*** "ISLAMABAD IS LIKE a New York cemetery: half the size, but twice as dead."

(Remark attributed to un-named American Ambassador by US writer Mary Anne Weaver in her recently published book)

*** "THIS IS HOW I PROTECT MYSELF."

(US writer Mary Anne Weaver describing how President Musharraf pulled a silver-plated pistol from his breast pocket at an elegant dinner party while replying to a question posed by a female guest what he was doing about lawlessness in Karachi. The incident included in her recently published book)

*** "40 million; 6 million; 80 million"

(Number of people living below the poverty line, number of children not getting primary education, and people deprived of education respectively in Pakistan according to the Human Condition Report 2002 launched by the Planning Commission last week)

*** "Pound Sterling 500"

(Fine awarded to Queen Elizabeth's only daughter, Princess Anne, after she pleaded guilty to let her dog maul two children. She became the first British royal convicted of a criminal offence in 350 years since Charles I was beheaded in 1649)

*** "... does not only threaten the independence of the political will of the countries in the region, but also jeopardises its existence. It pushes the whole area into a state of chaos and deterioration that paves the way for foreign interference..."

(Fifteen-page statement signed by 209 intellectuals and scholars from various Arab and Muslim countries warning their governments that any backing to the US against its possible attack on Iraq would have serious consequences on the region)

*** "WHAT A MORON."

(Comment referring to US President George W. Bush attributed to a senior Canadian official at the NATO summit in Prague)

*** "HE IS not a moron at all."

(Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien's damage control after his top official called US President George W. Bush a moron)

*** "1,700 per cent"

(Increase in hate crimes against Arabs and Muslims in the US during last year according to a report released by Human Rights Watch)

*** "THE PROBLEM is getting serious... The abused men need help and support to restore their battered confidence."

(Social worker Christine Chow expressing concerns over rising violence against husbands in Hong Kong)

*** "YOU NEED to make sure your rhetoric isn't quite as harsh about killing them. I didn't like the, 'Get them dead or alive'. It just didn't sound that appealing to me, really."

(US journalist Bob Woodward quoting First Lady Laura Bush's disagreeing with her husband about his remarks on Iraq. The excerpt is part of a wide-ranging interview in Woodward's 'Bush at War', a book studying the year after 11.9)

*** "McDonald's has the information that a child consuming this food more than one time a week may result in a child developing juvenile diabetes."

(Lawyer of one of the nine children suing burger giant McDonald's in New York claiming that addiction to its food led to obesity)

*** "150"

(Number of ordinances issued by Punjab law department in last three years)

*** "NATO IS WORSE than the Gestapo. The blood of all children is on you."

(Slogans shouted by two Russian-speaking protestors who pelted stones at Nato chief George Robertson at the organisation's Alliance summit in Prague)

*** "THIS SO-CALLED beauty contest is just a part of the whole beauty fascism... These girls will be wearing swimwear dripping with blood."

(Muslim leaders and a British writer commenting on the shifting of Miss World pageant to London from Nigeria following riots that left over 200 dead)