Loose cannons

R.I.P.

"In Rupert Murdoch and Ken Cowley we have two men beside us we trust with our lives." — Fax to media organisations from Canberra Raider players aligned with Murdoch's would-be Super League.

Of others?

"The number one champion of nuclear disarmament." — French President Jacques Chirac's description of his own government.

Things like that

"Non-relevant issues should be avoided, and such issues would include, perhaps, the issue of East Timor, child labour and things like that." — Thai Prime Minister Banharn Sipa-archa, hoping to set a very limited agenda for the Asia-Europe summit meeting in Bangkok.

US number-crunchers

"Mr [Steve] Forbes and ... Mr Pat Buchanan were locked with 36 per cent of the vote ... both were well ahead of ... Senator Bob Dole, with 27 per cent of the vote ... Mr Lamar Alexander was expected to finish badly behind with 7 per cent." — From the Sydney Morning Herald report on the Arizona primary.

Give me that old time tradition

"We have a way of life, a heritage, customs and traditions that we are unlikely to throw out for the sake of the magic word democracy." — Tongan police minister Clive Edwards, defending his arrest of a journalist and two pro-democracy campaigners who criticised him.