Two people have been killed and more than 400 injured in protests across Egypt sparked by the deaths of 74 people after a football match.

The two killed were shot by police trying to disperse angry crowds in the city of Suez, medical officials said.

In the capital Cairo, thousands of protesters remained on the streets following a day of clashes with police.

Thousands marched to the interior ministry, where security forces fired tear gas to keep them back.

Earlier, the Egyptian prime minister announced the sackings of several senior officials.

Funerals of some of the 74 victims took place in Port Said, where the football match had taken place on Wednesday.

The deaths came when fans invaded the pitch after a fixture between top Cairo club al-Ahly and the Port Said side al-Masry.

'Live ammunition'

As night fell in Cairo, several thousand demonstrators remained in the streets around the interior ministry, witnesses said.

Some chanted slogans against Egypt's military rulers, while others threw stones.

"Our army must choose between the military council and the revolutionaries,'' they chanted.

Police fired tear gas to keep the thousands of protesters away from the ministry, which is protected by concrete barricades.

Motorcycles ferried the injured from the scene as ambulances were often unable to get through.

At one point, ambulances intervened to rescue riot police whose vehicle mistakenly turned into a street full of protesters, Reuters reported.

Egyptian state news agency Mena quoted a health ministry official as saying 388 protesters were injured. Most of them were suffering from tear gas inhalation as well as bruises and broken bones from rocks.

A section of Al-Ahly supporters known as the "ultras" played a prominent role in last year's street protests which led to the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.

The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Cairo, says the ultras believe they were targeted for their support for the revolution over the past year.

They accuse the police of deliberately allowing al-Masry fans to attack them.

"It's like war, you can't believe it. What happened yesterday [Wednesday] was war, it's not football. To kill without any feeling... is not normal," former al-Ahly player Hani Seddik told the BBC.

There were also protests in Port Said, Associated Press news agency reported.

'Difficult time'

Earlier on Thursday, parliament met in emergency session, beginning with a minute's silence.

Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri told MPs the head of Egypt's football association had been sacked and the board dissolved, with its members referred to prosecutors for questioning.

Port Said's director of security and the head of investigations were suspended and are now in custody, Mr Ganzouri said.

The government has come under renewed attack over its handling, both of the football game, and of the way it is handling the transition to democracy, our correspondent says.

The president of al-Ahly, Hamid Hamdy, said his club would not take part in league games.

"I hope that the world understands the position of al-Ahly club, that we are going through a very difficult time as a result of all of those martyrs that we lost yesterday," he told a news conference.

"People should feel that there is a tragedy and a disaster which has happened in Egyptian sports, and for al-Ahly."

Police in Egypt have been keeping a much lower profile since last year's popular protests.

The Muslim Brotherhood - which has emerged as Egypt's biggest party in recent elections - blamed ex-President Mubarak's supporters for the violence.

The UK economy will enter recession in the first half of the year as households continue to cut back, an influential think tank has warned.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said the government should temporarily ease its spending cuts to promote growth.

It expects the economy to shrink 0.1% in 2012, but to grow 2.3% in 2013 if the eurozone debt crisis is resolved.

Niesr said, however, that deficit cuts had bolstered market confidence.

The UK is already close to another recession - defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction - after official figures in January showed that the economy shrank by 0.2% in the final three months of 2011.

In its UK and World Economy Forecast Niesr said: "We forecast a return to technical recession in the first half of this year, as households continue to retrench, credit conditions remain tight, and businesses are reluctant to invest given uncertainty about both domestic and foreign demand."

Niesr said economic conditions will not improve in the short term, as both the private the public sectors are still focused on paying off debts. "Over the near term we do not expect economic conditions to improve," the report said.

The think tank predicted that inflation would fall sharply, with the consumer price index down to 2.2% this year and 1.4% in 2013.

But there were grim forecasts on unemployment, which Niesr expects will rise to about 9% this year, from 8.4% in the three months to November, and will remain above 7% in 2014.

"Unemployment at this elevated level for such a long period is likely to do permanent damage to the supply side of the economy, with large long-run economic costs," the report said.

Niesr suggests relaxing the government's austerity programme. "The UK economy currently suffers from deficient demand; the current stance of fiscal policy is contributing to this deficiency. A temporary easing of fiscal policy in the near term would boost the economy," the group said.
Little scope

More investment would not derail the chancellor's long term fiscal goals, Niesr said.

On Monday, the Institute of Fiscal Studies said the government could safely cut taxes temporarily, without worrying that the Bank of England would raise rates in response.

But the IFS that there was little scope for big or long-term tax cuts, which risked undermining investor confidence.

"The chancellor faces his third budget with the economy and public finances in considerably weaker shape than he had hoped a year ago," said Paul Johnson, director of the IFS.

Last month, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said he would continue with the coalition government's efforts to reduce the deficit, despite criticism that it is choking off recovery.

A Treasury spokesman said: "As Niesr have said, the government's commitment to deficit reduction has helped maintain market confidence.

"They expect the government to meet its fiscal mandate and for the UK economy to grow more strongly than the euro area this year and next."

Meanwhile, Niesr forecast global growth of 3.5% for 2012, led by China and India, and 4% in 2013. It forecast US economic growth of 2% this year.An independent Scotland could be more constrained on economic policy than at present, a study has suggested.
Scottish independence

The report also considered the monetary and fiscal policy choices facing Scotland if it leaves the union.

Niesr concluded that retaining sterling would be "sensible" for Scotland, but warned that currency union could restrict fiscal policy.

The Scottish government said the report "validates" its aim to retain sterling and insisted Scotland would be in a "healthier" financial position.

The report said that it is "doubtful" whether the Bank of England would extend lender-of-last-resort facilities to Scottish institutions, something First Minister Alex Salmond has argued for.

Niesr adds: "With a pro rata transfer of existing UK public debt, Scotland would enter independence heavily indebted with no insurance from fiscal risk sharing or fiscal transfer mechanism with the rest of the UK.

"Even with a favourable settlement on future oil revenues, its fiscal balances are likely to be volatile with large deficits in some years as a result of its dependence on oil revenues," the report said.

Cambodia's UN-backed genocide court has rejected an appeal by Khmer Rouge jailer Duch and increased his sentence to life imprisonment.

Duch, born Kaing Guek Eav, was jailed in 2010 for his role in running a notorious prison where thousands of inmates were killed.

