Verbatim

“If the allegation were true, it would have merited my resignation.”
TONY BLAIR,
British Prime Minister, appearing before an independent inquiry to refute a BBC report that he had “sexed up” an intelligence dossier on Iraq

“Jump, jump.”
HANGZHOU CROWD,
Chanting to a Chinese migrant who climbed a billboard and shouted for help after being robbed on a train to Hangzhou

“It does not matter if you are a Muslim or a Christian or a Jew. How could anyone treat a human being this way?”
RAJAA YOUSIF MATTI,
Mother of a 17-year-old Iraqi who bled to death after being shot by U.S. soldiers. The soldiers say they thought the youth had thrown a grenade at their vehicle

“There will be no retreat.”
GEORGE W. BUSH,
U.S. President, in a speech to the American Legion in St. Louis, Missouri, on the U.S. occupation of Iraq

“The little boy had spirits in him, and we were asking God to deliver him.”
RAY HEMPHILL,
Self-proclaimed pastor in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, charged with physical abuse to a child, after an 8-year-old autistic boy was crushed to death during an exorcism

“We sang Elvis together.”
TOM CRUISE,
Actor, on meeting Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at his home. Cruise was in Japan to promote his new movie The Last Samurai