"My objective is to try to get North Korea to calm down a bit, see if we can reduce tension on the Korean Peninsula."

Bill Richardson, Governor of the U.S. state of New Mexico, who is travelling to North Korea on an unofficial diplomatic mission to ease regional tensions

"We are allocating very serious, significant funds for the rearmament program. I am even scared to pronounce this figure, 20 trillion rubles($65 million)."

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the allocation of funds through 2020 to modernize and re-arm the country's military, as he visited a navy shipyard in Severodvinsk on the White Sea on December 13

"Most inflation so far we see in China is food, which is reversible if there are better crops next season. "

Ethan Harris, head of the Developed Economics Research in Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Global Research, on China's increasing CPI

"This country doesn't need early elections."

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in a speech after he narrowly survived two confidence votes on December 14

"If we send the Kyoto Protocol to the bin, we will be responsible for 'ecocide,' and thus for genocide, because we would be attacking humanity as a whole."

Bolivian President Evo Morales, on the saving of the Kyoto Protocol and the creation of an international climate justice tribunal at the UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun

"Seoul and Tokyo are discussing plans to allow our troops to conduct rescue operations in case of contingencies."

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, speaking in a meeting with families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea on December 10. The comments were later denied by Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku

"The departments should conduct strict payment-related inspections to ensure migrant workers' pay is not delayed."

Chinese Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Yin Weimin, calling for government departments to ensure migrant workers are paid on time before the upcoming New Year holiday and Spring Festival