<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomber.com By Mark Shenk

New York, April 2 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell on expectations the war in Iraq is moving closer to an end, after the U.S. said coalition forces advancing toward Baghdad destroyed two of Saddam Hussein's six Republican Guard divisions.

Fourteen days of fighting haven't slowed shipments from neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world's top exporter, said Lamees Al- Ali, a spokeswoman at state-owned Saudi Aramco. Kuwait and Qatar also said shipments are normal. Persian Gulf countries pump about a quarter of the world's oil. Price declines accelerated after the U.S. said oil imports rose to a record last week.

Traders are betting that the war will be over in a matter of a couple of weeks, with Iraqi exports back to normal in about three months,'' said Phil Flynn, a senior energy trader at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. We've heard that there are people working on the southern fields now, so it could be even sooner.''

Crude oil for May delivery was down $1.18, or 4 percent, at $28.60 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Easing concern of disruptions to Persian Gulf exports has sent prices down 28 percent from a 12-year high of $39.99 a barrel on Feb. 27. The 1991 Gulf War lasted six weeks.

In London, the May Brent crude-oil futures contract fell $1.15, or 4.4 percent, to $25.21 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange.

The Energy Department in a weekly report said U.S. inventories rose a greater-than-expected 6.8 million barrels, or 2.5 percent, to 280.7 million barrels in the week ended March 28. A Bloomberg survey of analysts predicted an increase of about 2 million barrels.

Record Imports

``This week's report shows crude-oil imports are at the highest ever,'' said Doug MacIntyre, a senior oil market analyst with the department's Energy Information Administration. The department began compiling weekly figures in 1990.

Imports rose 7.3 percent to 10.36 million barrels a day. Venezuelan shipments were close to normal, the department said. A strike that began Dec. 2 had disrupted exports from the South American country, which in November provided about 10 percent of the oil used by U.S. refineries.

Saudi Arabia and Venezuela ``said they were increasing production and we are now seeing it reflected in inventories,'' said Jay Saunders, an analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York.

Iraq, the third-largest producer in the Persian Gulf region, pumped about 3 percent of global supply in February, before the war started. The nation shipped about 7 percent of the oil imported by the U.S. in January.

Baghdad Guard Division

Allied forces have driven to within 30 miles of Baghdad, U.S. General Stanley McChrystal, vice director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a Pentagon briefing.

``We're now engaging the Republican Guard divisions defending the outskirts of Baghdad, and irregular forces throughout the south supporting the Iraqi regime,'' McChrystal said.

U.S. air and ground attacks have destroyed two of six Republican Guard divisions, McChrystal said.

In Nigeria, international oil companies have halted production of about 800,000 barrels a day in the past two weeks, more than a third of the country's output, because of fighting between government troops and ethnic Ijaw militants before presidential elections on April 19.

MSN Money By Tom Costello 12:55 PM EST April 2, 2003

Already weak, the world's economy now is grappling with the war in Iraq and the SARS outbreak. "The global economy is relatively infirmed right now, relatively weak, and one more shock is not what the economy needs right now," says Steve East, the chief economist at Friedman Billings Ramsey. East has told his clients that they need to watch the SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, outbreak closely if they're investing globally. If consumers in Asia stay away from crowded places such as shops, the implications could be profound. Tipping toward recession? "If that causes these economies in the Pac Rim to tip into recession at a time when the rest of the global economies are weak, we could end up with a rolling global recession," East says. There are plenty of worrisome signs. In Hong Kong, authorities are decontaminating schools and quarantining entire apartment blocks. In Canada, authorities say six people have died from SARS. "People are very frightened here in Hong Kong," says Mark Mobius, who runs the Templeton Emerging Markets Fund (EMF). "I would say it's almost a panic situation." The fear of SARS was put on display Tuesday when an American Airlines plane from Tokyo was briefly detained on fears several passengers had SARS. It turned out they didn't. Surrounded by uncertainty All of this comes at a time of tremendous global uncertainty. With the war in Iraq expected to last longer than originally thought, economists are taking stock of the world's trouble spots. European manufacturing shrank in March, with the German economy teetering near recession. Japanese business confidence also deteriorated, with yet another recession a distinct possibility there. War and civil strife in Nigeria and Venezuela have put even more stress on the world oil market, pushing oil prices to almost $30 a barrel. Even more troubling, the U.S. consumer, the backbone of the nation's economy, is starting to put away the checkbook. Still, economists say we've been through worse. For instance, the 1970s are considered a more difficult time for the global economy. But in this case, the war in Iraq remains a major variable. For some, however, this turmoil represents a buying opportunity. Says Templeton's Mobius, "Right now what we're doing is investing and keeping invested, not only here in Asia but in other parts of the world."