He had appealed on the grounds that he was a junior official following orders.

But judges rejected his claim and increased his sentence from 35 years to life.

Duch - the first senior Khmer Rouge official to face charges before the court - was convicted of crimes against humanity in July 2010. He appealed against the verdict in March 2011.

The 69-year-old was the commander of Tuol Sleng prison, where at least 15,000 men, women and children deemed enemies of the regime were tortured and then executed in "killing fields" outside Phnom Penh.

He had argued that he should never have been tried, claiming that he was a junior official following his superiors' orders on pain of death.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued that his sentence was too lenient. Many survivors were outraged when he was sentenced to 35 years, because he could be free in 18 years given time already served.

The appeal court judges ruled that the initial prison term did not "reflect the gravity of the crimes".

"The crimes by Kaing Guek Eav were undoubtedly among the worst in recorded human history. They deserve the highest penalty available," Judge Kong Srim said.

Duch showed no emotion as the verdict was delivered. But prosecutors praised the ruling.

"We can say that justice has now been served after more than 30 years," Chea Leang said. "To us and to the victims, this is a great success."

Hundreds of survivors gathered at the Phnom Penh court to hear the final verdict.

Duch's case is the first to be concluded by the court against perpetrators of crimes committed during four years of Khmer Rouge rule in the late 1970s.

The regime attempted to create an ideal communist society by forcing city residents to work as peasants in the countryside, and by purging intellectuals, middle class people and any supposed enemies of the state.

Up to two million people - about one-third of the population - are believed to have been killed or died of over-work and starvation.

The three most senior surviving leaders of the regime were put on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity in November 2011. Their trial is ongoing.

The cases against them have been separated to speed up proceedings as the defendants are all in their 80s.

Abnormalities in the brain may make some people more likely to become drug addicts, according to scientists at the University of Cambridge.

They found the same differences in the brains of addicts and their non-addicted brothers and sisters.

The study, published in the journal Science, suggested addiction is in part a "disorder of the brain".

Other experts said the non-addicted siblings offered hope of new ways of teaching addicts "self-control".

It has long been established that the brains of drug addicts have some differences to other people, but explaining that finding has been more difficult.

Experts were unsure whether drugs changed the wiring of the brain or if drug addicts' brains were wired differently in the first place.

This study attempted to answer that by comparing the brains of 50 cocaine or crack addicts with the brain of their brother or sister, who had always been clean.

Both the addicts and the non-addict siblings had the same abnormalities in the region of the brain which controls behaviour, the fronto-striatal systems.

The suggestion is that these brains may be "hard-wired" for addiction in the first place.

Lead researcher Dr Karen Ersche said: "It has long been known that not everyone who takes drugs becomes addicted."

She told the BBC: "It shows that drug addiction is not a choice of lifestyle, it is a disorder of the brain and we need to recognise this."

However, the non-addicted siblings had a very different life despite sharing the same susceptibility.

"These brothers and sisters who don't have addiction problems, what they can tell us is how they overcome these problems, how they manage self-control in their daily life," Dr Karen Ersche said.

Dr Paul Keedwell, a consultant psychiatrist at Cardiff University, said: "Addiction, like most psychiatric disorders, is the product of nature and nurture.

"We need to follow up people over time to quantify the relative risk of nature versus nurture."

It is possible that the similarities in the sibling's brains may not be down to genetics, but rather growing up in the same household. Research on the relationship between addiction and the structure of the brain is far from over.

However, many specialists believe these findings open up new avenues for treatment.

"If we could get a handle on what makes unaffected relatives of addicts so resilient we might be able to prevent a lot of addiction from taking hold," said Dr Keedwell.

The chief pharmacist for Derbyshire Mental Health Trust, David Branford, said the study, "implies that addiction does not produce noticeable changes to brain structure and function which means that there may be provision for looking at new treatment techniques for addiction".

Prof Les Iversen, from the department of pharmacology at the University of Oxford, said: "These new findings reinforce the view that the propensity to addiction is dependent on inherited differences in brain circuitry, and offer the possibility of new ways of treating high-risk individuals to develop better 'self control'."

Billionaire US businessman Donald Trump has endorsed front-runner Mitt Romney for the Republican Party's presidential nomination.

Mr Trump announced his support at a Las Vegas hotel he owns, contradicting earlier reports that he would back Romney rival Newt Gingrich.

The candidates have been campaigning in Nevada after Mr Romney's resounding win in Florida's primary on Tuesday.

The eventual nominee will go on to face Barack Obama in November's election.

Telling Romney supporters that it was his honour to endorse the former Massachusetts governor, Mr Trump said foreign business people he deals with had taken advantage of increased US uncompetitiveness.

In short remarks, Mr Trump said Mr Romney would not "allow bad things to continue to happen to this country we all love".

Aides from the office of Mr Trump and Republican officials told US media that the real estate tycoon and reality TV star had spoken to Mr Romney on Wednesday night to inform him of the endorsement.

'Small business guy'

The outspoken businessman flirted last year with the idea of jumping into the presidential race himself as a third-party candidate, but ultimately decided not to.

Mr Trump said on Wednesday that he had an announcement to make about the presidential race, but did not say what it was. US media then reported that he would endorse Mr Gingrich.

Former House of Representatives Speaker Mr Gingrich told reporters he had not spoken to Mr Trump for weeks and was not aware of any plans by the businessman to back a candidate.

In an interview with ABC News on Monday, Mr Trump said he was still undecided as to whether to support Mr Romney or Mr Gingrich.

"I like both," Mr Trump said. "They both want my endorsement. We'll see what happens but in a very short time I'll be making an endorsement."

In April 2011, the star of "The Apprentice" told CNN that Mr Romney was "a small business guy" and that Bain Capital had created problems for the companies it bought.

"He'd buy companies, he'd close companies, he'd get rid of jobs," Mr Trump said.

In December, Mr Romney chose not to participate in a Trump-moderated debate in Iowa, one several cancellations that led Mr Trump to scrap the event.

In a sign the Obama re-election campaign was less than impressed by Mr Romney's latest backer, President Barack Obama's campaign Twitter account tweeted a link to the story on Thursday afternoon, accompanied by the message "In case you missed it".

"We wanted to ensure that no one missed what the Romney campaign believes is a critical moment in the campaign for them," a campaign official told ABC News.

