Protests multiplied

POPULAR protests multiplied across Iraq on Wednesday as thousands of demonstrators braved live fire and tear gas in rallies that have left nine dead in 24 hours. The demonstrations have posed the first major challenge to Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, who formed his government a year ago this month and who controversially blamed the violence on “aggressors” among the protesters. Since erupting in Baghdad on Tuesday, they have spread to other cities in the country’s south, with crowds railing against State corruption, failing public services and unemployment. On Wednesday, five protesters and a police officer were shot dead in the southern city of Nasiriyah.