"Tree planting is not enough for environmental protection."

Pan Yue

"The government's zero tolerance toward violations of environment statutes is a must for the public to build stronger confidence in the results of their participation in environmental protection."

Liao Dekai, civil servant in Sichuan Province

"We expect the ... (agreement) would provide a stepping stone that would catapult Korea into an advanced economy."

President of the Republic of Korea Roh Moo Hyun, welcoming the trade pact reached between Seoul and Washington on April 2 after nine-months of talks, despite fears in his country that heavily subsidized farmers could not survive a flood of cheaper U.S. farm products

"In Europe and the eurozone, I see possibilities to get better results than those in our last economic forecasts because there is a pretty intense recovery."

EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, commenting after figures released on March 30 showed consumer and business confidence in the European economy at six-year high in March, unemployment at the lowest level on record in February and inflation increasing only marginally in March

"This information is incorrect and absolutely does not reflect Russia's position on missile defense."

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mikhail Kamynin, denying reports that Russia could allow a U.S. missile defense shield onto its soil if the United States rethinks plans for a system on its borders in a statement released on March 31

"This provides us with our first good fossil evidence for both the timing and the biology of early modern humans spread across Asia. Yes, they spread out of Africa, but as they did, they blended with populations that were already there."

Erik Trinkaus, professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, explaining that a new study of the 40,000-year-old Tianyuan Cave skeleton, found near Beijing, suggests that today's humans evolved from both early modern people that migrated from Africa and archaic groups such as the Neanderthal

"His performance has been the greatest of all times."

Bob Bowman, Head Coach of the U.S. Men's Swimming Team, applauding Michael Phelps who reaped a record seven titles and smashed five world records at the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships in Melbourne on March 17-April 1