»horoscope


TODAY’S birthday (12/14/10). Expect adjustment to imaginative plans this year. You don’t have to give up on grand ideas, but you may have to alter course to accommodate financial or other considerations. Consider a variety of practical options, but don’t give up on innovative designs or quality. To get the advantage, check the


day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging. Aries (March 21-April 19)—Today is a 6—The gift you’ve been wanting causes a problem for a partner’s cash flow. Is it more practical to wait? Less pressure allows the value to grow. Taurus (April 20-May 20)—Today is an 8—Others have been handling their share of the project unsupervised. You wonder how it will all come together. A close associate sees how it fits. Gemini (May 21-June 21)—Today is a 6—Present creative ideas to the group to manage perceived financial limitation. Once you examine the facts, you realize you have enough to accomplish everything. Cancer (June 22-July 22)—Today is


a 6—If you want to be in the spotlight now, prepare carefully. Talk over your role with others to be certain you understand what’s needed. Then shine. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)—Today is a


6—Creative ideas flow in from a distant teacher. These ideas challenge your associates to work closely together to bring exotic ideas into the practical realm. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)—Today is a 5—Someone wants to radically change a plan that seemed fine yesterday. You don’t think you have time. Brainstorm several options, and let someone else choose. Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)—Today is a


7—Today someone special poses challenges for everyone in the family. Can you accomplish everything they suggest? A little money creates openings for success. Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)—Today is a


6—You want to hear coworker’s suggestions. Some are reluctant, but finally they ask questions and point you in a useful direction. Report back with results. Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)—Today is an 8—An emotional situation demands that you adapt to a feminine perspective. Cautious spending gets you further toward a solution. Focus and it all works out. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)—


Today is a 6—Creative ideas arise as you consider your home. Group members question them, and you’ll find yourself presenting the possibilities you see. Their questions clarify it. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)—Today


is a 5—You’re a bit dry on creative ideas. Ask a female for help. She provides at least three possibilities, and then shows how each one can work for you. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)—Today is a


7—Group members may be divided. Some see only problems, while others perceive endless opportunities. Where do you stand? Take time to figure it out, and then act. BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES INC.


B 4


world The Manila Times TUESDAY D ecember 14, 2010


UK police hunt suspect in Sweden blasts L


ONDON: British police were searching an address in southern England on Monday in connection


with the weekend bombings in Sweden, amid reports saying that the perpetrator used to live in the area.


Officers from London’s Metro- politan Police began the search in Bedfordshire under anti-terrorism laws just before 11 p.m. on Sunday (7 a.m. Monday in Manila), said a force spokesman.


No arrests had been made and no hazardous materials were found,


he added.


The search came after a car bomb- ing and a suspected suicide blast rocked Stockholm on Saturday. It also followed press reports that


Taymour Abdel Wahab—named as the man behind the blasts by the Is- lamist website Shumukh al-Islam—


had studied and lived in Luton, Bed- fordshire, just north of London. Police refused to say whether the search was taking place in Luton. The Guardian newspaper reported that the man was an Iraqi-born Swede, while other reports said that his family still lived in Luton. Saturday’s explosions came as Christmas shoppers crowded into a busy pedestrian quarter of the Swed- ish capital. One blast killed one per- son, while a car bomb exploded nearby and injured two people. British media reports said that


Taymour Abdel Wahab—said to be in his late 20s—had studied sports therapy at the University of Bedford-


Garment protests worsen in Bangladesh


DHAKA: Thousands of garment workers who stitch clothes for leading Western brands blocked roads and blockaded factories in Bangladesh on Monday as demonstrations against low wages spread. Police said that about 5,000 garment


workers staged a sit-in in the northern manufacturing district of Gazipur, while 5,000 more stopped working at a factory inside the Ashulia export zone, some 40 kilometers northwest of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital. The workers, four of whom died on


Sunday after police opened fire with live ammunition, are demanding the implementation of a hike in the minimum wage, approved by the government and industry in July. Bangladesh’s 4,500 garment


factories, which produce clothes for retailers such as Wal-Mart, H&M and


Levi Strauss, are now meant to pay workers at least 3,000 taka ($43) a month—an 80- percent increase on the 2006 minimum wage. On Sunday, four people were killed in the southeastern port town of Chittagong, where police fired and used tear gas to control riots. Dozens of people were also injured at protests in Dhaka. Some factories reopened in Chittagong on Monday after police stepped up security at the export- processing zone. Korean manufacturer Youngone, which has been the worst affected by the violence, kept all but one of their 17 factories shut. The company, which has a turnover of $1.2 billion and is Bangladesh’s largest exporter, said that total damages during the violence would be about $15 million, adding that dozens of its managers were beaten


up by workers. A total of 30 people have been


arrested in the city and criminal cases have been lodged against 3,000 more for their involvement in the violence, Kusum Dewan, deputy commissioner of police in Chittagong, told Agence France-Presse. The government warned manufac-


turers of tough action if they failed to implement the increased wages from November, meaning the workers must get the increased salaries in the first week of December. Garments accounted for 80 percent of the country’s $16.2 billion of annual exports last year. Bangladesh’s factories employ more than 3 million workers, about 85 percent of them women. The government has promised a full


review of the new wage structure for senior workers.


Mexicans march for fallen drug lord


APATZINGAN, Mexico: Hundreds of peo- ple demonstrated in the town square here on Sunday (Monday in Manila) in support of a top drug lord who was reportedly killed last week in a shootout with police. “Long live La Familia in Michoa- can,” “Nazario still lives in our hearts,” read some banners, referring to the La Familia drug cartel and its reputed head, Nazario Moreno, whose body has not turned up since the shootout on Thursday. Government officials believe that his body was spirited into the hills by his men after the gunfight, in which 11 people were killed, including an 8-month-old baby and a teenage girl. Security forces ordered local resi- dents to stay indoors while they searched the town and surrounding villages for Moreno’s body.


