Briefly

BRAZIL

March for Jesus draws 1.5 million

SAO PAULO | More than 1.5 million evangelical Christians joined Brazil’s annual March for Jesus on Monday, an event sponsored by a church whose leaders recently returned after being imprisoned in the U.S. for money smuggling.

Now in its 17th year, the march unites faithful from hundreds of evangelical churches and attracts dozens of Christian bands, preachers and local celebrities.

Organizers Estevam Hernandes Filho and his wife, Sonia Haddad Moraes Hernandes, returned to Brazil in August after serving five months in prison, five months under house arrest in Florida and two months of probation for not declaring $56,000 in cash they were carrying on a flight from Sao Paulo to Miami. The money was hidden a child’s backpack and a Bible case, among other bags.

CUBA

Classified ads reported blocked

HAVANA | A popular Web site of classified ads that has given Cubans a taste of the free market has been blocked on the communist-run island, Internet users said.

Cubans trying to access Revolico.com, which says it has more than 1.5 million page views a month, are being diverted to the search engine Google.com.

“If I type the address and press ’enter,’ I get redirected. If I Google it and click, I get redirected. What is going on?” asked Sandra a 30-year-old government employee who, like several others interviewed, did not give their full names.

Cuban computer experts say an Internet content filter is preventing access to the Craigslist-like site, which has emerged as a booming virtual free market in the socialist nation with a tightly controlled economy, where consumer goods tend to be scarce and expensive.

Whether the state was blocking the site was unknown, but Cuban authorities have in the past reportedly prohibited access to pages they consider “counterrevolutionary,” including blogs critical of the socialist system.

CANADA

Seal hunting defended at WTO

OTTAWA | Canada is taking its seal hunt dispute with the European Union to the World Trade Organization.

Trade Minister Stockwell Day said Monday that Ottawa has formally requested WTO consultations on Europe’s ban of Canadian seal products, the first stage of the world body’s dispute-settlement process.

Mr. Day says the regulation, adopted by 27 European countries earlier this year, is a violation of EU trade obligations. The ban is to come into force next August.

Animal rights groups have protested the annual hunt, saying it is cruel and poorly monitored and provides little economic benefit. Seal hunters and Canadian authorities say it is sustainable and humane and provides income for villagers in isolated northern indigenous Inuit communities.

From wire dispatches and staff reports