WOMAN OF THE HOUR: With its government collapsed and politicians bickering, India looked to the leader of the once-powerful Congress Party, Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, to step out of her role of silent sphinx and cobble together a coalition that could bring stability to a shaky democracy. Illustration for TIME by Bob Venables

W I N N E R S EARL SPENCER British textbook includes eulogy by the Princess of Wales' brother as one of this century's best speeches ROSA PARKS A long way from her Montgomery bus ride--U.S. Congress will award Gold Medal to civil rights crusader JAY LENO Letterman just can't keep up. Late-night talk-show host to drive the pace car at the Indy 500

L O S E R S MARLBORO MAN New advertising laws mean smoking icon has lassoed his last on roadside billboards in all but four U.S. states DAVE SWARBRICK British folk rocker reads his own obituary in London paper. What a way to start your day KEVIN SPACEY Iceman Cometh not to Drama Desk Awards--New York critics snub star's turn in the revival

V E R B A T I M

"It's a good day to die. We want everyone to die." High school killers, who slaughtered more than a dozen people during a shooting spree in Colorado, as heard by a student "You must have very strong toes." Queen Elizabeth, British monarch, to a group of South Korean children who showed her how they smash wooden tiles with their bare feet

"I think of him as a high-quality mechanical watch with one small wheel turning the wrong way." Ehud Barak, Israel's Labor Party candidate for prime minister, on current leader Benjamin Netanyahu "We go from summit to summit, and our people go from abyss to abyss." Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan President, criticizing the futility of meetings among heads of state after attending six in less than three months