Sign up for Weekday J and get the latest on what's happening in the Jewish Bay Area.

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The grandmother of an Israeli teen-ager lured to his murder in Ramallah by a woman he met on the Internet died on the day the family ended the seven-day mourning period for the youth.

The Israeli daily Ma'ariv reported that Ophir Rahum's grandmother collapsed upon learning of her grandson's murder last week and died several hours after the traditional shiva for Rahum ended.

She was buried near her grandson.

U.N. blasts Web hate at Switzerland parley

STOCKHOLM (JTA) — Technology companies and the media must help halt the spread of hate messages on the Internet, according to the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

"A technical advance, which has a great capacity to enlighten us and entertain us, becomes, in the hands of some, a weapon of racism," Mary Robinson said Monday at an international conference on combating intolerance, held here.

The Stockholm International Forum on Combating Intolerance met this week to focus on the spread of far-right hate propaganda through rock music and the Internet.

Yemenites interfere with Jew's candidacy

PARIS (JTA) — Officials in Yemen rejected the candidacy of a Jewish man who wanted to run in the nation's Feb. 20 municipal elections, according to Agence France-Presse.

Yemen's election committee "rejected Ezer Ibrahim's application because he is a Jew, and municipal law stipulates that election candidates should be Muslims," a committee official told the French news agency.

Some 600 Jews live in Yemen.

Latino sites also block sale of offensive items

Two of Latin America's biggest Internet auction sites pledged to remove potentially offensive material after their pages were used to sell Nazi memorabilia.

The decision by the Web sites, www.MercadoLibre.com and http://DeRemate.com, follows two recent widely publicized Internet censorship battles.

The U.S. Internet portal Yahoo and its French subsidiaries decided to stop the sale of potentially offensive items, and a ruling by Italy's highest court determined that Italy can block access to foreign Web sites that violate the nation's anti-defamation laws.

Olim center launched for Caucasus emigres

MOSCOW (JTA) — Israeli officials recently opened a new absorption center for emigrants from the Caucasus region in the former Soviet Union.

The center, located in the West Bank settlement of Hinanit, includes housing and classrooms.

Some 60 emigres from the Caucasus are currently housed in the center, and an additional 120 are expected to arrive soon.

Schindler's journal donated by widow

BERLIN (JTA) — Oskar Schindler's widow donated to Germany's main history museum pages from a diary that belonged to one of the thousands of Jews her husband rescued from the Holocaust.

Emilie Schindler gave the excerpts of Henry Dressler's diary to the Haus der Geschichte museum, along with a photo album of the making of the Steven Spielberg movie "Schindler's List."

Meanwhile, an Italian skater honored victims of the Holocaust on Saturday, the 56th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, by skating her free program at the European Championships to music from the same film.

In deference to Jewish sensitivities, judges asked Vanessa Giunchi to remove a yellow star that was on her costume when she skated in the same program Wednesday.