New attack

On Thursday, the candidates were campaigning in the south-western state of Nevada ahead of its Republican caucuses on Saturday.

After the Trump endorsement, Mr Romney hosted a rally in Reno, while Texas Congressman Ron Paul planned two rallies in the state and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum spoke to the Republican Jewish Coalition.

An opinion poll released by the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday showed Mr Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, leading the pack by 20 percentage points.

He was on 45%, while Mr Gingrich was on 25%, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum 11% and Texas Congressman Ron Paul 9%.

The Trump development may at least give Mr Romney's campaign some respite from negative publicity over ill-chosen remarks he made about the poor on Wednesday morning.

During an interview with CNN, the private equity tycoon said: "I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich. They're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95% of Americans who are struggling."

Mr Gingrich led critics in pouncing on his rival's remarks about the poor, in an attempt to portray him as out of touch with the lives of ordinary voters.

At a rally on Thursday, the former House Speaker said "we should care about the very poor" unlike - he said - Mr Obama or Mr Romney.

Mr Romney later told reporters on his plane: "Of course I'm concerned about all Americans... poor, wealthy, middle class, but the focus of my effort will be on middle-income families who I think have been most hurt by the Obama economy."

Nevada's caucuses on Saturday are the next contest in the state-by-state process of picking a Republican nominee to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama in 6 November's general election.

The Silver State offers 28 delegates, out of 1,144 needed to clinch the nomination at August's Republican convention.

SOURCE:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16861187

Euro MPs have blocked changes to food labels that would have allowed claims such as "now contains 15% less sugar".

Such claims for reduced sugar, fat or salt would "mislead consumers", said the parliament's chief negotiator on food labels, Renate Sommer MEP.

MEPs also said the draft legislation would not go far enough to encourage firms to develop healthier foods. The EU Commission must now redraft it.

Currently a "reduced" label must mean at least 30% less of an ingredient.

The European consumer organisation BEUC welcomed the MEPs' vote on Thursday, saying "consumers do not need to be confronted with yet another nutrition claim, especially one which is misleading and adds to confusion...

"What they need is for industry to put public health first and step up their reformulation efforts".

The industry lobby group FoodDrinkEurope, which includes 18 major food and drink companies, voiced dismay.

It argued that consumers "will not be informed of important reformulations to foods so that they can make an informed food choice".

It said the label would have enabled producers to "communicate incremental nutrition changes".

The big freeze has continued across Wales, with overnight temperatures dropping to -10C (14F) in Powys making it the coldest of the winter so far.

High pressure over Russia has been caused the freeze, say forecasters.

The Met Office also issued a yellow "be aware" warning of snow for Saturday, with motorists urged to take care.

It said a band of snow was expected to move slowly across England and Wales during Saturday afternoon and evening, with about 5cm (2in), in places.

In Wales, it is expected to turn to sleet and then rain.

The Met office said some travel disruption should be expected, and advised people to check its website for more advice.

Overnight, Tirabad in Powys, between Llandovery and Builth Wells, fell to -10C (14F), while Pembrey Sands in Carmarthenshire and Capel Curig in Conwy reached -7C (19.4F).

St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan was as low as -5C (23F), Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire was -3C (26.6F) and Aberdaron in Gwynedd hit 0C (32F).

BBC Wales meteorologist Derek Brockway said Friday would be very cold, but mostly dry and bright with cloud spreading during the afternoon.

"The reason for the very cold spell is high pressure over Russia and that means easterly winds for the UK," he said.

"But over the weekend milder air over the Atlantic will try and push the cold air away.

"So on Saturday rain will spread across Wales with a risk of ice. Some snow too - a few centimetres likely, especially on higher ground before it turns to rain and temperatures rise."

The cold weather has already caused Thursday's meeting at Chepstow Racecourse to be abandoned due to a frozen track.

Race organisers at Ffos Las, Carmarthenshire, said they were "pulling out all the stops" to stage Saturday's planned meeting.

The course is covered in protective fleeces, and course officials hope rain on Saturday will bring a thaw for the Welsh Champion Hurdle and the inaugural West Wales National.

Recent cold weather has prompted the charity Age Cymru to urge older people to take extra care, and has published a series of tips to help elderly people combat the cold.

SOURCE:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-16860872

Children are to get legal rights to maintain proper relationships with both parents after separation, as part of a shake-up of the family justice system.

New rules will make clear that contact with both mothers and fathers is vital, the Department for Education said.

But ministers are likely to disappoint fathers' rights groups by ruling out a legal guarantee of equal access.

Campaigners say the UK fails to uphold a UN convention setting out children's rights to maintain relationships.

A review led by former senior civil servant David Norgrove last year rejected the need for any legal statement of rights, saying it risked "confusion, misinterpretation and false expectations".

But Children's Minister Tim Loughton said it was the state's duty to ensure decent, loving fathers were not "pushed out" of their offspring's lives.

"The state cannot create happy families, or broker amicable break-ups.

'Losing meaningful contact'

"But if children are having decent, loving parents pushed out of their lives, we owe it to them to change the system that lets this happen."

Mr Loughton said there was a familiar picture, involving hundreds of thousands of children "losing meaningful contact with the non-resident parent, usually the father".

In its formal response to the report, to be published on Monday, the government will pledge an extra £10m for mediation services in a bid to reduce the number of cases going to law.

When disputes are settled in court - presently around one in 10 - it will promise to find ways to ensure no parent is excluded unless they pose a safety or welfare risk.

A working group will examine potential changes to the Children's Act 1989 to embed the rights.

While groups such as Fathers 4 Justice have demanded equal access, Mr Loughton said the concept of "shared parenting" was too often confused with the idea of children spending equal time with each parent.

'Broken system'

Evidence from Australia suggested this was impractical, leading to longer delays in resolving disputes, which was "manifestly not in the best interests of the child", he said.

"The most important thing remains the principle that the child's welfare is the paramount consideration and this must not be diluted.

Mr Norgrove's rejection of equal access rights attracted criticism from campaigners including Ken Sanderson, of the Families Need Fathers group.

Mr Norgrove's proposals would only adjust a "fundamentally broken system", he said at the time.

"The core failing of the current family justice system is that the rights of children to maintain meaningful relationships with both parents, as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, are not adequately supported or enforced."

SOURCE:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16865916

Prime Minister David Cameron has said the UK must "build a better economy" that is "fair and worthwhile".

