Burger King South Africa CEO Jaye Sinclair says people lined up for hours at the weekend launch in the coastal resort of Cape Town.

But a few customers called Talk Radio 702 Monday to complain there were no bacon dishes and ask why the company was catering to a minority. Sinclair said the company respects South Africa's multicultural society and doesn't want to limit its customers.

Official South African statistics show that religious groups that do not eat pork here include 11 percent of the 48 million people who belong to the indigenous Zion Christian Church, Muslims making up 1.5 percent of the population and Jews 0.2 percent.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Law firms, brokerages and other companies that analyze the U.S. government for investors could be forced to disclose client lists and other sensitive information under legislation that a top Republican lawmaker hopes to soon resurrect.

Iowa Senator Charles Grassley is investigating what he calls a "political intelligence" firm and whether it engaged in insider trading last month. Grassley is also looking at other firms and trying to ensure greater transparency about how private firms use data they get from government officials.

Grassley on Wednesday said he would introduce a bill shortly to shine more light on the whole political intelligence industry and how it made money by selling such information.

"People in government need to know who they are talking to and what they will do with your information," he said on the Senate floor. "What you think may be an innocent detail or an educated guess may move markets ... That is what these firms want to exploit."

A similar effort passed the Democratic-controlled Senate last year as part of a crackdown on insider trading by lawmakers and staffers, but it was stripped out of the broader bill in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

It's not clear whether Grassley's bill will fare better this year, but it could get a boost from the investigation into Height Securities LLC, a company that helps interpret Washington for investors, and other firms.

On April 30, Grassley sent letters to two major hedge funds asking whether they had profited from information provided by Height and other firms that provide "political intelligence."

Height Securities drew the scrutiny of Grassley's staff and the Securities and Exchange Commission because of its April 1 research report that prompted a surge in healthcare stocks. The report correctly predicted that President Barack Obama's administration would keep certain medical payment rates in place, rather than cutting them as previously announced.

Height's report came out 18 minutes before the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services made its official announcement. The alert enabled Height clients to bet that health stocks would rise before other investors were able to profit from the information.

Height said it did nothing wrong and based its report on several sources, including information that had leaked out a few weeks earlier.

"We are a registered, highly regulated securities firm that conducts investment research like thousands of other financial analysts across the country in complete compliance with the law," said Adam Goldberg, a spokesman for Height Securities. He said the firm is cooperating with both the SEC and Grassley's office.

The investigation has highlighted the political intelligence industry, a loosely defined group of consultants who interpret regulations and politics for Wall Street players. Housed in brokerage firms, lobbying shops and free-standing research outfits, the industry has become more prominent in recent years as events like the Wall Street bailout and Obama's healthcare reform have underscored Washington's impact on the economy.

Critics say political intelligence firms are an outgrowth of a pay-to-play culture that gives Wall Street and other interests unfair access to the powerful.

"In a system in Washington that's already awash in money, here is yet another advantage that moneyed interests have," said Meredith McGehee, policy director at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit group that seeks greater disclosure.

JUST LIKE LOBBYISTS?

Grassley's bill last year would have required political intelligence firms to list their names and client lists, much like the disclosure now filed by lobbying firms.

This year's bill will be similar, an aide said. New York Democratic Representative Louise Slaughter is expected to sponsor a similar bill in the House.

That could make it easier for regulators and law enforcement officials to uncover cases of insider trading, said Kenneth Gross, a partner at Skadden Arps's political law practice.

But the measure will almost certainly face resistance from financial companies and other groups that argued the measure was too broad. A group of 40,000 business lawyers said last year that it could interfere with routine legal research, client discussions and communications with regulators.

Deciding whether a company would have to register under the proposal could be difficult. Some are registered as brokerages or investment advisers, while others are consulting firms not subject to regulatory scrutiny.

