Beijing  - China and Vietnam have finished demarcation of their long-disputed land border, in a move of "historical significance" that the two sides hope will lead to greater economic and trade links, state media said on Thursday.

The year-long demarcation was completed shortly before a midnight Wednesday deadline, following eight years of surveys and negotiations, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Bratislava  - Slovakia abandoned its currency of 15 years, the Slovak koruna, and adopted the euro on Thursday, in a move that sealed the ex-Soviet satellite's economic success.

The central European country of 5.4 million is the second formerly communist country, after Slovenia, to qualify for the switch to Europe's common currency.

Slovakia is the 16th member of the eurozone, which faces a sharp economic downturn following the turmoil on global financial markets.

Hamburg  - There is space for just 160 characters on that little cell phone screen, not much space for recounting disastrous misunderstandings, sleepless nights and awful embarrassments.

Text messages are both a curse and a blessing - above all when they are used in new relationships or to flirt.

Washington  - US President George W Bush plans to get out of bed early on the first day of 2009 and go for a sunrise walk on his ranch with First Lady Laura as he ushers in the last New Year's Day of his presidency.

Bush has been spending the holidays at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and in 21 days will have more time to hang out at his beloved home away from Washington dubbed as the "Western White House." Bush, famous for going to bed at an early hour, does not intend to stay up for a midnight celebration, Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman said.

Frankfurt, Germany  - The hungry guests are gathered around the table, eagerly awaiting their evening meal but over in the kitchen it is simply chaos.

Preparing a three-course meal is a potentially stressful experience. Indeed a simple invitation to friends, relatives or colleagues to spend a few happy hours dining can easily degenerate into a fiasco with a burnt casserole in the oven and red faces all around.

Of course, even people who only cook now and again can manage to come up with a perfect, three-course evening meal that would do justice to any restaurant. Required are judicious planning, a minimum of manual dexterity and sufficient time to prepare.

Washington - Two school boys are trying to sell lemonade when they get their first lesson in politics in the children's book "Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed."

The picture book features young Tommy and Lou, who have made their own lemonade and are selling it at a makeshift stand to earn a dime or two - as many American youths do during the hot summers. Then along comes the fat mayor, a Democrat, and takes half the boys' income as tax. The book demonstrates to the little ones what spoil sports liberals can be.