Google executive detained in Brazil for YouTube videos

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- The head of operations for Google in Brazil has been arrested after the site declined to remove two videos that criticized a local candidate, federal police said.

Fabio Jose Silva Coelho was to be released from custody in Sao Paulo immediately after signing a pledge to face the charges in court. He faces up to a year in jail if convicted.

Google had no immediate official comment on the arrest but had said it was appealing the “court’s decision to remove a video from YouTube because, as a platform, we are not responsible for the content uploaded to our site."

Brazilian politicians widely pride themselves on the country's freedom of expression, and the Web is full of critical content. But there are laws that prohibit “slander, insults or defamation” of candidates during electoral season. The country votes in municipal polling Oct. 7.

In this case, two videos accuse Alcides Bernal, who is running for mayor of Campo Grande, of “instigating abortion, drunkenness, harming a minor physically, illegally enriching himself” and “contempt and prejudice against the poor,” according to the decision issued by a court in the sparsely populated southwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

“We don’t want anything bad to happen to Google’s director,” Bernal told a local newspaper. “What we can’t allow is people with bad intentions, acting criminally, to use Google and YouTube to wage defamatory campaigns against people ... asking the people for votes.”

Last week, a similar order was issued for the arrest of Edmundo Luiz Pinto Balthazar, another Google executive, but a higher court overturned it, saying Balthazar couldn’t be held responsible for the contents of YouTube.

The most recent order was carried out Wednesday afternoon.

Courts have also backed a request by the National Union of Islamic Entities to force Google to remove the infamous “Innocence of Muslims” video, which sparked protests around the world. Google said Wednesday that it has not received any formal order in that case.

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-- Vincent Bevins in Sao Paulo and Emily Alpert in Los Angeles

Photo: Google executive Fabio Jose Silva Coelho, seen in a file photo, was detained by federal police Wednesday. Credit: Carol Carquejeiro / Agencia O Globo

Christian monastery is target of political vandalism in Israel

JERUSALEM -- A Christian monastery near Jerusalem was defiled overnight by vandals, who set the front door on fire and spray-painted insults to Christianity, including "Jesus is a monkey" on the outside walls.

A monk sleeping in one of the guest rooms at the Trappist monastery of Latrun awoke from the noise outdoors and extinguished the flames, while the guard called the police, according to Israeli media accounts.

Graffiti in Hebrew included the words "Ramat Migron" and "Maoz Esther" -- the names of two unauthorized Jewish outposts in the West Bank recently removed by Israeli authorities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack, calling for severe punishment for the perpetrators.

"Freedom of religion and freedom of worship are among Israel's basic foundations," Netanyahu said in a statement after meeting with the ministers of public security and defense to discuss what actions were being taken to apprehend the vandals.

West Bank mosque set on fire; extremists suspected

JERUSALEM -- A mosque in the West Bank village of Jabaa was set on fire late Monday or early Tuesday in an apparent act of political vandalism. The assailants spray-painted the walls with graffiti saying "the war has begun -- pay the price" and "Ulpana -- war," the latter a reference to an outpost of Jewish settlers soon to be dismantled.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the act and pledged swift apprehension of the perpetrators, whom he called "lawless, intolerant and irresponsible." In an update to his Facebook page, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said, "We must not allow such terrorist acts to continue." 

Pro-settlement extremists are suspected of carrying out what has become known as a price-tag operation: vandalism meant to impose a price for actions that are perceived as attacks on the settlers' movement.

The arson at Jabaa comes as the Israeli government is preparing to evict residents from five buildings at an outpost known as Ulpana hill by the end of the month and negotiating with settlement leaders in hopes of avoiding violence.

'Oasis of Peace' Israeli village targeted by vandals

REPORTING FROM JERUSALEM -- Arab and Jewish residents living together in the village of Neve Shalom -- Wahat al-Salam ("Oasis of Peace") awoke Friday to find the community had been vandalized overnight.

The perpetrators spray-painted "death to Arabs" and "revenge" on buildings and cars, and slashed the tires of more than a dozen cars.

The vandalism is the latest in a series of attacks attributed to right-wing Jewish extremists. Dubbed "price-tag operations," these actions target Palestinians in the West Bank and pro-peace bodies inside Israel in response to government moves against settlers. There have been arson attacks against mosques and death threats to staff of the anti-settlement organization Peace Now.

