"We will try to make the summit successful and we will not accept that it end with an empty and so-called political declaration."

Li Gao, an official with China's National Development and Reform Commission and key climate change negotiator representing the Chinese Government, reiterating China's commitment to making a constructive contribution to the Copenhagen climate summit when speaking at a forum in Beijing on November 24

"No effort will be spared to bring justice to the victims and hold the perpetrators accountable to the full limit of the law."

Filipino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, announcing emergency rule in two southern provinces and a city on November 24 after gunmen killed at least 57 people in a brutal election-related massacre

"Am I an ego on legs? No, I'm not. Do I want to be seen to be out there saying everything all the time? No, I don't. Judge me on what I do and I think you'll be pleased with the outcome."

Baroness Catherine Ashton, the incoming EU foreign policy chief, in response to doubts that she and newly appointed first full-time EU President Herman Van Rompuy are not influential enough to represent the EU on the international stage

"It's a great achievement to have come this far in so short a time."

Rolf Heuer, Director General of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, after the institute's particle collider, the world's biggest, speeded up proton beams for the first time on November 24, a step toward experiments about the origins of the universe

"We want our security within five years to be entirely within the hands of the Afghan Government and led by Afghans."

Hamid Karzai, Afghan President, at his swearing-in ceremony on November 19

"I thought slavery ended a few centuries ago. But here it is alive and well."

Gene Kelly, sheriff of Springfield, the United States. Human trafficking has become a major issue in the midwest heartland of America, causing some campaigners to dub it a modern form of slavery