Height Securities, for example, is a Washington-based broker-dealer that is regulated by the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Its research arm, Height Analytics, is an investment adviser overseen by state securities regulators in Washington, D.C. and Connecticut. (Editing by Marilyn Thompson and Eric Walsh)

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida, May 8 (Reuters) - Tiger Woods may get the red carpet treatment wherever he goes but that will be of little help to the world number one at TPC Sawgrass, site of this week's Players Championship.

Woods won his only Players title in 15 starts in 2001 and in addition to a field that includes the world's top 30 golfers, and 38 of the top 40, there is the diabolical Pete Dye layout that has frustrated contenders for four decades.

The 14-times major winner measures success by only the biggest championships, but he grudgingly admits that next in line after the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship would be the Players Championship.

"I think we have our four major championships, and that's that," Woods said when asked if the Players could be considered the fifth major. "But if there was going to be another one, this would be it. This is the best field that we have."

Woods could be primed to become only the fifth golfer to win the tournament more than once since he is currently the hottest player in the world with three wins this season that helped him regain the world number one ranking from Rory McIlroy.

He was also in the lead at Augusta National before his third shot at the par-five 15th in the second round of last month's Masters hit the flagstick and ricocheted into the water.

The next morning he was hit with a controversial two-shot penalty - some called for his disqualification - for taking an improper drop following a review that was prompted by a phone call from a TV viewer.

Woods, who carded a triple-bogey on the hole, eventually finished tied for fourth, four shots out of a playoff won by Australian Adam Scott.

He said the Masters disappointment stayed with him for about a week.

"When I was away from it, I was reflecting on ... the things that I did right but also the things that I did wrong that week," Woods, who got the red carpet treatment at a New York fashion awards show this week with girlfriend and Olympic champion skier Lindsey Vonn, said on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately I hit a good shot and got a bad break. But I still had an opportunity over the next 36 holes to get it back, and I sort of had my opportunities to do it and I just didn't do it."

Winning at TPC Sawgrass is also no easy matter.

"It's one of those courses where they've got some tough lines, and if you're not playing well, you're going to get exposed," said Woods, who has just one top-10 finish here since his 2001 triumph. "You miss these greens at all, you've got some of the weirdest, funky little shots that you'll ever face."

Defending champion Matt Kuchar will tee it up with Woods and reigning end-of-season FedExCup winner Brandt Snedeker in Thursday's opening round as he embarks on a campaign to become the first repeat winner of the Players Championship.

"I think this is a great opportunity," said Kuchar, who won this year's WGC-Accenture Match Play, tied for eighth at the Masters and has had two other top 10s in 2013.

"They tell me nobody's defended the title. I don't think that this is necessarily a curse that nobody's defended the title here. It's just kind of one of those stats you pull out, and I'd like to be the first guy that is able to repeat." (Editing by Frank Pingue)

PARIS (AP) -- Bye, New York! Ciao, Milan! And bonjour, Paris.

The world's largest traveling circus of fashion editors, models, buyers and journalists has descended on the French capital, clutching their metro maps and city guides, to cap fashion season for nine days of intensive ready-to-wear.

And this fall-winter 2013-14 is the biggest to date, with some 99 "on-calendar" shows that see the week almost tearing at the seams, starting earlier and finishing later than ever.

"There are 12 shows a day. Twenty-two different nationalities this season. With new top designers at work," says Didier Grumbach, president of the French Fashion Federation. "It's an impressive mix, an energy that sets Paris apart from what's going on elsewhere."

Tuesday day one saw collections dominated by three up-and-coming Belgian designers: Veronique Branquinho, Cedric Charlier and Anthony Vaccarello, who dressed actress Charlotte Gainsbourg at last Friday's Cesar film awards.

The similarities start and end with their nationalities; all three threw together strong but highly individual collections.

If Branquinho was elegance, Charlier was edgy architecture, and Vaccarello was retro sex-appeal.

In other shows of the day, Le Moine Tricote spiced up the bread-and-butter knitwear with woven fabric.

Wednesday's shows include Guy Laroche, Damir Doma and London's enfant terrible, Gareth Pugh.

