4/21/2003 11:43 AM By: <a href=www.capitalnews9.com>Capital News 9 web staff

A man accused of setting fire to a Jewish temple in Syracuse was denied bail Monday and ordered held in jail until his trial.

An Onondaga County judge agreed with prosecutors that 29-year-old Raussi Uthman was a risk to flee the Syracuse area.

Uthman was arrested March 14 in California after being sought by Syracuse police and the FBI for more than two years in connection with the arson at Temple Beth El in October 2000.

His defense attorney denies the allegations that his client was motivated by hate to set fire to the synagogue.

Officials said the fire occurred late at night and the suspect used gasoline to start it. The blaze caused about $700,000 in damage.

Uthman is a naturalized US citizen born in Venezuela of Palestinian parents. Prosecutors said he evaded law enforcement officials by using three different passports, more than two dozen aliases and numerous addresses.

CBC News 08:35 PM EDT Apr 23 MALCOLM MORRISON

TORONTO (CP) - Despite a generally positive tone to earnings reports, stock markets were mixed Monday morning as investors wait for a catalyst to take markets higher.

Information technology shares helped keep Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index in positive territory, up 18.79 points to 6,544.47 at late morning, after gaining 1.5 per cent last week.

The TSX Venture Exchange was up 3.79 at 1,049.96.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.05 cent to 68.83 cents US.

New York's Dow Jones industrial average edged 11.48 points lower to 8,326.17, after rising 1.6 per cent on the week.

The Nasdaq slipped 5.03 points to 1,420.47; the tech-laden index had climbed 4.9 per cent last week. The S&P 500 index was off 2.18 points to 891.4.

"It continues to be a story of cross-currents - a bit of good news, a bit of bad news," said Patricia Croft, managing partner at Sceptre Investments.

"This just leaves people in a quandary, not knowing which way to go, so it feels like more of the same again."

Investors generally liked what they saw in corporate reports Monday.

3M, best known for Scotch Tape and Post-it Notes, said its quarterly profit rose to $502 million US from $452 million a year ago. Sales were up 11 per cent and 3M stuck to its earnings outlook for 2003. Its shares nudged four cents higher at $130.02.

Shares in American drug giant Merck jumped $1.30 to $57.19 after it earned $1.71 billion, compared with $1.63 billion a year ago. Sales rose 10 per cent, slightly ahead of expectations.

Whirlpool lost 38 cents to $53.30 US after the appliance maker notched a first-quarter profit but lowered its 2003 outlook, citing the uncertain economy.

"People are looking very closely at the quality of earnings," Croft said.

"And so you can beat in the quarter, but if it's all through cost-cutting then it doesn't leave you feeling a lot better about the prospects ahead."

One area unlikely to cause disappointment is the Canadian energy companies. The top oil and gas companies start reporting Tuesday and soaring prices because of the Iraq war, civil unrest in Venezuela and a long, bitter North American winter will result in substantially higher profits.

Energy stocks were higher in anticipation of those reports, with Petro-Canada ahead 48 cents to $48.06 and Shell Canada up 64 cents to $48.

Also supporting energy stocks was an oil price holding above $30 US a barrel. Crude futures were 15 cents higher at $30.70 US a barrel in New York, ahead of an OPEC meeting Thursday which is expected to tighten crude supplies.

All sectors of the Toronto stock market were higher except financials.

Information technology led the advance. Nortel Networks was ahead 13 cents to $3.62 and Zarlink Semiconductor up 18 cents at $7.12.

The gold sector also lent support as the price of the metal climbed $3.70 to $330.70 US an ounce in New York. Kinross Gold gained 30 cents to $9.35 and Placer Dome was ahead 20 cents to $14.70.

Nevsun Resources soared 47 cents to $3.55. The Vancouver-based mine explorer's shares had dropped last week after one of its geologists was murdered near its camp in Eritrea.

Active Toronto stocks included Rogers Communications, ahead 61 cents to $18.60; CAE, down four cents to $3.25; and Tour operator Transat A.T., off five cents to $4.15.

Monday's Canadian corporate reporters include Methanex, the world's largest producer of methanol, and base-metal miner Teck Cominco.

Other big Canadian companies reporting this week include Canadian National Railway, CP Rail, steelmakers Dofasco and Stelco, miner Noranda, CP Ships, software maker Open Text, Goldcorp Inc., Manulife Financial and printer Quebecor World.

On Friday, Air Canada is scheduled to report, as the airline continues to operate under protection from creditors, and faces a court hearing Tuesday at which unions, suppliers and creditors are expected to file motions seeking to protect their positions. Air Canada declined three cents to $1.15.

In economic news, a key indicator of short-term future economic activity in the United States declined in March. The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators lost 0.2 point last month to 110.6, pushed down by worries over higher oil prices, the war and potential terrorist attacks.

