Remember them?
"The trouble is, the interest in Afghanistan has waned." — A UN official on the civil war that has raged in Afghanistan among US-backed "freedom fighters" since they overthrew a leftist government two and a half years ago.
Unanswered question of the week
"If you can't trust the auditor-general in our system of government, who can you trust?"— New Zealand opposition leader Helen Clark, on the news that the country's auditor-general had resigned and was under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.
Not on its friends
"To my great sorrow the Syrian leadership believes to this day that it can ask America to deliver us. That is not America's policy. America's policy recognises that in today's world peace cannot be imposed." — Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Hanging in there
"I have been endorsed by all of my seven branch presidents to contest the seat." — NSW Liberal MLA Barry Morris, denying reports that the Liberal Party will dump him because he is facing charges of making death and bomb threats to a city councillor and a newspaper in the Blue Mountains.
Geography report
"Thirty thousand Catholics converged on ... Conyers, Georgia, on Thursday to witness the appearance of the Virgin Mary who speaks monthly to a Conyers housewife ... [The woman] said the Virgin Mother warned of imminent natural disasters, war in the Persian Gulf, and continents drifting apart ..." — Sunday Telegraph, October 16.
Heartened
"We are heartened by the 84% of members ... who voted in favour of the proposal." — An NRMA spokesperson on proposals to convert it to a private company, after a Federal Court judge ruled the vote invalid because the prospectus promoting it was misleading and deceptive.