VERBATIM

O“The department is not in a financial position to be able to support institutions to clear all student debt of fee-paying students. We are aware that there are many students whose families struggle to keep up with payments, and many families who have also been negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.” — Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande responds to the South African Union of Students, whose demands include erasing historical debt

O“This is not a Zoom background, right, this is real. My uncle isn’t gonna walk behind me naked, even though I told him I was having an important meeting.” — South African comedian Trevor Noah, hosting the 2021 Grammy awards

“We warn the new US administration O trying hard to give off powder smell in our land. If it wants to sleep in peace for coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step.” — Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, after the US said it had not received a response to its request for dialogue about Pyongyang’s nuclear programme

O“We need to continue to support the research and development of more vaccine candidates, especially as the need for ongoing booster immunisation of populations is still not very clear at this point.” — World Health Organisation chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan believes better vaccines will be available in 2022

“If you ask an Arsenal fan if

O

they’d like to coach Arsenal one day, they’ll say yes. If you ask an Arsenal fan if they’d like to score a goal for Arsenal, they’ll say yes.

[...] So if you’re asking me if one day I’d like to coach Arsenal, then yes. If you ask if one day I’d like to be Arsenal’s kit man, then yes. If you ask if one day I’d like to cut the grass at the Emirates Stadium, then yes.” — Thierry Henry when asked whether he’d like to coach his former club