He said "popular capitalism" should allow "everyone to share in the success of the market" and criticised an "out of control" bonus culture in the City.

A Co-operatives Bill will be introduced to help employees take a greater stake in their companies, he said.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said in a speech earlier the PM would be judged on "his deeds and not his words".

In a wide-ranging speech in London on the economy, Mr Cameron said he wanted to encourage firms to show "social responsibility" and said that the chancellor was considering new tax rules to prevent abuse.

'Popular capitalism'

He used his speech to discuss his vision for a transformed capitalism, based on two principles "which have been at the centre of Conservative thinking for centuries".

"The first is a vision of social responsibility, which recognises that people are not just atomised individuals, and that companies have obligations too.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

    If there's a bonus it will be a lot less than it was last year”

End Quote David Cameron On rewards at RBS

"And the second is a genuinely popular capitalism, which allows everyone to share in the success of the market."

The prime minister said that "where they work properly, open markets and free enterprise can actually promote morality" by creating "a direct link between contribution and reward; between effort and outcome".

"So we should use this crisis of capitalism to improve markets, not undermine them, because I believe that out of this current adversity we can build a better economy, one that is truly fair and worthwhile."
'Too many barriers'

Co-operatives are organisations which are owned by their members, and run for their benefit - such as John Lewis.

In a speech in London, Mr Cameron said the issue was one he had "long cared about".

He said employee-led organisations were already delivering almost £1bn of health services and the model could also transform businesses, by giving employees "a greater sense of ownership in what they're doing".

The PM said there were "too many barriers" in the way to setting up co-operatives and the new bill would simplify existing legislation.

The government is consulting on new rules which would require the UK's 15 largest banks to reveal remuneration for their eight highest-paid non-board executives - board executives' pay is already published. It is due to report back next week.
Bank bonuses

Mr Cameron said hard work and success should be rewarded - and entrepreneurs who got rich should be celebrated. But he said the City bonus culture had "got out of control" in recent years.

His speech came as reports suggested taxpayer-owned bank RBS may offer a bonus of more than £1m to its chief executive Stephen Hester - on top of his £1.2 million salary.

But RBS chairman Sir Philip Hampton said the suggestion was "inaccurate and premature".

The prime minister said any cash reward at RBS - in which the UK taxpayer has an 83% stake - was limited to a maximum of £2,000.

He added: "There has been no meeting of the remuneration committee, there ought to be a proper process, but I can tell you something, if there's a bonus it will be a lot less than it was last year."

He also welcomed a planned meeting of the Honours Forfeiture Committee to "examine the issue" of former RBS chief Sir Fred Goodwin's knighthood - granted in 2004 for services to banking, amid calls for it to be revoked.

Mr Cameron also said he did not accept suggestions the government was "helpless" when it came to affecting pay at non-state-owned banks, arguing that greater transparency would ensure the market for top pay worked "properly".

Labour leader Ed Miliband has accused the coalition of following his lead on "responsible capitalism", saying it is proof he is in tune with voters.

"I welcome the fact that other leaders are coming onto the ground that I set out last September... about the need to tackle predatory capitalism."

But he said Mr Cameron would be judged "on his deeds and not his words".

UK unemployment rose by 118,000 in the three months to November to 2.685 million, official figures show.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the unemployment rate also rose to 8.4% from 8.3%, the highest since January 1996.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in December rose by 1,200 to 1.6 million.

The number of young people looking for work hit a new record of 1.043m, taking the rate for 16-24 year-olds to 22.3%.

The number of people in employment rose slightly in the three months to November by 18,000 to 29.119 million.

The figures support the picture of a flat UK economy, with other data released on Wednesday showing average weekly earnings, including bonuses, grew at just 1.9%.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, said the figures were not good news: "Any increase in unemployment is disappointing and obviously a tragedy for the person who becomes unemployed - that is why we are taking action to get people back to work".

He pointed to an increase in the number of people in work, to new private sector jobs and a small fall in the long-term unemployed.

But the figures showed the private sector was not compensating for job losses in the public sector, with the private sector creating 5,000 in the period, while 67,000 public sector jobs were lost.

The leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, said the government "was cutting too far and too fast" and accused the prime minister of being "out of touch", boasting about rising employment.

"Isn't the truth, the defining characteristic of this government, that it stands aside and does nothing as thousands of people find themselves unemployed?" he told the House of Commons.

In Scotland, the number of people out of work rose by 19,000 to 231,000 over the three months to November, giving a jobless rate of 8.6%.

In Wales, unemployment fell by 1,000 in the quarter to 130,000, giving a rate of 8.9%, while in Northern Ireland it fell by 7,000 to 59,000, giving a jobless rate of 6.8%.

'Struggling Market'

Since the period covered by the latest ONS figures, there have been a number of job loss announcements from retailers and banks, and the government's public sector cuts programme is continuing.

Ross Walker, economist at RBS, said the numbers were unlikely to improve in the coming months: "Overall, there's a slightly softer feel to these figures. The labour market is struggling and forward-looking indicators such as vacancies and hiring intentions suggest it's going to be rocky in the first half of this year."

David Kern, the chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, called the situation "difficult" but said: "Certain aspects are actually more positive than expected. Employment has increased modestly despite the rise in unemployment. This shows the level of inactivity is falling as people return to the labour market and look for work."

The figures also showed a large rise in the number of self-employed people. A rise of 101,000 took the total to a new record of 4.2m.

It is an issue raised in a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development this week, claiming that this growth was keeping a lid on unemployment.

"While some of these newly self-employed may make a long-term commitment to being their own boss, or at least gain the necessary experience to do so, it's likely that most would take a job with an employer if only they could find one," said John Philpott, chief economic advisor to the CIPD.

The ONS said the number of employees and self-employed people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job had risen 44,000 to 1.31m, the highest figure since records began in 1992.

'Damaging effect'

Paul Kenny, the general secretary of the GMB union, blamed the government for the increase, saying: "This rise in unemployment was made in Downing Street. The truth is that jobs are haemorrhaging in the public and private sectors and no one in the government seems to know what to do to stop this."

And Martina Milburn, the chief executive of the youth charity The Prince's Trust, said the situation was grave for young people: "Unemployment can have a devastating effect, not just on future job and wage prospects, but also damaging well-being and mental health.

