"Nature is an awful lot more powerful than we are." - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg assessing the damage to the city after the most devastating storm in decades hit the country's most densely populated region, cutting off communication and leaving millions without power. "This is a tough time for millions of people ... but America is tougher." - President Barack Obama during a brief visit to the American Red Cross, where he sought to reassure victims, encourage aid workers - and warn of more storm damage to come with rising floodwater. "Unfortunately the attacks continued, and the Syrian people spent the holidays suffering great pain." - Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu expressing "great sadness" that the four-day cease-fire had failed and said government was done talking to President Bashar Assad's regime.