VERBATIM

“I don’t have any clue about the criteria, how the Nobel committee selects an individual for the prize. If President [Donald] Trump complained it must go to Oslo, not to Ethiopia.” — Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who got the peace prize for his bid to end the conflict with Eritrea, after Trump said he had “saved a country and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country”. Observers, like Trump, are confused.

“It’s no longer enough for government to acknowledge the crisis of the economy. Importantly, it urgently needs to pronounce far-reaching structural economic reforms that focus on sustainable inclusive growth and a fiscal policy that is aimed at reducing public debt while simultaneously reducing public spending.” — Business Unity South Africa president Sipho Pityana.

“I am a massive fan, like most of our viewers, of the queen and the royal family as a fantastic asset for our country. I’m absolutely confident that they are going to sort this out.” — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaking after the Sussexes (Harry and Meghan) announced they’d like to be financially independent.

“If we started to see fires of this level in Australia every year ... then the impacts on air quality and climate will become both concerning and noticeable.” — Climate scientist Nicolas Bellouin, telling CNN that the concentration of particles from the fires was unusual, and may affect air quality elsewhere.

”After training City I will never train them [Manchester United]; I would not train Madrid [after Barcelona]. I’d be in the Maldives if I don’t have any offers. Maybe not the Maldives because it doesn’t have any golf courses.” — Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.