"We shall do our utmost to push economic development and establish Hong Kong as No.1 international financial center in the region. I can promise you that I will do this job well."

Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, outlining his second-term priority after winning the chief executive election

"The election result reflects the mainstream will of the people, that is, Hong Kong must develop forward in a stable manner."

Ma Lik, member of the Hong Kong Election Committee for the third chief executive

"We must not allow our justified loathing of the horrors and tragedies of the past to become a barrier to creating a better and more stable future for our children."

Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, pledging peace in North Ireland after his party agreed on March 26 to share power in the British province with the longtime feuding Catholic party of Sinn Fein

"The Israelis and Palestinians are taking the initial step on the path to peace."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, announcing on March 27 that Israeli and Palestinian leaders had agreed to biweekly meetings for discussions aimed at paving the way for a final settlement to the Middle East conflict

"Any form of independence for Kosovo is unacceptable for Serbia."

Serbian President Boris Tadic, countering UN chief mediator Martti Ahtisaari's March 26 recommendation of supervised independence for the ethnic-Albanian majority province in south Serbia, an idea immediately hailed by Kosovo's president

"Clearly, both the United States and China have enormous military capacity, but equally clearly neither country has the intent to go to war with the other. So absent of intent, I don't find threat."

General Peter Pace, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaking to reporters during his China visit on March 22-25

"They saw an opportunity for worldwide visibility and through their success have changed the landscape of how a 'star' is defined."

Jamie Byrne, head of YouTube product marketing, saying winners of the world's largest video-sharing Website's 2007 Video Awards had helped to foster a new medium that is influencing how people are entertained and informed