Sydney  - 2008 Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga remained flat on his back in bed on Friday after withdrawing from an ATP quarter-final, his hopes of playing the Grand Slam starting Monday looking grim.

Doctors say the Frenchman, who lost the January 2008 title match to Novak Djokovic, said he is suffering form a bulging disc and will need to remain in bed for several days.

Taipei  - Taiwan and China are expected to launch regular passengers and cargo flights in July, ending Taipei's six-decade ban on cross-strait air links with the mainland, a newspaper said Friday.

The Commercial Times, quoting an unnamed official, said Taipei and Beijing plan to hold talks in late May to discuss opening regular flights and sign a pact.

The pact will endorse regular flights between Taiwan and China and allow each other's planes to fly on to other countries from Taiwan or China, the paper said.

Islamabad, Jan. 16 : The Inter-Services Intelligence agency in Pakistan appears to have launched a coordinated CY-War against the country's former National Security Adviser, Major General (retired) Mahmud Ali Durrani, aimed at proving that he was an American agent in Islamabad working for American and Indian interests.

Los Angeles  - The list of celebrities appearing in president-elect Barack Obama's inauguration festivities in Washington keeps getting longer.

The Presidential Inauguration Committee on Thursday announced a list of more than 20 performers such as Jack Johnson, Sheryl Crow, Marc Anthony and Maroon 5 who will appear at some of the 10 official balls on the evening after the noon-time swearing in.

Washington  - US President George W Bush said in his farewell address Thursday that there can be "little debate" that the tough or controversial decisions he's made during his presidency have kept the United States safe.

"There is legitimate debate about many of these decisions. But there can be little debate about the results," Bush says in excerpts released by the White House in advance of his speech. "America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil."

Washington  - The US Senate on Thursday agreed to release the second half of a 700-billion-dollar bail-out package passed last year to keep the finance industry afloat.

Some lawmakers had tried to block the second 350 billion dollars from being approved, which would have put Congress on a collision course with president-elect Barack Obama's incoming administration.

Obama, who takes office on Tuesday, has reportedly threatened lawmakers that he will use his first veto if Congress failed to appropriate the funds. The House will take up the bill next week.