Heath Ledger

He was just taking off, and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss.

• MEL GIBSON
• on the death of actor Heath Ledger, who died Tuesday in his New York City apartment

Barack Obama

I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes.

• BARACK OBAMA
• in a Democratic debate, on Bill Clinton's campaigning for Hillary

Gotta Go Back to Rehab, I say YES YES YES

Amy decided to enter the facility today after talks with her record label, management, family and doctors.

• Statement from Universal Music Group
• the record company of Amy Winehouse, who entered drug rehab Thursday after a video surfaced allegedly showing the singer smoking crack cocaine

Bill Gates - Humanitarian

If we are serious about ending extreme hunger and poverty around the world, we must be serious about transforming agriculture for small farmers, most of whom are women.

• Microsoft billionaire BILL GATES
• on the need to develop farming in poor countries, for which he has pledged $306 million in grants

China Spurns Olympic Critics

(BEIJING)—In a blast of harsh rhetoric, China lashed out Thursday at the Dalai Lama and critics of Beijing's support for Sudan, saying attempts to link political issues to the Beijing Summer Olympics betrayed the spirit of the games.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said China could "definitely not accept" rights groups that say China's support for Sudan's government is prolonging the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

"To link the Darfur issue to the Olympics is a move to politicize the Olympics and this is inconsistent with the Olympics spirit and will bear no fruit," Jiang told reporters at a news conference.

She also attacked the Dalai Lama as a religious phony seeking to split China, a response to the exiled Tibetan leader's reported support for peaceful protests during the Olympics.

Beijing's tough approach illustrates its extreme sensitivity toward anything that might tarnish its staging of the Aug. 8-24 Olympic Games. Beijing has invested billions of dollars and national prestige in what it hopes will be a glorious showcase of China's rapid development from impoverished agrarian nation to rising industrial power.

Time Magazine

China or the Weather?

Will the travelers blame the weather or the government?

• SUSAN SHIRK
• author of China: Fragile Superpower, on the recent blizzards in China that have stranded thousands of people and raised concerns about mass riots

Tiger's Wood

What he's going to do is screw the U.S. Open up for everyone else.

• FRED COUPLES
• former World No. 1 golfer, on Tiger Woods, after Woods dominated the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in San Diego, Calif., prompting worries the USGA could make the course harder for June's U.S. Open