China's leaders continued Tuesday to hold tightly to a policy of what they call "inward vigilance and outward relaxation" in an effort to make the death of Zhao Ziyang, the former Communist Party chief who opposed the 1989 crackdown on democracy protesters, pass as uneventfully as possible.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/01/18/news/zhao.html

He also criticised a ballot measure approved by voters in Arizona in November which requires people to show proof of legal immigration status to obtain certain government services.
"It's incompatible with human rights and does a disservice to both countries, the US as much as Mexico," he told reporters following the talks in the US border town of Calexico, 100 miles (160km) east of San Diego.
Earlier this month, Mexico's government provoked criticism from US pressure groups by publishing a booklet giving safety tips to Mexicans thinking of crossing illegally into the US.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4183447.stm

Yet in the gloom over postwar Iraq, ex-CIA agents and moody public intellectuals have recently doubted this "They hate us for who we are" explanation. Instead, they have reintroduced the notion of "They hate us for what we do" — as if there are legitimate grievances that logically earn such violent attacks organized by petro-heirs, doctors and crackpot mullahs. Even a toned-down bin Laden is quoted as witness. He recently joked that al-Qaida is going after America, not liberal Sweden: had we just shrunk to the stature of the politically correct Scandinavians, then our problems would vanish.
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson011805.html

Why haven't CBS or ex-Attorney General Richard Thornburgh called in the U.S. attorney's office and turned over all evidence they have of this felony, designed to assassinate the character of the president and timed to effect his defeat in the election of 2004?
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42411

Sloatsburg, N.Y.-based Classic Restorations has laid out plans to install the Mac Mini in car dashboards.
http://news.com.com/Putting+the+Mac+Mini+in+your+dashboard/2100-1042_3-5539831.html?tag=nefd.top

The Trents are part of a demographic phenomenon in the U.S. unmatched in any of its major trading partners: Americans are having more babies. The trend, combined with an annual inflow of immigrants that is more than the rest of the developed world combined
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aziXgxWAuigc&refer=us

Facing strong pressure from Israel, the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has instructed Palestinian security forces to try to prevent attacks against Israel and to investigate a deadly assault last week in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said Monday.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/01/17/news/mideast.html

Brad Pitt rejected an attempt from Jennifer Aniston to save their marriage, according to a report in Closer magazine.
http://entertainment.iafrica.com/news/404583.htm
this one is for Aaron and Natalie...

the bottom line for Europe was that fewer European respondents said they would choose self-employment - 45 percent said it was their preference - than their American counterparts, at 61 percent.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/01/18/business/workcol19.html

"I hear so many good things about Apple's OS X, but I've never actually used it," Hodgson said in an e-mail interview. "With the Mac Mini, I can buy into it cheaply and see if I like it."
http://news.com.com/How+big+will+the+Mini+be/2100-1047_3-5535728.html?tag=nl