Most overseas financial markets were closed for Easter Monday, but Tokyo's Nikkei stock average gained 94.57 points to 7,969.08.

Singapore's Straits Times index ended at a three-week low on worries about SARS, as the Health Ministry moved to quarantine all 2,400 workers at the city-state's largest wholesale vegetable market.

<a href=www.abs-cbnnews.com>Today@abs-cbnnews.com By ROMER S. SARMIENTO TODAY Correspondent

KORONADAL CITY - Farmers in South Cotabato province have complained of the skyrocketing prices of farm inputs reportedly by as much as 50 percent, or P200, prompting the provincial government to bring the matter to the attention of the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority (FPA), which blamed the increase to the shortage of supply.

In response to the concern raised by South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance Fuentes, Alita Bornea, a ranking official of the FPA, said among the factors that triggered the increase in prices of urea and ammonia fertilizers were the export ban imposed by Indonesia on the commodity and the political crisis that hit Venezuela last year.

Fuentes earlier said that prices of the fertilizers have gone up from P400 to P600 a bag, stressing that this “prohibitive price increase is detrimental to our farmers who can barely survive the demands of living.”

“Indonesia stopped exporting fertilizers in mid-2000, which created a void in the local market as traders prefer sourcing the items from that country owing to its proximity to the Philippines,” Bornea said in reaction to the issue.

She said the Indonesian government banned the export of farm inputs “to reconcile it domestic needs.” Indonesia exports at least 100,000 metric tons of fertilizers a month.

In Venezuela, Bornea said the political crisis that hit it last year caused a shortage. Venezuela normally exports some 50,000 metric tons of fertilizers to the United States alone.

Bornea stressed that the is apparently being taken advantaged of by industry retailers.

In Luzon , FPA inventory as of March showed there are only 31,000 bags of urea and ammonia in the market, compared to the 74,089 bags needed by farmers all throughout the area.

In Visayas, 5,000 bags have been inventoried for the same period by the FPA, but the actual demand in the area is 34,473 bags, leaving a deficit of 29,473.

Mindanao, which is a largely agricultural island, has the widest shortfall of 69,089 bags. There are only 5,000 bags available but the demand is 74,089 bags.

Overall, the country has a short fall of 141,651 bags of urea and ammonia fertilizers following the total inventory of 41,000 bags, with a demand of 182,651 bags.

In response to the complaints of farmers in South Cotabato, Rey Legasti, provincial agriculture officer, said Monday that “the provincial government will implement a buy-one, take-one scheme to alleviate the plight of the farmers.” Under the scheme, farmers who are recognized by the provincial agriculture office can have twice the bags of fertilizers they would buy. He said that if a farmer would buy a bag of urea or ammonia in any agricultural stores in the area, the provincial government would pay for another bag.

Funding for the project will come from the national government, said Legasti. However, the farmers who earlier availed themselves of the 50-50 seed procurement program are not qualified to the new scheme.

Please send your comments or feedback to newsfeedback@abs-cbn.com

TODAY

A joint venture of TODAY newspaper and ABS-CBN Interactive

Alarming The abduction of five human-rights workers, two of whom have already been found dead, should be a cause for alarm. The five advocates were investigating a murder and were abducted by 20 armed men along that national highway in Naujan, Mindoro.

<a ref=www.thestar.com>The Toronto Star Apr. 21, 2003. 11:47 AM MALCOLM MORRISON CANADIAN PRESS

Stocks were mixed this morning with New York markets giving up initial small gains that followed positive quarterly reports from a pair of Dow components.

Information technology stocks helped keep Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index in positive territory, up 19.18 points to 6,544.86 at midmorning after gaining 1.5 per cent last week.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.19 cent to 68.69 cents (U.S.).

New York's Dow Jones industrial average edged 10.64 points lower to 8,327.01 at midmorning, after rising 1.6 per cent on the week.

The Nasdaq slipped 7.04 points to 1,418.46; the tech-laden index had climbed 4.9 per cent last week. The S&P 500 index slipped 0.98 point to 892.60.

3M, best known for Scotch Tape and Post-it Notes, said its quarterly profit rose to $502 million (U.S.) compared with $452 million a year ago. Sales were up 11 per cent and the company reaffirmed its earnings outlook for 2003. Its shares nudged 70 cents higher at $130.68.

Shares in American drug giant Merck jumped $1.95 to $57.84 after it earned $1.71 billion, compared with $1.63 billion a year ago, in line with expectations. Sales rose 10 per cent, slightly ahead of expectations.

Whirlpool gained 74 cents to $54.42 (U.S.) after the appliance maker notched a first-quarter profit but lowered its 2003 outlook, citing the uncertain economy.

Last week's modest gains came after a mixed presentation of corporate reports. So far, earnings for the first three months of the year have been mixed, with disappointments often attributed to the impact of the war in Iraq and to unusually cold weather.

