| 1 | China's holding of US debt is about 7% higher than at the turn of the year. | |
| 2 | The White House South Lawn witnessed waving national flags of China and US in the air of near-year-end Washington. | |
| 3 | People take to the streets with fireworks, everywhere and all at once, for days on end. | |
| 4 | The kind of giving that provides real value does not go on sale at the end of the year. | |
| 5 | Mr Putin became acting president, on the last day of 1999, at an auspicious time for Russia. |