BY EUGENE SHEFFER When the curfew lifted on Sun-


day, some 500 people turned out to vent their anger at what they said were heavy-handed police tactics. The main access road to Apat- zingan was reopened that day after it was cleared of charred vehicles that were torched and abandoned during the shootout. But things were not quite back to normal.


Apatzingan town president Genaro Guizar said that police and military forces were still “operating” in towns and villages in the moun- tains surrounding the area in search for Moreno’s remains and members of his criminal group. Also known as “El Chayo” or “The


Doctor,” Moreno is said to be the boss of La Familia and is on Mexi- co’s most-wanted list with a $2.4-


million bounty on his head. Notorious for its ruthlessness, La


Familia made headlines in October 2005 when members rolled five human heads onto a nightclub dance floor bearing a chilling mes- sage saying, “this is divine justice.” It mainly deals in marijuana, which grows abundantly in Mi- choacan, and since then the cartel’s operations and violence have ex- panded into the neighboring Guer- rero and Jalisco states.


Michoacan is the home state of Presi-


dent Felipe Calderon, who launched a nationwide crackdown on the drug car- tels after taking office in 2006. Since then, drug-related crime and murder has claimed more than 28,000 lives, despite Calderon’s de- ployment of some 50,000 troops across the country.


AFP AFP


shire in Luton, about 50 kilometers north of London, and had continued living in the town in recent years. His wife and two young daughters


were still living in Luton, The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph reported. Neighbors told The Telegraph that he had been seen at his house in Luton as recently as two-and-a-half weeks ago. Taymour Abdel Wahab moved from Baghdad to Sweden in 1992 and then to Britain in 2001 to study, according to the paper. A spokesman for London’s Metro- politan Police confirmed that a search was under way: “Officers executed a search warrant under the Terrorism Act 2000 at an address in Bedfordshire.”


AMMAN, Jordan: Jordan’s King Abdullah announced on Monday his country’s recognition of Iran’s nuclear rights, adding that enjoying access to peace- ful nuclear energy is the right of the Iranian nation.


He made the remarks following a meeting with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s adviser and head of the Presidential Office Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, who arrived in Amman on Saturday. Referring to Iran’s situation in the region, the monarch called for foster- ing all-out mutual ties with Tehran. During the meeting, Mashaei ex- tended Ahmadinejad’s official invi-


SAND, SNOW, STORMS WREAK MIDEAST HAVOC CAIRO: Winds, rain, sandstorms and hail battered the southern and


eastern Mediterranean on Sunday, killing at least five people, closing ports and disrupting traffic in the Suez Canal. AFP


There had been no arrests and no hazardous materials had been found, he added. “We are confirming that this is in connection with the incident in Stockholm,” the spokesman said. The website Shumukh al-Islam named him as the perpetrator of the attack on Sunday. “It is our brother, mujahid Tay- mour Abdel Wahab, who carried out the martyrdom operation in Stock- holm,” it said. But both Sweden’s intelligence agency Saepo and Britain’s Home Of- fice, or interior ministry, have refused to comment on the website’s claim. AFP


JORDAN’S KING ABDULLAH BACKS IRAN’S NUKE RIGHTS


tation to the king to visit Iran. Accepting the invitation, the king said that he would visit Iran in the near future without specifying a date. Mashaei also said that such a


visit would open a new chapter in fostering mutual ties between the two countries.


He said that the unity of the Is- lamic countries play a pivotal role in defusing threats, adding that if Mus- lim states become united, no Islamic country would come under threat. Mashaei also called for effective measures to forge unity among the Middle Eastern and Muslim states. IRNA


worldinbrief


CHINA DEFENDS GLOBAL RISE BEIJING: China on Monday defended its rising global status, saying that countries should view themselves as “passengers in the same boat” and not fear Beijing’s “peaceful” economic and political development.


ANWAR ACTS TO STEM WIKILEAKS EFFECT ON CASE KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Monday moved to stem the impact on his sodomy trial of US cables released by WikiLeaks claiming he had sex with a male aide in a honey trap set by enemies.


RADICAL INDONESIAN CLERIC COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY JAKARTA: Indonesian prosecutors promised a swift trial of radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir after police charged him on Monday with inciting others to commit terrorist acts, a crime carrying the death penalty.


SUU KYI SEEKS DIALOGUE WITH JUNTA TOKYO: Myanmar’s newly released democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has vowed to remain patient in seeking dialogue with military rulers following last month’s controversial polls, which have kept them in power.


MAN TAKES CHILDREN HOSTAGE IN FRANCE BESANCON, France: A man armed with two swords on Monday took at least 15 children hostage in a primary school in eastern France, officials and media reports said.


11 1 1


66 23


66 Series no.14


12 12 34 41 11 14 21 1


11 7


AFP CHALLENGEof The Times BY CELSO BINAMIRA-GO BERINGUELA


Solve and arrange five (5) consecutive numbers into the given figures. Every three (3) numbers lying on the two (2) diagonals [forming the multiplication sign; TIMES or X] should have the same totals. Four (4) arrangements are needed. Given as clues is the Common Total (CT) (at the center) and other numbers to help you solve the puzzle.


24 35


45 23


»Sudoku 66


66 13


Series no.13 BY MICHAEL MEPHAM


Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www.sudoku.org.uk.


Solution to today’s puzzle will be published tomorrow.


32 54


53 42


Solution for yesterdays puzzle.


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