"It stops here because I protected the family with my magic line." AGENDA PURBA, Sumatran witch doctor, after treating a suspected bird-flu victim who had escaped from a hospital, explaining how he prevented the spread of the disease. Many rural villagers believe avian flu to be the result of black magic, complicating efforts to contain it
"There may eventually be a few individuals at the margins who still choose to use Microsoft, but the majority should be free of this hardship." M.A. BABY, education minister of the Indian state of Kerala, which plans to replace Microsoft programs with open-source software in 12,500 state high schools
"We cannot continue in this area unless people will be held accountable for the execution of 17 of our colleagues." JAN EGELAND,U.N. emergency-relief coordinator, threatening to suspend humanitarian operations in Sri Lanka following accusations that government troops slaughtered a group of aid workers in the Northeastern town of Muttur
"The smaller aperture of the lid has been designed to prevent hedgehogs from entering the McFlurry container in the unfortunate incidence that a lid is littered." MCDONALD'S, in a statement on its decision to redesign its cups after protests by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, which says the animals get stuck, then starve to death while trying to eat leftover ice cream