the final

attack happened while the soldiers were resting in the center of the town. now many here are speculating that the reason behind the attack was to push the government to accept a full bilateral cease-fire that is not going to happen. the president already announceed that the air raid will resume against farc camps. another possibility also disconcerting is that the local column of the farc here may decide to react to the military presence and attack the soldiers without their commanders knowing. >> u.s. president barack obama said that italy is on the right track in economic reforms. he made the comments during an italian prime minister renzi. they agreed to work together to solve the migrant crisis in the

mediterranean. >> we also spent considerable amount of time discussing our deep shared concern for the situation in libya. where we continue to support u.n. efforts to form an unity government, given italy's leadership role across the mediterranean, the prime minister and i agreed to work together for intensively to encourage cooperation on threats coming from lib y including the growing isil presence there, as well as additional coordination with other partners in how we can stabilize what has become a very deadly and difficult situation. >> amnesty international said that the seven-year jail sentence given to a journalist in china is blatant abuse. the 71-year-old became famous in china for her hard-hitting reports on political elights. now kenya produces exceptional

certify that coffee that isen joyed all over the world but production is declining and that's worrying many kenyans. as malcolm web reports from the nairobi coffee exchange. >> thethe weekly task of testing dozens of cups of coffee. he grades them so people know what to bid for in the upcoming auction. coffee provides an income for about 150,000 small-scale farmers. most of it is tasted and then traded here. downstairs traders elect the samples for testing but many are worried about the bus because coffee production has been going down since the 1980s. this could have any is among the best of the world and we're surrounded by hundreds of samples of kenyan coffee

awaiting auction. it allows them to bring up the quality of coffee brought from other countries and the traders say because of this reason kenyan coffee fetches about as high a price that it can on the international market, but there are a number of factors between here at the exchange and the farmers that grow it that mean that farmers don't want to grow it any more. nairobi's construction boom is part of it. a lot of coffee plants have been pulled up and the land sold to developers. the new properties don't provide jobs in the long term. had farmer is 81, she said she gets a fair price and provides a steady income throughout her life. many of her neighbors have give up. >> there were mean who could help and advise, so people opted out. >> back at the exchange they

know the business better than most he's the ceo. >> production is the problem. when you look at the production capacity over a bush, if it can go up 40 40 40-kilos per bush. >> here on the trading form kenyan coffee may make good money, but for the farmers to earn enough and to keep their plans they need advice and investment. the government says it's 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. malcolm webb, al jazeera. nairobi. >> well, the world's first expresso machine designed for astronauts has made it safely to the international space station.

the delivery was captured by italian astronaut with the help of a giant robot. they have been stuck with instant coffee since her mission began in november, so she'll perhaps be happier now. and it contains much-needed groceries, experiments and equipment. >> memorial services have been held for the victims of the plane crash into the french apps last month. plane have gathered to remember those who died. we have this report. >> reporter: it's more than three weeks since the crash in in the french alps. but the grief of the relatives of the victims is still raw. hundreds made the journey to the

commemoration incal in cologne cathedral. they were joined by germany's president and it's chancellor. >> this tears your heart apart. the knowledge that no power in the world can make the loss. even if we can't do that, it doesn't mean that we humans can't do anything but stand next to our suffering fellow human beings, by standing with them. this way we share their grief their mourning. >> during the service the congregation heard readings from the bible and later the presidents of germany and germanwings were given angels to symbolize the victims. >> many gathered outside in a sense of compassion. >> i'm so sorry about what

happened. i'm here out of sympathy for the poor people, particularly the families. all those who are left behind who suffer so much. >> i wanted to take in the mourning. it's important to me. >> this is the final official act of commemoration for germany's lost. the official incurry into why it happened is still ongoing. dominic kane, al jazeera, cologne. >> now for 18 years conservatives man have been building a replica of the french navy frigate that carried to north america to fight in the war of independence. jonah hull met the crew. >> some volunteer crew members have little sailing experience, enthusiasm got them on board and a taste for adventure. they're about to set stale on a

replica war chip bound for the shores of north america. not just any warship. among the sleekest fighting vessels of her day. >> she represents a very important part of french maritime history doesn't she? >> oh, sure. well this is--this ship is one of the four that was one of the very best that the french navy ever built. >> built to take on the english. >> sure, and also the fact that it carries the over to boston, carrying to washington the news that the king of france had accepted to go again at war against the british. >> that was going to help them beat-- >> oh, definitely. >> when she was built in 1779,

the original was the jewel of the french navy at a time when britannia ruled the waves when she set off to beat the english in the war of independence, they knew that the 66-meter, 32-begun barracuda could outsail anything she could not outshoot. it took 17 years to build this perfect replica the ship of liberty as she was known. that sailed like a bird. >> in life you need a dream. money comes and goes. everybody dreams about this ship. >> these are the crews' quarters. >> mm-hmm. this is the crew that is often-- >> what will the food be like? >> it will be very good.:

>> are you cooking? >> the food will be very good. >> well-fed and watered they'll cast off on saturday on a voyage following in the wake of history. jonah hull al jazeera. >> more on that story and everything else we're covering on our website www.aljazeera.com. >> new york new york. eight point four million people call this city home. >> twenty-four degrees snowing hard in central park going down to twenty in midtown. snowfall one to two feet. so they're now saying we could have snow falling as rapidly as five inches an hour. >> this has been the coldest winter here in eighty-one years. and it coincides with a grim reality. more people in new york city are