"When you judge a country, you should judge it by whether the country is progressing or regressing…I'd say you Americans should change your attitude because if you don't, the Chinese people will suspect your sincerity."

Wu Jianmin, former Chinese Ambassador to France, talking about communication problems between Americans and Chinese in a recent interview with Newsweek reporters

"Until they resolve the bilateral dispute, there's zero chance of supplies not being disrupted...If the Europeans want to avoid the gas going off next January they need to stay engaged and push for a longer-term deal."

Andrew Neff, an energy analyst at U.S.-based IHS Global Insight, warning that the EU will not secure stable long-term natural gas supplies through Ukraine without a resolution of the payment dispute between Moscow and Kiev

"I inherited a recession, I'm ending on a recession."

Former U.S. President George W. Bush, at his farewell White House press conference on January 13

"There's a big question mark over everything. We don't know what kind of business model they have now."

Amar Ambani, Vice President of Research at broker India Infoline, after India's top software company Satyam Computer Services revealed years of accounting fraud on January 9, the largest scandal in India's corporate history

"The stresses on global food production from temperature alone are going to be huge, and that doesn't take into account water supplies stressed by the higher temperatures."

David Battisti, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington, predicting on January 8 that half of the world's population could face food shortages by the end of this century due to climate change

"If there is (the) overall sentiment that the global economy will slow down significantly in 2009, with industrialized economies having negative figures, it is also noted that 2010 should be the year of the recovery."

Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, speaking on January 12 as the spokesman for the Group of 10's central bankers meeting at the Bank for International Settlements