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<a href=www.sfgate.com>Source Wednesday, April 2, 2003 (04-02) 11:36 PST NEW YORK (AP) --

The percentage of major leaguers born outside the 50 states rose for the sixth straight year, up to 27.8.

Of the 827 players on opening-day rosters and disabled lists, 230 were born among 16 foreign countries and Puerto Rico, the commissioner's office said Wednesday. The percentage has climbed steadily from 19.0 in 1997, reaching 26.1 last year.

Seventy-nine players were born in the Dominican Republic, 38 in Puerto Rico and 37 in Venezuela. Mexico had 17, followed by Japan (11), Canada and Cuba (10 each), Panama (seven), South Korea (six), Australia and Colombia (three each), Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles and Nicaragua (two each). England (Lance Painter), Germany (Will Ohman) and Vietnam (Danny Graves) had one player each.

Montreal has the most-foreign born players with 14, followed by Baltimore (12) and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Texas (11 each).

The percentage of players with minor league contracts who were born outside the 50 states dropped from 49.6 to 46.0 (2,851 of 6,196). The number of Dominican-born players dropped from 1,536 to 1,437. Venezuela was second with 793, followed by Puerto Rico (113), and Canada and Mexico (95 each).

<a href=usinfo.state.gov>News from the Washington File 02 April 2003

(Workers' remittances another key source of finance, says new report) (2220)

An overall decline in private lending to developing countries has led these states to rely increasingly on foreign direct investment (FDI) and remittances from emigrant workers as sources of finance, according to a new World Bank report.

The new trend could foster a more stable environment in developing countries because FDI and remittances are less volatile than private lending, according to Global Development Finance 2003, the Bank's annual review of financial flows to developing countries.

"Over reliance on debt has been a problem for many countries," the report's lead author Philip Suttle said in an April 2 World Bank news release.

He expressed "cautious optimism" that capital flows to developing countries will be less volatile in the future.

"This would be good for growth and for poor people," Suttle said.

Remittances to developing countries totaled $80,000 million in 2002, up from $60,000 million in 1998. Net foreign direct investment dropped to $143,000 million in 2002, down from its 1999 peak of $179,000 million, but remains the dominant source of external financing for developing countries, the Bank said.

The report also projected that developing economies would grow faster in 2003 than in 2002, as the effects of recent financial difficulties -- including a period of sluggish growth in the industrialized world -- recede.

Developing economies are expected to grow 4 percent in 2003, up from 3.1 percent in 2002, assuming "a quick resolution to current tensions in Iraq," the Bank said. The global economy is expected to grow 2.3 percent, up from 1.7 percent in 2002.

Regarding regions and particular countries, the World Bank reported that:

-- China continued to make strong advances in output and helped the East Asia region's gross domestic product (GDP) grow by 6.7 percent in 2002.

-- Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean was held down by the government debt default and banking collapse in Argentina, uncertainty about Brazilian elections and worsening economic conditions in Venezuela.

-- Developing countries with close links to the Euro area were affected by slow European growth, but a sharp recovery of activity in Turkey and continued gains in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States [CIS] buoyed growth in Europe and Central Asia.

