In Brief

Detractors suspect al-Maliki's ambitions

BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has sanctioned politically charged arrests of prominent Sunnis, personally supervised military operations and moved to sideline rivals in recent months, actions that have evoked memories of the country's authoritarian past. His defenders say that al-Maliki is trying to prevent the breakup of Iraq by establishing a strong central state. Detractors, including several Iraqi politicians and at least one Western official, suspect him of having ambitions to become "a benevolent Shiite Saddam." Al-Maliki has broken from the model of a severely constrained central government championed by the Americans since they ousted President Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.

Abuse reports set off Orthodox firestorm

NEW YORK : Since he broached the subject on his radio show this summer, State Assemblyman Dov Hikind says that dozens of people have come forward with stories about children being molested in the Orthodox community, which strictly follows Jewish law. Hikind says as many as four people a day have come to him over the past three months with painful accounts of secrets often kept for decades, accusing more than 60 individuals. He says he wants to focus now on setting up a broader framework for addressing the issue. His campaign has set off a firestorm in the Orthodox community, where people are reluctant to involve secular authorities. "In our community, people don't talk about the things that they've come to my office" and revealed, said Hikind, himself an Orthodox Jew.