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"I exercise every day, I work hard every day and I sleep well every day. And I think [my mind is] still functioning, although I'm not as active as before. But enough to fight an election."
LEE KUAN YEW, Singapore's Minister Mentor, announcing his plans to stand for office in the next general elections. The city-state's 82-year-old founder has run in 12 national polls since 1955

"The project ought to be abandoned. It was a creature of the United States in the first place."
RAMSEY CLARK, former U.S. Attorney General and member of Saddam Hussein's defense team, claiming that political pressures on the court make it difficult to hold a fair trial

"It's really very hard to tell people to think at work but not at home."
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. Secretary of State, calling on China to expand its citizens' civil liberties

"The Palestinians gave their vote to the party that gave its blood."
AYYOUB MUHANNA, Lebanese shop owner, celebrating the militant group Hamas' surprise landslide victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections

"In a world where the name of God is sometimes associated with vengeance or even a duty of hatred and violence, this message is both timely and significant."
POPE BENEDICT XVI, making charity and love a priority for the Catholic Church in his first encyclical since his election last April