One area unlikely to cause disappointment is the Canadian energy companies. The top oil and gas companies start reporting Tuesday and soaring prices because of the Iraq war, civil unrest in Venezuela and a long, bitter North American winter will result in substantially higher profits.

Energy stocks were higher in anticipation of those reports, with Petro-Canada ahead 52 cents to $48.10 and Shell Canada up 49 cents to $47.85.

Also supporting energy stocks was an oil price stubbornly holding above the $30 (U.S.) a barrel level. Crude futures were 18 cents lower at $30.37 (U.S.) a barrel in New York, ahead of an OPEC meeting Thursday which is expected to tighten crude supplies.

Nevsun Resources soared 49 cents to $3.57. The Vancouver-based mine explorer's shares had dropped last week after one of its geologists was murdered near its base camp in Eritrea.

All sectors of the Toronto stock market were higher except financials.

Information technology led the advance. Nortel Networks was ahead seven cents to $3.56 and Celestica added 28 cents to $15.63.

The gold sector also lent support as the price of the metal climbed $3.20 to $330.20 (U.S.) an ounce in New York. Kinross Gold gained 25 cents to $9.40 and Placer Dome was ahead 20 cents to $14.70.

Other active Toronto stocks included Alcan, up 45 cents to $44.15 and Tour operator Transat A.T., off five cents to $4.15.

Monday's Canadian corporate reporters include Methanex, the world's largest producer of methanol, and base-metal miner Teck Cominco.

Other big Canadian companies reporting this week include Canadian National Railway, CP Rail, steelmakers Dofasco and Stelco, miner Noranda, CP Ships, software maker Open Text, Goldcorp Inc., Manulife Financial and printer Quebecor World.

On Friday, Air Canada is scheduled to report, as the airline continues to operate under protection from creditors, and faces a court hearing Tuesday at which unions, suppliers and creditors are expected to file motions seeking to protect their positions. Air Canada declined three cents to $1.15.

In economic news, a key indicator of where economic activity in the United States is heading fell in March. The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators fell by 0.2 points last month to 110.6, pushed down by worries over higher oil prices, the war and potential terrorist attacks.

Most overseas financial markets were closed for Easter Monday, but Tokyo's Nikkei stock average gained 94.57 points to 7,969.08.

Singapore's Straits Times index ended at a three-week low on worries about SARS, as the Health Ministry moved to quarantine all 2,400 workers at the city-state's largest wholesale vegetable market.

<a href=reuters.com>Reuters Mon April 21, 2003 10:15 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices held above $30 on Monday ahead of this week's OPEC producer cartel meeting which is expected to tighten crude supplies as fuel demand dips to the lowest point in the year.

U.S. light crude CLc1 in New York stood 18 cents lower at $30.37 a barrel. Trade in Brent crude on London's International Petroleum Exchange was closed for the Easter holiday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will meet in Vienna on Thursday for an emergency meeting called after oil dropped about 30 percent in a month as Middle East oil flows escaped severe disruption from war in Iraq.

Oil prices rebounded late last week as Iran called on OPEC, which controls over half world oil exports, to cut official production quotas warning that failure to rein in supply could trigger a price collapse.

Other OPEC members have said tighter compliance to official output limits would probably be enough to avoid a supply glut.

OPEC pumped more than 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) over its self-imposed 24.5 million bpd production ceiling in March as it raised output to counter the loss of Iraqi supply and earlier disruption from a strike in Venezuela.

Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh on Monday said OPEC's quota busters should be the first to restrain output. "All those that have increased their output in an unusual way, they should also be the first to decrease their production," the Aftab-e Yazd newspaper quoted Zanganeh as saying.

ECONOMIC WEAKNESS

Oil prices have risen back above $30 -- the level that some economists warn can hurt economic growth -- on the month-long absence of Iraq's crude exports, halted since the start of the U.S.-led offensive.

U.S. inventories of crude and refined products are still below normal levels heading toward the U.S. summer vacation driving season when gasoline demand peaks.

"With market attention firmly focused on the forthcoming OPEC meeting, we expect oil prices will remain well supported given recent statements from member countries indicating a desire to curtail physical supply," said Matthew Warburton of UBS Warburg bank in a research note.

The question of Iraq's representation at the OPEC meeting was muddled on Monday, with Jawdat al-Obeidi, a former Iraqi general who says he is deputy governor of post-war Baghdad saying he would lead a delegation to the OPEC meeting.

The U.S. government said it does not recognize Mohammed Mohsen al-Zubaidi, who has declared himself governor of Baghdad, and therefore his deputy cannot represent Iraq at OPEC.

In a sign Iraq's oil sector is beginning a post-war recovery, Iraqi oil officials said on Monday the country's key oil refinery Daura in Baghdad had started operation at half capacity of 40,000 barrels per day.