Accounting Policies (Details 1) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Jul. 31, 2012		Jan. 31, 2012
The components of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) ("accumulated OCI")
Unrealized losses on securities	$ 428		$ 445
Unrealized losses on foreign currency translation	0		1,558
Unrealized losses on interest rate contracts	191,110	[1]	194,928	[1]
Total unrealized losses	191,538		196,931
Noncontrolling interest and income tax benefit	(74,409)		(76,471)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	$ 117,129		$ 120,460

[1] Included in the amounts as of July 31 and January 31, 2012 are $141,840 and $143,303, respectively, of unrealized losses on an interest rate swap associated with New York Times, an office building in Manhattan, New York, on its nonrecourse mortgage debt with a notional amount of $640,000. This swap effectively fixes the mortgage at an all-in lender interest rate of 6.40% (5.50% swap rate plus 0.90% lender spread) and expires in September 2017.