http://www.fourwinds10.net 2013-05-24T15:22:15+01:00 text/html 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.fourwinds10.net http://www.fourwinds10.net/siterun_data/bellringers_corner/meditation/news.php?q=1335538699 text/html 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.fourwinds10.net http://www.fourwinds10.net/siterun_data/bellringers_corner/meditation/news.php?q=1298998441 PST Baghdad - -- At least 19 people were killed in Iraq on Friday as tens of thousands defied an official curfew to join a nationwide "Day of Rage," echoing protests that have roiled the Middle East and North Africa since January. Despite pleas by the government and Shiite religious leaders for Iraqis to stay home, demonstrators gathered by the hundreds and thousands from Basra in the south to Mosul and Kirkuk in the north. Protesters expressed anger and rage at local leaders as well as at Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, storming provincial government offices in several cities and calling for more jobs, electricity and clean water, better pensions and medical care. Security forces used tear gas, water cannons, sound bombs and at times live bullets to disperse the crowds. Fatalities were reported in Mosul, Fallujah, Tikrit and a town near Kirkuk, when security forces opened fire on demonstrators who were surrounding - or in some cases storming - government buildings.