ANTHONY VACCARELLO

The no-holds-barred sex appeal for Anthony Vaccarello is not for the faint-hearted.

The third Belgian designer to show on Paris fashion week's first day served up a black-and-white ode to the early '80s in a show that featured micro skirts, chainmail, a lot of skin and lashings of sensual leather.

Strong retro shoulders, asymmetrical, diagonally cut skirts, upturned lapels and cowl collars set the fashion time dial firmly back to the era of the New Romantics.

This was fused with the innate sexiness of his variations on the Little Black Dress.

The best look was a black kimono-style top, which billowed in great contrast to the tight, bright shiny black mini.

Subtle this was not, but then, subtle isn't glam-loving Vaccarello's thing.

VERONIQUE BRANQUINHO

It was the modern bohemian woman on parade.

Veronique Branquinho mixed and matched eclectic references, from wooden African bracelets to Obi-style dresses with belts.

The soundtrack included Marilyn Monroe's sultry "One Silver Dollar" from the Western "River of No Return," which played as cowboy boots and denim studs peppered the looks.

Stetson cowboy hats in Shetland went too far, but overall it was a strong collection for the up-and-coming designer reined in only by its feminine silhouette proportions and textural contrasts that unified the show.

The graceful, slouchy style, now a Branquinho signature, was seen on several of the dropped waist looks, often in beige and fawn.

LE MOINE TRICOTE

Fall-winter sees bright-eyed designer Alice Lemoine brimming with ideas.

First of all, in the unique presentation of her Le Moine Tricote collection via three different mediums in three different rooms: there were edgy photos, vintage-looking video projections, and the clothes themselves on mannequins.

Second of all, there were new ideas in the direction of the up-and-comer's knitwear line itself, which saw the repertoire this season spun out to include stricter woven fabrics. They provided a subtle but welcome contrast to the more feminine thick-knit tailored jackets in black, beige and gray.

The strongest piece in the show was a fantastic black mid-length coat dress that had pockets, a lapel and sleeves in billowing wool to imitate fur.

Despite sporty flashes, the collection overall remained thoroughly feminine, thanks to the natural roundness of the thick-knit silhouettes.

This season, ladylike is the name of the game.

CEDRIC CHARLIER

Architecture, "art brut" and Dutch Master Brueghel were all inspirations behind Cedric Charlier's diverse show.

The first pieces, among the collection's best, mixed up sharp geometric paneling alongside oversize coats with fluid, rounded shoulders.

Ensembles were made up of several layers, like square navy skirts on top of knee-length leggings with a rectangular bib form hanging down.

There were also some great structured sheaths in silky navy and black leather.

It's a far cry from the more fluid looks seen in Charlier's last collection.

The designer said medieval painter Brueghel inspired the bright colors of some of the prints and patterns, as did an early 20th century movement called "art brut" that celebrated art from shunned circles, like mental asylums.

It was an interesting idea that worked on the more simple silhouettes.

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Thomas Adamson can be followed at http://Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP

(Reuters) - Dysfunction in Washington is one of the biggest drags on the U.S. economy, undermining confidence and crimping growth, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Tuesday.

"One of the most significant speed bumps for growth is coming straight from Washington, where some political leaders continue to generate one manufactured crisis after the next," Lew said in remarks prepared for delivery at the City Club of Cleveland.

Lew was in Cleveland to meet with local business leaders, tour a Vitamix factory, which makes blending equipment for food, and pitch President Barack Obama's economic policies.

He zeroed in on the local impact from $85 billion in across-the-board federal government spending cuts, known as sequestration, that went into effect at the beginning of March because Congress could not agree on an alternative.

He said the cuts meant 2,500 fewer Ohio children were enrolled in early childhood education programs known as Head Start, and less college aid for about 3,300 students in Ohio. The cuts also forced the cancellation of the Cleveland Air Show, as the aerospace and defense industries were forced to adjust.

"So it is high time we replace the sequester before it causes even more pain," Lew said.

