Stockholm  - Sweden inched closer to adopting same-sex marriage Wednesday with proposed legislation presented to parliament by three of the four parties in the ruling centre-right coalition.

"People in a steady relationship have the need, regardless of sexual orientation, to manifest their feelings and wish to live together," the proposal said.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's conservative Moderate Party, the Liberal Party and the Centre Party were likely to get support from the opposition.

Rome  - Striker Pablo Daniel Osvaldo Wednesday began training with his new club Bologna after his transfer from Fiorentina.

"My options were (English Premier League side) West Ham (United) or Bologna," the club's web site quoted the 23-year-old as saying. "Both were interesting, but I chose Bologna.

"I know that the club and the fans expect a lot from me. I want to show my worth and possibly score a lot to lend the team a hand. Bologna are a great opportunity for me."

Dhaka  - Bangladesh's foreign minister, Dipu Moni, Wednesday called for increased duty-free access for Bangladeshi products in the Indian market, to offset the huge trade imbalance between the two South Asian neighbours.

"As one of the world's fastest growing economies, India has the capacity to import more Bangladeshi products to ease the balance of trade situation between the countries," the newly appointed foreign minister said when the Indian envoy to Bangladesh called on her in Dhaka.

Brasilia  - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva congratulated new US President Barack Obama on Wednesday, and expressed a call for "fluent and profitable" dialogue and a "renewed friendship" between the two countries.

Los Angeles  - At the distinctly un-starlike hour of 5:30 am (1330 GMT) Thursday morning, the Oscar season will officially move into high gear.

That's when Forest Whitaker, who won an Oscar in 2006's The Last King Of Scotland, will unveil the nominations for the 2008 Academy Awards from Hollywood's Samuel Goldwyn Theatre.

Forest, 47, will be reading out the names at the press conference alongside Sid Ganis, who heads the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Budapest  - Unions called off a strike at Budapest's Ferihegy international airport Wednesday, but had yet to reach a compromise with airport management in a dispute over terms and conditions.

Passengers were faced with delays on Monday afternoon when two unions representing ground staff announced the resumption of a strike that had been suspended after
12 days on December 22.