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.

San Francisco - Few world-class companies are so closely associated with one man as Apple is with Steve Jobs.

But Tim Cook, the man who is scheduled to step into his shoes at least during his six month medical leave, is credited by many insiders as being an operational genius who deserves much of the credit for Apple's incredible success over the past ten years.

New York  - The beleaguered General Motors expects an even worse sales drop in 2009 than in 2008, chief executive Rick Wagoner told a conference Thursday in Detroit.

But Wagoner was optimistic that the company was on the right path to fulfilling the demands of the US government in conjunction with the 13.4-billion-dollar loan it received from the US government in the waning days of 2008.

GM cut its US sales estimate for 2009 to 10.5 million units, which would be the lowest in 27 years and a reflection of the deepening effect of the year-old US recession.

Washington  - Roland Burris was sworn in Thursday to succeed president-elect Barack Obama as the junior senator from Illinois, bringing an end to weeks of controversy over the appointment.

Vice President Dick Cheney administered the oath of office for Burris, the 71-year-old Democrat who had been initially turned back when Congress began its new session on January 6.

With his swearing-in, Burris became the only African-American in the Senate, as was Obama.