The spending reductions were designed in 2011 to be so onerous that they would force the White House and Republicans in Congress to find a less drastic way to trim U.S. budget deficits. They included cuts to defense spending, normally dear to Republicans, and cuts to Democrat-supported programs like early childhood education.

But policymakers failed to reach an agreement and now must deal with the fallout, with cuts that total $1.2 trillion over 10 years unless they are replaced.

Lawmakers did quickly agree to spare the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after budget-tightening there started to cause flight delays and stirred public ire. Congress allowed the agency to shift money within its budget to halt furloughs of air-traffic controllers that began April 21.

"You saw in FAA, when something hit close to home, ... in three days (Congress) took action to deal with it," Lew said. He said lawmakers may feel more inspired to find an alternative to sequestration after going back to their districts during the August recess and seeing sequestration's effect on businesses and others in the economy.

"I remain optimistic that there will be a resolution to this," said Lew, who as Obama's budget director in 2011 participated in discussions that led to the sequester.

"But I will admit I underestimated the change in the political landscape, such as the defense cuts we're describing are not considered troubling to many Republicans now."

The U.S. economy grew at a moderate 2.5 percent rate in the first quarter, but appeared to brake sharply as the period drew to a close. Economists blamed higher payroll taxes that went into effect at the beginning of the year, and warned that the impact of the sequester had yet to be fully felt.

"Getting rid of the sequester is something we think is urgent," Lew said.

In contrast, Lew said he did not think discussions over the U.S. legal borrowing limit would cause the same disruptions to the economy.

Some Republicans in Congress have tried to use the so-called debt limit as a bargaining chip to force further spending cuts. The current suspension of the debt limit expires on May 19, although the Treasury can use emergency cash-management measures to push off the day of reckoning into August or the fall.

Once the United States reaches its debt limit, the government faces the prospect of defaulting on financial obligations, and potentially its debt, which could shake up markets and damage the economy.

"On the debt limit, I can't find anyone (in Congress) who wants to have a showdown," Lew said. "They understand it can't be a bargaining chip, because the mere negotiation over default hurts the economy."

(Reporting by Anna Yukhananov in Washington; Editing by Carol Bishopric)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was welcomed by his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began a visit to the eastern financial hub of Shanghai. Netanyahu is due in Beijing on Wednesday following Abbas' departure a day earlier.

China's Foreign Ministry said last week it would be willing to help set up a meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu if the two men wanted. Talks between the Israeli and Palestinian sides have been deadlocked for four years and there was no indication a meeting would take place.

China has traditionally maintained a low profile in Middle East diplomacy, but in recent years has tried to play a more active role in the region as part of its quest for markets, resources and diplomatic influence. Beijing has sought stable relations with both sides in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, but Israel's weekend airstrike on a Syrian military complex created a turbulent start to China's diplomatic foray.

Asked by reporters about playing host to Netanyahu following the airstrike, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying avoided criticizing Israel by name but said, "We oppose the use of force and believe any country's sovereignty should be respected."

Still, Hua reiterated that China's hosting the two leaders should be positive for promoting regional peace. "China thinks it is of great significance to help facilitate the Middle East peace process, and would like to make positive and constructive efforts in helping resume peace talks between Palestine and Israel," Hua said at a daily media briefing in Beijing.

Meeting with Xi at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of China's legislature, Abbas reviewed the history of their relations stretching back to the 1960s and said the two sides shared the "same views on many world problems."

"I appreciate China's high position in the world nowadays," Abbas said in opening remarks at the meeting, which was followed by the signing of agreements on technical cooperation and cultural exchanges.

China recognized the Palestinian state in 1988, four years before establishing diplomatic ties with Israel.

In an interview with China's official Xinhua News Agency last week, Abbas said he wanted to involve China more in the Middle East peace process, and said the dual visits would offer a "good opportunity for the Chinese to listen to both of us."

