Attacks across Iraq have killed at more than 50 people.



Local reports say there have been 34 deaths in Baghdad after gunmen opened fire on police patrols and car bombs killed residents in a number of areas, including the Karrada district - a mainly Shi’ite area of the capital.



Around 250 people have been wounded.



The violence has been taking place across the country, with explosions also happening in Kirkuk, Diyala, Tikrit, Baquba and Iskandariya.



After initial calm, recent weeks have seen an increase in attacks since the withdrawal of US troops in December.



Iraqi officials had predicted there would be attempts to stir sectarian tensions after American forces went home.                            ____________________________
       From 1982 to 2007, appellant Nicholas Noussias suffered 12 criminal convictions,
three of them for serious or violent felonies and the last three for possession of controlled
substances. He served six prison terms and six jail terms in that period and violated
probation and parole multiple times. In November 2009, appellant pleaded no contest to
two counts of failing to register as a sex offender (the registration requirement arising
from a 1982 conviction for forcible rape) and was sentenced to six years in prison, the
term suspended pending completion of five years of formal probation.
    