"We're prepared to take whatever action is necessary to ensure growth is restored and we're committed to do that for however long it takes."

British Finance Minister Alistair Darling, who hosted the March 14 talks by G20 finance ministers in London as they prepared for a key crisis-fighting summit of world leaders on April 2

"Analysis of the military-political situation in the world shows that a serious conflict potential remains in some regions."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, announcing a "large-scale" rearmament of the army and navy from 2011 in Moscow on March 17. Medvedev accused NATO of pushing ahead with expansion near Russian borders

"We are responsible-responsible for the aggressions perpetrated against water, responsible for the current climate changes which come on top of the global changes, responsible for the tensions which reduce the availability of freshwater masses so indispensable to the survival of humanity."

Loic Fauchon, President of the World Water Council that staged the World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 16

"I would suggest the first thing that would make me feel a little bit better toward them is if they'd follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, 'I'm sorry,' and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide."

Iowa Senator Charles Grassley, talking about AIG executives during an interview with radio station WMT on March 16. AIG has come under fire after it intended to pay its executives $165 million in bonuses after taking billions in federal bailout money

"Now he's ashamed-25 years too late."

The headline in Switzerland's Heute (Today) newspaper, over a photo of Josef Fritzl trying to shield himself from news cameras when he arrived at an Austrian court on March 16. The 73-year-old admitted imprisoning his daughter in an underground bunker for 24 years and forcing her to bear seven children