Netanyahu's visit is the first by an Israeli leader since Ehud Olmert visited in 2007, and is expected to include the signing of numerous trade deals. China is a major customer for Israeli know-how, from high-technology to agriculture, engineering and military hardware and services, including the training of Chinese security forces and purchase of unmanned aerial vehicles.

After touring a high-tech industrial park, Netanyahu spoke to Israeli and Chinese business leaders in Shanghai. He paid tribute to Shanghai's role as a haven for European Jews fleeing the Holocaust, and then touted the potential for future cooperation combining Israel's high-tech know-how with China's manufacturing heft.

"Israel is not as big as China. We have 8 million residents, approximately one-third the population of Shanghai. But we manufacture more intellectual property than any other country in the world in relation to its size. If we create a partnership between Israel's inventive capability and China's manufacturing capability, we will have a winning combination," Netanyahu said, according to remarks distributed by his office.

Hua, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said China wanted to see a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict that allowed for both Israeli security and a Palestinian state based on the handover of occupied territory to the Palestinian Authority.

Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley signed the measure at a crowded ceremony on Thursday. Attending was one-time Maryland death row inmate Kirk Bloodsworth. He is the first person in the U.S. freed because of DNA evidence after being convicted in a death penalty case.

Maryland is the 18th state to abolish the death penalty.

The bill will not apply to the five men the state has on death row, but the governor can commute their sentences to life without parole. O'Malley has said he will consider them on a case-by-case basis.

The state's last execution was in 2005.

Supporters of the death penalty could still try to petition the bill to the ballot.

They wasted little time doing it.

They outhit the Boston Bruins in the first period, Joffrey Lupul scored two goals in the second and they won 4-2 on Saturday night to even the playoffs series at one game.

"It was two strong teams playing against each other," Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk said. "We had to work really hard to get some bounces and we got some bounces tonight."

In the Bruins' 4-1 win on Wednesday night, they outshot the Maple Leafs 40-20 and applied pressure that gave Toronto trouble clearing the puck out of its zone to start its offense.

But on Saturday night, Toronto had several 3-on-2 and 2-on-1 rushes.

The Maple Leafs also delivered 22 hits in the first period to just 10 for Boston.

"We didn't answer enough," Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said. "We were the ones in the first game that initiated and it was them this time and we just didn't respond the way we're supposed to."

Nathan Horton gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 1:56 of the second period, but Lupul scored at 5:18 on a power play and at 11:56 with the teams at even strength.

Phil Kessel made it 3-1 on a breakaway 53 seconds into the third period. Johnny Boychuk cut the lead at 10:35 before van Riemsdyk scored at 16:53.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven playoff series is Monday night in Toronto.

The Bruins played without Andrew Ference, part of their second defensive pairing, after the NHL suspended him for one game for elbowing Mikhail Grabovski in the head in the first period of the opener.

"You miss a veteran like that, but that wasn't the reason we lost," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "We lost as a team."

The Maple Leafs also were missing a defenseman. Michael Kostka was out after breaking a finger in the first game. He was replaced by Jake Gardiner, who assisted on Lupul's first goal.

And they had lost five of their previous seven games.

"There was some doubt and tonight eliminated that doubt," Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said. "We can go out there and compete."

It just took one bad game for the Maple Leafs, who have 15 players on their roster who hadn't been in the playoffs before, to get a feel for how the intensity increases.

"I think it helped for some getting those jitters out in that first game," van Riemsdyk said. "We did a good job of executing some things a little bit better."

Lupul had scored 11 goals in 16 games in the regular season. He missed 32 two on a suspension, five with a concussion and 25 with a broken forearm caused by a hard shot from teammate Dion Phaneuf.

Horton gave the Bruins the lead with his second goal of the series when he dropped the puck in the left circle for a trailing Milan Lucic then kept skating to the net. James Reimer stopped Lucic's shot, but the puck went off Horton's right skate and into the net.

Reimer finished with 39 saves for the Leafs.

Lupul tied the game just two seconds before Zdeno Chara was to leave the penalty box after being called for tripping. Gardiner fired a wrist shot from the left point, Tuukka Rask made the save, and Lupul put the rebound in on a short forehand shot.

