Perspectives

" I gave them the benefit of the doubt, like a lot of Americans. "
Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan, whose new book criticizes the Bush administration for manipulating intelligence to justify the Iraq War

"I only know that he loves expensive cigars, pens, watches."
Morris Talanksy , a New York businessman who testified to giving close to $150,000 in cash over the past 13 years to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert

"Both sides are tied by blood to the Chinese nation."
Wu Poh-hsiung , chairman of Taiwan's Nationalist Party, during unprecedented talks designed to move his country closer to a one-nation agreement with mainland China

" They came at night, trying to kill us, with people pointing out, ' This one is a foreigner and this one is not ' . "
Charles Mannyike , a migrant from Mozambique who escaped an angry mob in South Africa. Xenophobic violence, exacerbated by an influx of refugees from Zimbabwe, is raging across the country.

" Is this karma? When you are not nice, bad things happen to you. "
Actress Sharon Stone, speculating at the Cannes Film Festival that China's earthquake was cosmically linked to Beijing's Tibet crackdown. Stone was widely criticized for her comments.

" Having a working toilet is a priority for us. "
NASA astronaut Scott Higginbotham, from the International Space Station, where the urine-collection unit was malfunctioning last week

Sources (from top): New York Times (2), Reuters, New York Times, BBC (2)