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Soundbites

“The government is afraid to lose face. It doesn’t want people to wear masks for fear of turning Hong Kong into a masked city.â€

Legislator Albert Chan, calling for the Hong Kong government to make face masks available for defence against SARS (The Standard, Hong Kong, 1 April)

“Pakistan’s nuclear programme is for our defence only and it will continue without any break.â€

Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Information Minister for Pakistan, (The Associated Press, 1 April)

“He keeps saying, ‘Mummy, when’s my baby coming?'â€

Shahani Hashmi, a British mother appealing this week against a court decision preventing the family from pre-selecting an IVF baby whose umbilical cord cells would save the life of her thallassaemic son, Zain (31 March)

“Ebola now combines with hunting for bushmeat and logging as a risk to the great apes.â€

Zoologist Jonathan Baillie in Gabon, on the threat to the lowland gorilla (The Daily Telegraph, London, 1 April)

“They thought they were on the threshold of something new. Now most people are cynical.â€

Greenpeace’s Jean McSorely, on the closure of Calder Hall in Cumbria, the world’s first commercial nuclear power station (The Times, London, 1 April)

“If whales are closer in intelligence to the sheep than the dog, is it morally wrong to eat them if they can be harvested sustainably?â€

Mammalogist Tim Flannery, arguing in favour of whaling filter-feeders (Sydney Morning Herald, 29 March)