Less than seven minutes later, Lupul got the go-ahead goal after Matt Frattin carried the puck deep along the right side then passed it across the slot where Lupul tipped it into the open left side of the net.

"It's good for me to get into a rhythm," Lupul said. "No matter how we played in the first game, we were still down 1-0. We were able to refocus. It doesn't matter how you lose."

Then Kessel, who led the Maple Leafs with 20 goals and 52 points, connected against the team he's struggled against since being traded to Toronto in September 2009.

He began the night with just three goals and six assists in 23 games against Boston. And he got his usual round of jeers from Bruins fans nearly every time he was on the ice.

But he provided a two-goal cushion when he raced behind Boston's defensemen, took a pass from Nazem Kadri past the red line and fired the puck between Rask's pads.

"It's not easy for him here. They boo him a lot," Lupul said. "He's battling hard and they're putting a lot of attention on Phil. It's great to see him get one."

And now the Maple Leafs will be playing in the first playoff game in Toronto in nine years.

"We're looking forward to going back home and having playoff hockey in Canada," Lupul said. "We know it's been a while."

Notes: Jeff Bauman, who lost both legs in the Boston Marathon bombings, went on the ice in a wheelchair before the game. He smiled, pumped his fist and waved a big Bruins flag while wearing the team's jersey. He had been photographed being taken to emergency medical treatment minutes after the explosions by Carlos Arredondo, who was wearing a cowboy hat, and others. ... Boston's Brad Marchand limped to the bench with about five minutes left in the second period and went out the runway toward his locker room. But he was back on the ice soon after. ... Toronto nearly scored 90 seconds before Lupul's second goal when Nikolai Kulemin's shot clanged off the post.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed about 1 percent higher on Thursday, led by tech shares, after weekly jobless claims figures pointed to improving labor market conditions a day before the closely watched monthly payroll report.

The European Central Bank also lifted sentiment, putting the S&P 500 at another all-time closing high, as the ECB cut interest rates for the first time in 10 months and held out the possibility of further action if necessary to boost the euro zone economy.

The move follows Wednesday's Federal Reserve statement in which the Fed said it will continue its bond buying scheme to keep interest rates low and spur growth, and would step up purchases if needed.

"This shows that central banks are very determined to ensure that the system is stable and that the global economy continues to be propped up if needed," said Weyman Gong, chief investment strategist at Signature in Norfolk, Virginia. "This makes us very comfortable with U.S. markets for the rest of the year."

Jobless claims fell sharply in the latest week, dropping to their lowest since the early days of the 2007-09 recession.

The data follows a string of underwhelming reports, including a slow rate of growth in factory activity in the U.S. and China, which added to concerns about the pace of growth going into the April jobs report. Analysts are looking for 145,000 jobs to have been added in the month, up from the 88,000 added in March.

"U.S. markets are very focused on jobs, and the claims report suggests the positive trend of hiring could be continuing," said Gong, who helps oversee $2.5 billion.

The Nasdaq advanced on strength large-cap tech shares like Apple Inc , which rose 1.4 percent to $445.52, and Amazon.com Inc , up 1.7 percent to $252.55. The PHLX semiconductor indexrose 1.4 percent after earlier hitting its highest level in two years.

Facebook Incjumped 5.6 percent to $28.97 after posting strong mobile advertising revenue growth in the first quarter.

The Dow Jones industrial averagewas up 130.63 points, or 0.89 percent, at 14,831.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Indexwas up 14.87 points, or 0.94 percent, at 1,597.57. The Nasdaq Composite Indexwas up 41.49 points, or 1.26 percent, at 3,340.62.

The S&P ended at a record level and hit a record high intraday level of 1,598.58 earlier in the session. About 74 percent of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange closed higher while 73 percent of Nasdaq-listed shares closed up.

Visarose 5.6 percent to $175.40 a day after reporting strong quarterly results and growth in the key U.S. market. The stock earlier advanced to an all-time high.