-- Continued strength in domestic demand in India propelled South Asia to GDP growth of 4.9 percent, despite disruptions associated with continued tensions around Afghanistan and between India and Pakistan.

-- Growth languished in both Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa, with both regions registering growth rates of 2.6 percent in 2002.

The full World Bank report is available on the Internet at: www.worldbank.org

Following is the text of the news release:

(Note: In the text "billion" means 1,000 million.)

......

-- At the other end of the growth spectrum, growth in Latin America and the Caribbean was held down by the government debt default and banking collapse in Argentina, uncertainty about Brazilian elections, worsening conditions in Venezuela, and an associated $31 billion falloff in financial market flows. GDP dropped by 0.9 percent in the year, a sharp 2.4 percent fall in per capita terms.

......

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: usinfo.state.gov)

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Reuters Wednesday, April 2, 2003; 2:14 PM By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to Venezuela on Wednesday fended off President Hugo Chavez's sharp criticism of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, but said U.S. oil imports from its key South American supplier were flowing normally.

The leftist Chavez, who has irked Washington in the past by befriending Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, has deplored Iraqi civilian casualties and said the U.S.-British attack on Iraq applied the "law of the jungle" to world affairs.

"Well, we disagree," American ambassador Charles Shapiro said when asked about the president's comments.

"We are convinced that this war is unfortunately necessary ... we want to have the support of all the world's governments, but that's not the way it is," he told reporters in Caracas.

However, he confirmed that oil shipments from the world's No. 5 petroleum exporter, which supplies more than 13 percent of U.S. oil imports, had returned to normal after a opposition strike that had slashed output in December and January.

"U.S. companies are buying (Venezuelan) oil," he said.

Despite Chavez's vocal anti-war stance, Venezuela has so far ignored calls from fellow OPEC member Iraq for an oil embargo against the United States and Britain to try to force them to abandon the war.

Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said Sunday Venezuela was guaranteeing supplies to U.S. clients. This was in line with a policy agreed within OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) not to use oil as a weapon in any conflict.

CARACAS RILED BY U.S. RIGHTS REPORT

In another potential irritant to sensitive bilateral ties, Venezuela's Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton said Wednesday he disagreed with a State Department report this week that called the Chavez government's human rights record "poor."

The document, one of an annual series of country reports by Washington, singled out extrajudicial killings of suspects by the Venezuelan police and military, alleged torture and abuse and what it called a widespread climate of impunity.

"There are no policies to violate human rights in Venezuela," Chaderton told reporters during a trip to his country's western frontier with Colombia. But he said "isolated" cases of such abuses could occur.

The State Department's human rights report for the year 2002 also cited intimidation by Chavez's government against political opponents and said press freedom had deteriorated significantly during the year. But it described Venezuela as a "constitutional democracy" and said no political prisoners were reported.

Chavez, who was first elected in 1998, says his self-styled "revolution" is aimed at closing the wide gap between rich and poor in Venezuela, but his foes accuse him of ruling like a dictator and trying to install Cuba-style communism. He has resisted fierce opposition pressure to hold early elections.

Opponents of Chavez's government reacted angrily Wednesday to a decision by a regional appeals court to release from custody four pro-Chavez militants who were caught on TV film firing pistols during a huge anti-government march last year.

At least 19 people were killed and more than 100 hurt in the April 11, 2002 march, which triggered a brief coup against Chavez. He was restored by loyal troops and supporters.

The appeals court ruled there was no clear proof that the four gunmen had actually killed people with their firing although it said they should still stand trial for weapons offenses and acts of intimidation. Government and opposition have blamed each other for the shootings.

U.S.-Venezuelan relations have been strained in the last few years by Chavez's determinedly friendly ties with states seen as hostile to Washington, such as Cuba, Iraq and Libya, and by the Venezuelan leader's outspoken criticism of the U.S. anti-terrorism war in Afghanistan.