Earlier this week, the Knesset -- Israel's parliament -- defeated a bill to legalize settlement outposts built illegally on privately owned Palestinian land. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invested considerable political effort to block the bill, which would have caused Israel trouble with the international community.

It would also have contradicted the government's pledge to the Supreme Court to dismantle houses on Givat Haulpana, a disputed project in the West Bank settlement of Beit-El. Netanyahu will relocate the houses and intends to build hundreds more in the West Bank.

Following the vote upholding the evacuation, settlers and supporters clashed with police in Jerusalem. Netanyahu is negotiating with settlers for a peaceful evacuation but some are concerned that the removal, slated for coming weeks, could turn violent as in previous cases.

"Regards from Givat Haulpana," read one graffiti message left overnight, making the connection clear.

This is the first time the village has experienced such an attack. 

"These crimes are a direct continuation of incitement waged by ministers and lawmakers against Palestinian citizens of Israel," said Ahmad Hijazi, director of the School for Peace, which runs programs from the village. "Now this is spilling over to target the left wing too," Hijazi said.

Muslim cleric suspected of terrorism loses bail appeal in London

LONDON -- A Muslim cleric imprisoned on suspicion of terrorism in Britain and convicted in absentia in Jordan on similar charges will remain in a British jail while awaiting a hearing on his appeal of an extradition order, a judge said Monday during a bail hearing.

Judge John Mittings of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission said at the hearing that Abu Qatada's case against deportation to Jordan, his homeland, would be heard in mid-October, with a final verdict a month later. In the meantime, the cleric will remain in a high-security jail, the judge ordered.  

Qatada's defense lawyers said they would need until late September to assemble further evidence, delaying the British Home Office's efforts to deport the 51-year-old cleric any sooner.

The bail hearing was conducted behind closed doors as the court heard reports from intelligence officers. The judge eventually ruled that he could not risk releasing the cleric during the next few months while London is hosting the Summer Olympics.

A Home Office statement said: "Qatada is a dangerous man and we are pleased the court agreed with us that he should remain behind bars before he is deported."

Media spotlight may not help Norwegian killer spread views

Norwegian television has been banned from broadcasting the testimony of confessed killer Anders Behring Breivik as he goes on trial, yet his chilling declarations about why and how he killed scores of people have still made headlines around the world.

The deluge of reporting on Breivik has caused a backlash from disgusted Norwegians; one Norwegian newspaper website  allows people to browse a Breivik-free edition by clicking a button. Many complain that Breivik has gotten exactly what he wanted:  a platform  for spreading his views.

Yet experts disagree on whether airing his ideas will spread them. Very little is known about how people become radicalized, let alone how the media play into that, said Ben O’Loughlin, a Royal Holloway University of London professor who studies media and security.

Censoring his words could easily backfire, he said. “If you tell people these views are too extreme for us to show you, people immediately go on to the Internet to look for them,” O’Loughlin said.

The news that Breivik has a Massachusetts pen pal who calls his actions "atrocious but necessary" seemed to bear out the worst fears about the media blitz. Tad Tietze, a Sydney psychiatrist who contributed to a book on the murders, said Breivik is targeting his message to others who believe that Muslims are "invading their lands," hoping to convince them that violence is needed.

"His ideas can get out there via media and win them over," Tietze said. "Journalists are in a very, very difficult position,  because the trial is of obvious public interest and does need to be reported."

Others believe that Breivik is ultimately more likely to turn people against extremism. Norwegian anthropologist Thomas Hylland Eriksen, called as an expert witness in the case, told British television station ITN that Breivik was so distasteful that airing his views would be more like “a mosquito repellent,” showing people "how bad it could get if they are attracted to these crazy notions of purity and cleansing."

Radical right-wing parties that believe Europe is under threat from immigration have toned down their rhetoric since the killings, said Jamie Bartlett, head of the violence and extremism program at the Demos think tank. The Norwegian Progress Party, which Breivik once belonged to, has lost support.

"I think the interest in censoring him is that we want to punish him, rather than fear of these ideas themselves," said Padraig Reidy, news editor of Index of Censorship, a free-speech group.