General Motorsrose 3.2 percent to $31.16 after reporting a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit as its North American business improved and its loss in Europe was smaller than Wall Street estimated.

With 76 percent of the S&P 500 having reported, 68.5 percent have topped profit expectations, more than the 67 percent average over the past four quarters. However, only 45.6 percent have topped revenue expectations, below the 52 percent beat rate over the past year.

After the market closed, American International Group Incrose 2.6 percent to $43.22 after reporting its first-quarter results, while LinkedIn Corpslumped 11 percent after its results.

Gilead Sciencesshares jumped 4.1 percent to $52.18 after its combination hepatitis C pill proved effective in a small trial.

Volume was light, with about 6.02 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, below the daily average so far this year of about 6.36 billion shares.

(Editing by Nick Zieminski)

The federal prosecutor's office said Timothy Tracy, 35, of West Hollywood, California, was charged with crimes including conspiracy, association for criminal purposes and use of a false document.

On Thursday, President Nicolas Maduro said he had personally ordered Tracy's arrest on suspicion of "creating violence in the cities of this country" in the wake of an April 14 presidential election narrowly won by the hand-picked successor to Hugo Chavez.

Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles contends the election was stolen from him by fraud, setting up postelection tensions and bitter accusations between Venezuela's government and opposition.

Friends say Tracy is an innocent, self-funded documentary filmmaker with no political aims or government ties.

The U.S. government has also said Tracy is innocent but declined comment on the specifics of his case.

Venezuela's national prosecutor's office said a judge had ordered Tracy held until further notice in a jail run by the national intelligence service in the capital, Caracas, because he presented a risk of flight.

Tracy had a translator and private lawyers hired by him, or on his behalf, during the hearing, prosecutors said.

The Georgetown University English graduate was a story consultant on the 2009 documentary "American Harmony," about competitive barbershop quartet singing, and produced the recent Discovery Channel program "Under Siege," about terrorism and smuggling across the U.S.-Canada border as well the History Channel series "Madhouse," on modified race-car drivers in North Carolina.

Separately, Venezuelan officials said Saturday that they have arrested a retired general who had become a fierce critic of the government, a detention the opposition called part of a hardening crackdown in the wake of the disputed election.

Retired Brig. Gen. Antonio Rivero gained fame for denouncing Cuban involvement in the Venezuelan military in 2010 and became a prominent member of the opposition, participating in post-vote protests this month.

Rivero appeared in a brief video of a postelection protest that prosecutors played for the press Thursday after announcing Tracy's arrest. They said the video was taken from Tracy's belongings, along with another short video that shows a group of young people talking, in what appears to be a joking, sarcastic manner, about being paid many millions of dollars to participate in anti-government demonstrations.

In a snippet that is clearly heavily edited, Rivero discusses demonstrators' use of clubs and rocks in a clash with National Guard members. It is unclear, because of the editing and brevity of the clip, whether he is encouraging them to use weapons or discouraging them.

The footage appeared to be taken at a protest in Caracas soon after the vote results were announced, in which university students and National Guard members traded rocks and tear gas.

Leopoldo Lopez, national coordinator of the opposition Voluntad Popular party, called Rivero's detentionillegal and part of a campaign to arrest and "morally assassinate" Venezuela's opposition leadership.

"The government errs if it thinks we are going to falter in our just solicitude that the truth be known about the April 14" election, Lopez said. Rivero is a member of Lopez's party.

Venezuela's Public Ministry released a statement saying that Rivero would be presented before a tribunal "for his presumed connection to violent acts that have occurred recently in this country."

The statement said the retired general was arrested by Venezuela's intelligence service on Saturday.

The government says postelection attacks by Capriles supporters killed nine members of the ruling Chavista movement, left dozens injured and damaged government offices and medical clinics.

The opposition vehemently denies the accusations.

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Associated Press Writers Christopher Toothaker in Caracas contributed to this report.

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Michael Weissenstein on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mweissenstein