"Our research shows that unemployed young people are feeling less confident about the future than they did this time last year. The Government must work together with charities and employers on courses that are proven to help young people into jobs."

On Tuesday, figures showed that the rate of inflation fell from 4.8% to 4.2% in December, which was seen as increasing the chances of another cash injection from the Bank of England when its current quantitative easing programme ends.

Many women don't suspect they're pregnant until they've missed a period, but there may be other indications, sometimes even before that. These include:

Sickness and/or feelings of nausea

A strange, 'metallic' taste in your mouth

Breast tenderness, tingling and enlargement

The small bumps - 'Montgomery's tubercules' - on your nipples becoming more obvious

Stomach pains

Tiredness

Constipation

Needing to urinate more often

Going off certain things, such as coffee and fatty foods

Increased vaginal discharge

Some women experience very light bleeding (called 'spotting') that they mistake for their period

Home pregnancy tests can be used on the first day of your missed period, and some very sensitive tests can be used sooner than this.

The tests work by detecting the hormone human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) in your urine. A chemical in the stick changes colour when it comes into contact with this hormone, so the usual way of testing is to urinate on the end of the stick and watch for the result in the window of the stick.

Pregnancy tests are very accurate as long as you use them properly. It's possible to have a false negative, when the test says you aren't pregnant but you are. If your period still doesn't arrive, repeat the test or check with your GP.

You can buy home pregnancy tests online, in the supermarket or at your local chemist. Some GPs, family planning clinics and young people's services (such as Brook Centres) offer free tests, as do some pharmacies, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and Marie Stopes International clinics.

The length of your pregnancy is dated from the first day of your last period, even though you actually conceive two weeks or so after this date (depending on the length of your cycle). Your baby is likely to be born two weeks either side of the due date.

Check your due date and what's happening within your body week by week with our pregnancy calendar. All you need to know is the first day of your last period.

Most women see their GP to arrange antenatal care, but you can book directly with a community midwife if you prefer. Call your doctor’s surgery, or your primary care trust, to find out how to do this.

If you've had a positive home test, you just need to tell your doctor. They're unlikely to test you again. You may be offered a 'dating' scan, even if you're sure of your dates. This is an ultrasound scan done in early pregnancy to find out the size of your uterus and the embryo, to help determine how many weeks pregnant you are.

SOURCE:http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/pregnancy/pregnancy_signs.shtml

Dozens of towns throughout the region suffered damage during last summer's biggest flood and the recovery effort is far from over.

People in three of the hardest hit centres are gathering this weekend to mark the passing of a year.

A flooded creek meant Carisbrook, near Maryborough, was evacuated last January and tomorrow afternoon a gathering featuring music and children's activities is being held, called Carry on Carisbrook.

Bridgewater is taking a break from its recovery efforts tomorrow, with a community coffee morning organised and at Rochester, about 100 people have been invited to help unveil a plaque near the Campaspe River on Sunday afternoon.

Flood funds

Meanwhile, several projects in central Victoria have been given money from a State Government flood recovery fund.

The region's biggest recipient was the Loddon Shire, which was handed $3 million to help re-establish the Bridgewater Caravan Park.

More than $2 million will also be spent on sporting facilities at Newbridge.

Projects in the Bendigo, Heathcote, Rochester, Kerang and Woodend districts have also attracted funds.

The money is from the Flood Recovery Community Infrastructure Fund.

Goldfields' heritage project

And an application for nearly $11 million of Commonwealth money will be submitted after two central Victorian projects were short-listed for funding.

The Wedderburn Community Centre redevelopment and the Victorian Goldfields Heritage Region project have been chosen to apply for the Federal Government's Regional Development Australia (RDA) fund.

The Loddon Mallee RDA committee's Jenny Dawson says she is hopeful the two projects will be successful.

She says the Goldfields' heritage project was selected because of the potential benefit to the entire region.

"The proposal there is to plan for Australia's first heritage goldfields region and that's really playing to the strength of our region and our neighbouring regions and it's a really good example of a project that is broader than one local government area," she said.

- ABC

© ABC 2012

SOURCE:http://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/gatherings-to-remember-floods/19999

Water surges down a river near South Hedland after Tropical Cyclone Heidi drenched the region. - ABC

Pilbara residents are being warned to stay vigilant even thought the all clear has been given following Tropical Cyclone Heidi - ABC

Pilbara residents and mining companies are being urged to make preparations for strong winds and potential flooding expected to hit the region throughout today.

Communities between Port Hedland and Karratha and people in Marble Bar and Nullagine have been advised wild weather will hit the region this afternoon.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting heavy rainfall and damaging winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour from midday to late afternoon.

Local mine sites in the Shire of East Pilbara and town of Port Hedland may also experience minor to moderate flood events.

The State Emergency Service says there is a possible threat to lives and homes due to rising water levels in local rivers and streams.

A number of roads are closed in the Shire of East Pilbara and Port Hedland.

Authorities are warning residents not to become complacent after a family of 10 was rescued on the outskirts of Port Hedland last night after their home was hit by rising floodwaters.

The Fire and Emergency Services Authority's Jim Cahill says rivers and streams are still rising from inland rain caused by Heidi.

"We still have to be on the watch and that's why the SES volunteers will be on call for the next couple of days, just in case things happen - roofs have been weakened or trees have been weakened and they fall over in the next couple of days," he said.

"It sometimes happens after cyclones, as the ground dries out or if we get any more rain, that any damage that has been done may come to life."

Lost productivity

Meanwhile, staff at Australia's biggest bulk export port are working to try to recover some of the millions of dollars in lost productivity caused by Cyclone Heidi.

The Port Hedland Port Authority sent large ships offshore on Tuesday night in preparation for the category two cyclone.

Harbour Master Lindsay Copeman says work at the port is in full speed.

"We've bringing ships in through the night; we've got five in operation already and we'll bring another six in this morning," he said.

"So after lunch today we'll have the port chock a block with ships - we'll probably have about 38."

Mr Copeman estimates the two-day closure could mean millions of dollars in lost productivity for the port, its customers and the economy.

- ABC

© ABC 2012

Willemien Phelan, Friday January 13, 2012 - 16:28 EDT

Today and yesterday were pleasant Sydney days, with plenty of sunshine warming the city to the high twenties. This, combined with a cool breeze and a dry airmass, created great weather for outdoor activities. The clear skies and low night time humidity provided favorable conditions for a good night's sleep.

