"The anti-corruption campaign should be integrated into the country's economic, political and cultural drives and the building of the Party." 

Statement of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Party's top decision-making body, pledging to continue the fight against corruption

"It is a piece of torn paper...by which they aim to scare Iranians...It is in the Westerners' interests to live with a nuclear Iran."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, rejecting the UN sanctions resolution adopted on December 23

"Among the many gifts that we buy and receive, let us not forget the true gift: to give each other something of ourselves."

Pope Benedict XVI, speaking during Christmas Eve Midnight Mass attended by thousands at St. Peter's Basilica and watched by millions more on television

"As the world's biggest iron-ore importer, China should play a responsible role in price settlement." 

Chen Xianwen, Director of the China Iron and Steel Association, commenting after China's top steel maker Baosteel led foreign rivals to reach an agreement on 2007 prices with Brazilian exporter Cia. Vale do Rio Doce

"We do have a perception out there that it's a difficult country to enter, this whole 'fortress America' idea." 

Kevin Mitchell, Chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, a group of frequent foreign and U.S. business travelers based in Radnor, Pennsylvania, complaining that the current U.S. visa regulations are creating a negative image of the country