From the AP, via Israel's Ha'aretz, Jan. 22:

CARACAS - Hundreds of Venezuelan intellectuals expressed "shock and consternation" in a public condemnation Saturday of allegedly anti-Semitic remarks made recently by President Hugo Chavez.

Once again—how convenient is this? As bumping off Iran's regime becomes more of a strategic necessity for Washington, suddenly Tel Aviv accuses Tehran of being behind the latest suicide bombing. Tehran, for its part, denies the charges—while publicly embracing Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

LONDON, January 21 (IranMania) - Iran on Saturday dismissed as "baseless" remarks by Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz accusing Iran and Syria of being behind a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv that wounded 19 people, said AFP.

In three days, the Tokyo stock market lost almost $400 billion in value. (ABC, Jan. 20) The crash comes at a moment of converging multiple crises for the Japanese state. On Jan. 19, some 800 protesters, mostly connected to Shinto shrines, gathered in Tokyo to protest government plans to move toward allowing women to assume the imperial throne. The ruling Emperor Akihito has two sons, Crown Prince Naruhito and Prince Akishino. The elder has only one daughter, Princess Aiko, born in 2001. The younger has two daughters. (UPI, Jan. 20)

From the public health watchdog website Newsinferno, Jan. 16:

Many Believe Toxic Ground Zero Site Responsible for Growing Number of Deaths among Cleanup Workers
Last week we reported on the death of James Zadroga, a 34-year-old homicide detective who was believed to be the first New York City police officer to die from a respiratory disease caused by exposure to dust and toxic debris during his hundreds of hours of rescue and cleanup efforts at ground zero.

From BBC, Jan. 19:

France 'would use nuclear arms'

French President Jacques Chirac has said France would be ready to use nuclear weapons against any state which launched a terrorist attack against it.

Speaking at a nuclear submarine base in north-western France, Mr Chirac said a French response "could be conventional. It could also be of another nature."

From the AP, Jan. 19:

Al-Jazeera on Thursday aired an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden, who says al-Qaeda is making preparations for attacks in the United States but offering a truce "with fair conditions."

The tape's release came days after a US airstrike in Pakistan that was targeting bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and reportedly killed four leading al-Qaeda figures, including possibly al-Zawahri's son-in-law. There was no mention of the attack on the segments that were broadcast.

Glorify 'em as heroes and martyrs for war propaganda—then screw 'em. It's the American way. From NY1, Jan. 17:

Supreme Court Rules 9/11 Families Cannot Sue Over Faulty Radios
Families of New York City firefighters won't be allowed to sue over the radios the department used during the September 11th terror attacks.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's decision which dismissed a lawsuit against the city and the radio manufacturer, Motorola. The suit alleged the radios were faulty and prevented responders from hearing evacuation calls while they were rescuing people from the North Tower.

Subcomandante Marcos said Jan. 14 that the Zapatista Army of National Liberation will not accept the invitation by Bolivian president-elect Evo Morales to attend his Jan. 22 inauguration. During a meeting with supporters on the Zapatistas' "Other Campaign" in Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Marcos—known as "Delegate Zero" for the duration of the national tour—responded to a question about Morales' request: "They invited us and we received the invitation but we're not going to go, because we are in the Other Campaign... We don't have relations with governments, whether they are good or bad. We have relations with the people. And we have a lot of respect for the Bolivian people." (NarcoNews, Jan. 15)