However, a gloomier weekend is in store as southerly wind will turn easterly, bringing widespread cloud cover and showers to eastern NSW. Below average temperatures are forecast on both Saturday and Sunday, including the western suburbs.

Further west into NSW conditions are not much better, Sydneysiders looking for a warm and dry location to go camping for the weekend would have to drive towards the Central Tablelands or beyond. But although Dubbo could see temperatures rising into the high twenties in the weekend there is a risk of afternoon thunderstorms in this region too. Nights in the Blue Mountains will continue to be chilly, with the recent night time lows of 4 degrees on Thursday morning in Katoomba. Last night was a little warmer with 8 degrees, it is still well below the season's average. Daytime temperatures in Katoomba for the weekend will struggle to even reach the mid-teens for these days.

Towards the middle of next week warmer conditions across NSW and in Sydney can be expected.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2012

Express and Star owner apologises to toddler's parents at Leveson inquiry, but says his papers were 'scapegoated' by PCC

Richard Desmond has tried to play down mistakes made by his newspapers over their defamatory coverage of missing Madeleine McCann at the Leveson inquiry.

At one stage during his appearance at the inquiry on Thursday afternoon Desmond got out his pen and tried to calculate that the majority of news stories written by the four Express Newspapers titles about McCann's parents were not in fact defamatory – and then claimed that they were slow in any event to complain.

The proprietor – the first owner to give evidence – apologised to Kate and Gerry McCann several times, but qualified his remarks as he did so. "I apologise again to the McCanns … but there are views about the McCanns and what happened," Desmond said, indicating that the public held a wide range of opinions about what happened to Madeline in Portugal.

He added: "Every paper was doing the same thing, which is why every paper or most papers paid money to the McCanns. Only we were scapegoated by the ex-chairman of the PCC."

He was challenged by Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, who reminded him that his newspapers had settled libel claims in respect of "38 articles" over a four-month period that he described as "most egregious". Desmond responded by trying to calculate how many articles the Daily Express would have published over that period – doing sums on his notepad to conclude that there would have been 102, or one a day over 17 weeks.

Desmond continued: "I don't wish to justify it … and I'm not trying to win points here, but if there were 102 articles on the McCanns, and 38 bad ones … you could argue there were 65 or 70 good ones."

Later he repeated the point, adding: "On your figure, we ran 102 articles for four months, nothing happened until a new firm of lawyers – who were on contingency [no win, no fee] – then came in to sue us."

In March 2008, Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell paid out £550,000 to settle defamation claims in respect of more than 100 different articles that appeared in his Express and Star titles, publishing an unprecedented front-page apology in all his newspapers. At the time the published statement acknowledged that there was "no evidence whatsoever" to support the theory "the couple caused the death of their missing daughter Madeleine and then covered it up".

The media mogul also tried to compare the Madeleine McCann story to the death of Princess Diana, arguing that the articles were merely reflecting a strand of public opinion at the time, and that to some degree every newspaper was reporting on similar lines.

As Desmond began, he was angrily interrupted by Jay, who said "there is no comparison between these two cases. In the case of Princess Diana we have a dead body" – to which the newspaper owner responded by saying "there has been speculation that Diana was killed by the royal family," adding his titles did "everything reasonable" to get the facts.

Jay accused Desmond of "a grotesque mischaracterisation" of his newspapers' conduct. "Your paper was accusing the McCanns on occasion of killing their daughter – are you seriously saying they were quite happy than entirely anguished by your papers' bad behaviour?" he added.

Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for the McCanns, said they would not be commenting personally, but added: "Mr Desmond's memory is apparently doing him a great disservice. For him to suggest that Kate and Gerry were happy with the Express Newspapers coverage, he must be living in a parallel universe."

Mitchell added that Desmond's portrayal of the McCanns' reaction to his papers' coverage of their daughter's disappearance was "grotesque in the extreme". He said that the coverage, some of which was just "lies", had added to the suffering they endured.

He also said Desmond was wrong to claim that the McCanns only took legal action after changing their legal team.

Mitchell said they did not take legal action against Desmond's newspapers earlier "because they had more important things to do, like looking for their daughter". Mitchell said they also did not want to fall out with the media and only took legal action as a last resort.

"The scale of the coverage in Express Newspapers' titles was so great that they felt something had to be done," he added.

The media mogul – who owns the Daily Express, the Sunday Express, the Daily Star, the Daily Star Sunday and Channel 5 – also offered the unlikely argument that the Press Complaints Commission should be replaced by an "RCD committee", a reference to his own initials.

Desmond took swipes at his rivals, describing the Daily Mail as the "Daily Malicious" and its editor, Paul Dacre, as "the fat butcher".

Asked about his relationship with politicians, he described his first meeting with Tony Blair after buying newspapers in 2000, in which the two talked about "music and drums" before the then prime minister finally asked him which political party he supported.

Desmond's often jokey and at times artless testimony lasted for an hour, following a day in which the editors of the Daily Express and Daily Star gave evidence, both of whom sought to explain what went wrong with their newspaper's coverage of the McCann affair and why the publisher walked out of the PCC as a result.

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SOURCE:http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jan/12/richard-desmond-madeleine-mccann-mistakes

Iranian state media are raising the specter of revenge assassinations on Israeli and possibly Western targets in response to the killings of nuclear scientists that Iran has blamed on Israel and the U.S., the latest development in an escalating, multiple-front war of words.

The U.S. has denied any involvement in the violence, most recently the bomb blast Wednesday that killed Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, while Israeli officials have hinted at covert campaigns against Iran without directly admitting involvement. Iranian leaders, meanwhile, have vowed to take their complaints to the United Nations while at the same time agreeing to open their nuclear facilities to outside inspectors.

Recent Iranian wargames near the Strait of Hormuz have further increased tensions in the region and with the U.S., given that the straight is a strategic oil route and that Iran has threatened to block it if provoked.

And it didn't help relations this week when Iran announced a joint U.S.-Iranian national will be executed after being found guilty of spying -- a charge both he and Washington denies.

As for the threat of retaliation for the scientist killings -- at least four in two years -- the most incendiary rhetoric appears to be mostly contained to Iranian state media.

A column in the Kayhan newspaper by chief editor Hossein Shariatmadari asked why Iran did not avenge Roshan, a chemistry expert and a director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, by striking Israel.

"Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz in his recent remarks spoke about damaging Iran's nuclear program," he wrote. "Assassinations of Israeli military and officials are easily possible."

Other publications have made similar calls for retaliation. Official reaction from the Iranian government, on the other hand, has been more tempered.

In a letter to the U.N. secretary-general on Thursday, Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee called on the U.N. to condemn the killing and two earlier attacks that left two nuclear scientists dead and another seriously injured.

"There is firm evidence that certain foreign quarters are behind such assassinations. As has been claimed by these circles, such terrorist acts have been carried out as part of the efforts to disrupt Iran's peaceful nuclear program, under the false assumption that diplomacy alone would not be enough for that purpose," the letter read in part.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied any U.S. role in the killing and the U.S administration condemned the attacks.

At the same time, diplomats said Thursday that a senior U.N. nuclear agency team will visit Tehran on Jan. 28, with Iran saying it is ready after years of refusal to discuss allegations that it was involved in secret nuclear weapons work.

Diplomats have previously said that International Atomic Energy Agency officials were discussing such a trip with their Iranian counterparts. But before the diplomats' comments Thursday, no date -- or indication that Iran was ready to talk about the allegations -- had been mentioned.

Any follow-through on the part of Iran on its reported pledge to discuss nuclear arms suspicions would be significant.

For more than three years, Tehran has blocked IAEA attempts to follow up on U.S. and other intelligence alleging covert Iranian work on nuclear arms, dismissing the charges as baseless and insisting all its nuclear activities were peaceful and under IAEA purview.

Faced with Iranian stonewalling, the IAEA summarized its body of information in November, in a 13-page document drawing on 1,000 pages of intelligence. It stated then for the first time that some of the alleged experiments can have no other purpose than developing nuclear weapons.

Iran continues to deny the charges and no change in its position is expected during the Tehran talks with IAEA officials. But even a decision to enter a discussion over the allegations would be a major departure from outright refusal to talk about them -- and create hopes of future progress in the investigation.

Two diplomats told The Associated Press that Iranian officials had suggested they were ready to talk about the issue during recent meetings with officials of the Vienna-based IAEA. They asked for anonymity because their information was confidential.

Iran denies it is trying to make nuclear weapons, saying its program is for peaceful purposes only and is geared toward generating electricity.

Those claims were called into question on Monday when the IAEA confirmed Iran had begun increasing its production of uranium enriched to 20 percent. That's a significantly higher concentration than the nation's main stockpile -- and can be turned into weapons-grade material more quickly than the lower enriched uranium.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Barack Obama has formally notified Congress of proposals for a $1.2 trillion (£782bn) rise in borrowing, risking another battle with Republicans.

In a letter, Mr Obama said "further borrowing is required to meet existing (spending) commitments".

Congress has 15 days to vote on the proposal, which would raise the debt ceiling to $16.4 trillion.

Last year the government came close to default in a row over the debt ceiling.

An uneasy truce between was agreed last year over long-term plans to reduce the nation's deficit.

Although the president is expected to be able to increase the debt ceiling, the issue will still give the Republicans more ammunition to claim Mr Obama is failing on deficit reduction.

Mr Obama hoped to increase the limit by 30 December, but the House and Senate requested a delay until they were back in session.

It meant that in order to pay its bills, the administration had to dip into its Exchange Stabilization Fund, a pot of money normally used by the US Treasury to maintain currency stability.

A Treasury official said other measures, such as suspending the daily reinvestments of assets in a government pension fund, may also be needed until the debt-limit increase is secured.

UK interest rates have been held at their record low of 0.5% by the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee.

Interest rates have been kept at 0.5% since March 2009.

The Bank did not announce any increase in its policy of quantitative easing. In October, the Bank said it would pump another £75bn into the economy.

The decisions were widely expected, and come amid concerns over the economy's strength due to weak consumer spending and the eurozone crisis.

Stagnation
Data released by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday pointed to a surprisingly sharp downturn in industrial output - including the manufacturing sector - in November last year.

Eurozone interest rates have also been left unchanged - at 1% - by the European Central Bank.

Meanwhile, retailers continue to report disappointing Christmas sales, with Tesco - the UK's biggest retailer - reporting a drop in festive sales in the UK.

Growth stagnated in the last three months of 2011, according to estimates by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

The research institute said growth in the last quarter was just 0.1%, enough to avoid the risk of a recession for the time being. But it means that output still remains 3.6% below its pre-recession peak.

However, a series of closely-watched surveys released last week suggested conditions had improved in December.

The latest purchasing managers' indexes indicated that the service sector had seen growth pick up in December, while the manufacturing sector contracted at a slower pace than the month before.

"The PMI business surveys showed the pace of economic growth picked up to a five-month high in December," noted economist Chris Williamson at Markit, the firm that produces the PMI surveys.

"Importantly, historical comparisons with the PMI and policy decisions suggest that the survey data have moved closer towards a neutral policy stance."

More QE?
Close attention is likely to be paid to the Bank's minutes from Thursday's MPC meeting, which will be published in two weeks.


They may provide a hint of plans for further quantitative easing (QE) - creating new money to buy up government debt and other financial investments from markets.

The Bank had already pumped £200bn of cash into the economy via QE between March 2009 and February 2010.

The Bank hinted last year that it would take until February to administer the latest £75bn expansion in its QE programme.

However, many economists expect a further £50bn-plus of QE once the current programme is complete.

The Bank may also be mulling other new policies to boost the economy. It is already cooperating with the government's "credit easing" plan to funnel loans to small and medium-sized businesses.

"Since the challenges facing the UK economy will increase in the first quarter of 2012, a further £50bn increase in QE to £325bn would be welcomed by hard-pressed businesses," said David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce.

"QE will only achieve its full potential to support growth if it is supplemented by effective measures aimed at improving the flow of credit to viable businesses."

The Bank had a tough time during 2011 justifying its continued loose monetary policy in the face of rising inflation.

However, consumer prices inflation peaked in September at 5.2% - more than double the Bank's 2% target - and has since fallen to 4.8% in November.

The figure is expected to fall sharply in January data, when the effect of last year's rise in VAT drops out of the calculations, adding further support to a possible February decision to extend QE.

Tesco shares tumbled 16% after it said it was "disappointed" by its seasonal trading in the UK.

Like-for-like sales, which exclude the effects of new store openings, fell 2.3%, excluding fuel and VAT.

Tesco warned that it expected "minimal" profit growth for the current year as it increases investment, especially in the UK.

Total group sales for the seven weeks to 7 January rose 5.2% including petrol and 4.0% excluding petrol.

The supermarket warned that its profits for the year would be "around the low end of the current consensus range".

Tesco's latest sales figures were released on a day when a whole host of UK retailers also announced how they had fared over the crucial Christmas trading period:

Home Retail Group, which owns Argos and Homebase, reported a fall in sales and said it would cut its dividend significantly as a result. At Argos, like-for-like sales were down 8.8% in the last 18 weeks of 2011, while at Homebase sales fell 2.6%
Chocolate maker Thorntons said like-for-like sales at its own stores were down 4.2% in the 14 weeks to 7 January
Like-for-like sales at Halfords fell 4.8% in the 13 weeks to 30 December, as motorists cut their spending on car maintenance and improvement
Sportswear retailer JD Sports saw like-for-like sales, excluding VAT, rise by 0.1% in the five weeks to 7 January. When VAT is included, sales were up 1.6%
Mothercare - the babies' and children's goods group - reported a 3% drop in like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to 7 January
Online grocer Ocado said customer orders in the four weeks to Christmas jumped 21.9% from the previous year. The news pushed its share price up by 14%.
Price campaign
Tesco reported UK figures excluding VAT, in order to strip out the effect of the increase in VAT at the start of 2011. When VAT was included, like-for-like sales fell 1.3%.

In its statement, the supermarket chain also suggested that its spending on its Big Price Drop strategy had not been successful.

"In a highly promotional market, the volume response to our increased investment into lowering prices did not offset the deflation it has driven," Tesco said, and added that the "improvements... still had to work through fully".

Richard Hunter from Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers said: "The lowering of prices did drive higher sales, but the pressure on margins rendered the promotion unsuccessful.

"Unfortunately the big price drop reported in this update will be remembered as more reflective of the shares than the campaign."

But Tesco reported online sales growth in the UK of 14%, across food and non-food.

Overseas growth
Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke said the international businesses had made good progress despite a challenging economic environment.

The retailer said it was pleased with the performance of its international businesses, although it was seeing "early signs of more cautious behaviour".

Group sales were boosted by 7% growth in Europe, 8.1% growth in Asia and 40.6% growth in the US.

Like-for-like sales in the US, where Tesco operates under the Fresh & Easy brand, grew 19.3%.

Despite the strong growth, Tesco announced earlier in the week that it was temporarily closing 12 Fresh & Easy stores in California, Arizona and Nevada because of weak local economies.

Tesco is the third of the big supermarkets to report its Christmas trading. Morrisons reported a 0.7% rise in like-for-like sales for the six weeks to 1 January, while Sainsbury's like-for-like sales grew 2.1% in the 14 weeks to 8 January.

"This was a deeply underwhelming performance by Tesco in its home market, and all the more grave, given the adverse weather conditions of December 2010," said John Ibbotson from the consultancy Retail Vision.


"We just didn't have the money for what we would normally have"
"Tesco's share of the market remains dominant, but is slipping. It has fallen from 30.5% a year ago to 30.1%."

Mr Clarke told the BBC's business editor Robert Peston that Tesco would invest in its UK stores over the coming year to improve the shopping experience of customers.

This is expected to involve a big increase in the number of employees per store, meaning possibly thousands of people may need to be hired.

TRENTON - Vowing to make a bill legalizing same-sex marriage a priority, Senate President Stephen Sweeney said today he doesn't expect a battle in the new Legislature, but rather with Gov. Chris Christie, who has been a staunch opponent of it.

The announcement by the legislative leaders that they planned to make gay marriage a centerpiece of the new session that begins today puts Sweeney and his fellow Democrats on the offensive and forces Christie to take a stand on a delicate political issue.

"It's going be a fight," Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said. "We expect it to be a fight. The governor’s a decent person, and I think we can work on educating him to the fact of what it means."

Sweeney abstained when a same-sex marriage bill came before the Legislature two years ago, helping the measure go down to defeat in the final days in office for Gov. Jon Corzine, who had pledged to sign the measure if it passed.

Months ago, Sweeney, a Catholic, said he was wrong not to support the bill, which he said he erroneously considered a religious issue, not a matter of civil rights, as he now views it.

But Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) said they now have the votes to get the measure passed in their respective chambers and will work to get the required two-thirds of the Senate vote to override an anticipated veto by Christie.

Christie’s office has declined to comment on the proposed legislation since it was disclosed Saturday night, but two years ago he vowed to veto the measure if it passed.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), who co-sponsored the measure in 2010 with state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), said the latest effort already has bipartisan support.

Sweeney, who announced last week that he plans to form an exploratory committee to look at a possible run for U.S. Senate in 2014, said the bill would go to the appropriate committees "immediately" and that he wanted a vote in the Senate before the budget break in March.

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer), the state’s only openly gay legislator — Assemblyman-elect Tim Eustace (D-Bergen), who is being sworn in Tuesday, is also gay — said Christie might not be an obstacle.

"He has already stated that gay couples should be afforded the same dignity and equal respect under the laws," Gusciora said at a press conference in Trenton attended by nearly a dozen Democratic leaders.

Christie has said he favors civil unions, the current law in New Jersey that was adopted in 2003.

But Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, a gay rights advocacy group, said civil unions are "failed experiments" because they don’t extend to same-sex couples the same rights held by heterosexual couples.

"Well, it took a couple of years but Steve Sweeney and I are finally playing on the same team," Goldstein said. "He’s evolved just like the world has evolved."

John Tomicki, president of the New Jersey Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage, insisted that same-sex marriage is not a civil rights issue.

Tomicki said that two of the six states that recognize same-sex marriages — New Hampshire and Iowa — are trying to reverse the measures, and the law in New York recognizing gay marriage, which was approved last summer, is being challenged in two courts.

Patrick Murray, the director of polling at Monmouth University, said the timing of the announcement smacked of partisan politics. With a gubernatorial election next year, he said Democrats are looking to saddle Christie with some "political baggage" they can use against him in a possible re-election campaign.

"The political overtones are unmistakable in this," Murray said, "because they know it’s all but certain Gov. Christie will veto it."