At least nine killed in blast at Pakistan election rally

Apr 15 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $4,139,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,137,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,442,389 4. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,100,469 5. Steve Stricker $1,935,340 6. Phil Mickelson $1,764,680 7. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 8. Jason Day $1,659,565 9. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 10. Keegan Bradley $1,430,347 11. Charles Howell III $1,393,806 12. John Merrick $1,375,757 13. Russell Henley $1,331,434 14. Michael Thompson $1,310,709 15. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 16. Bill Haas $1,271,553 17. Billy Horschel $1,254,224 18. ...

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Opposition holds big rally in Venezuelan capital

By Andrew Cawthorne and Deisy Buitrago

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan acting President Nicolas Maduro said on Saturday a centuries-old curse would fall on the heads of those who do not vote for him in next week's election to pick a successor to late leader Hugo Chavez.

Maduro's invocation of the "curse of Macarapana" was the latest twist in an increasingly surreal fight between him and opposition leader Henrique Capriles for control of the South American OPEC nation of 29 million people.

"If anyone among the people votes against Nicolas Maduro, he is voting against himself, and the curse of Macarapana is falling on him," said Maduro, referring to the 16th century Battle of Macarapana when Spanish colonial fighters massacred local Indian forces.

Wearing a local indigenous hat at a rally in Amazonas state, a largely jungle territory on the borders of Brazil and Colombia, Maduro compared Capriles and the opposition coalition to the enslaving Spanish occupiers.

"If the bourgeoisie win, they are going to privatize health and education, they are going to take land from the Indians, the curse of Macarapana would come on you," he added.

CAPRILES SAYS ONLY CURSE IS GOVERNMENT

Calling himself the "son" of Chavez, Maduro has more than a 10-point lead in most polls, although Capriles supporters are predicting a late pro-opposition surge as sympathy wears off from the former president's death a month ago.

Capriles, 40, a state governor, says Venezuela needs a fresh start after 14 years of Chavez's hardline socialism, and is vowing to install a Brazilian-style administration of free-market economics with strong social policies.

He ridiculed Maduro's latest speech.

"Now in their desperation, they're threatening a curse on the people. The people are with God, so nothing like that will happen," he told a rally in the western state of Tachira.

"He (Maduro) lied and threatened the people, saying that if they trust in progress, a curse will fall on them. I tell you here, all Venezuelans, the real curse is that little group that we are going to get rid of on April 14."

The opposition leader also continued to mock Maduro's twice-told story of having seen the spirit of Chavez in a bird that flew over his head and sang to him last week.

While to some outsiders, talk of spirits and curses may seem absurd in an election campaign, Venezuela's mix of Catholic and animist beliefs, especially in the south-central plains and jungles, is fertile ground for such references.

In his daily campaign rallies, Maduro has been referring constantly to Chavez and playing a video where the former president endorses his protege last year as his successor.

Puncturing Capriles' public admiration of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Maduro has also been playing a video of the former Brazilian president endorsing him too.

At his rallies, Capriles mocks Maduro as a poor imitation of Chavez. He says Maduro's track record during the president's sickness from cancer and after his death has wrought disaster on Venezuelans in terms of a currency devaluation and price rises.

Maduro, 50, was a bus driver and union leader who rose to become Chavez's foreign minister and then vice president.

Venezuela's vote will decide not only the future of "Chavismo" socialism but control of the world's biggest oil reserves and economic aid to a handful of left-leaning nations in Latin America and the Caribbean from Cuba to Ecuador.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)

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In Denver, Obama tries to rally support for gun buyer background checks

By Jeff Mason

DENVER (Reuters) - Stricter gun laws passed by Colorado's state government show it is possible to require background checks for all gun buyers without infringing on gun ownership rights, President Barack Obama will argue in a speech in the state on Wednesday.

Obama is trying to shore up flagging support in Congress for gun-control legislation, speaking on the topic at events in Colorado on Wednesday and next week in Connecticut, two states that have worked on tougher gun laws in the wake of shocking mass shootings.

Obama proposed a series of new measures, including universal background checks and new penalties for gun trafficking, after 20 children and six adults were killed in a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in December.

The Senate has delayed debate on the proposals because lawmakers have not been able to reach agreement on expanding background checks, a centerpiece of the package which is opposed by the National Rifle Association, the powerful U.S. gun lobby.

"I think that Colorado has shown that practical progress is possible by enacting tougher background checks that won't infringe on the rights of responsible gun owners, but will help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people," Obama said in excerpts from his prepared remarks.

The excerpts were released by the White House ahead of the speech in Denver, slated to begin at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT).

Last month, Colorado's state government mandated universal background checks for all gun buyers. The new law came after the state experienced two mass shootings, a July 2012 shooting at a movie theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora, and the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School.

In his remarks, Obama emphasized that the state is also a home to hunters and sportsmen who value gun ownership rights.

"I'm here because I believe there's no conflict between reconciling these realities," said Obama, noting that he has received "stacks of letters" from gun owners who also want gun violence curbed.

(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton and Thomas Ferraro; Editng by Todd Eastham)

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Afghans hold anti-U.S. rally following abuse claims

Maiden Shar, AFGHANISTAN (Reuters) - More than five hundred men marched through the capital of Afghanistan's restive Wardak province on Tuesday in an outburst of anger against U.S. special forces accused of overseeing torture and killings in the area.

Shouting "Death to America", "Death to Obama" and "Death to special forces", the protesters called for the immediate withdrawal of the American soldiers and threatened to join the Taliban if their demand was not met.

A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced on Sunday that all U.S. special forces must leave Wardak province within two weeks following the accusations that Afghans working for them had tortured and killed innocent people.

Karzai's demand could further complicate talks between the United States and Afghanistan over the presence of American troops once most NATO forces leave the country by the end of 2014.

Reuters interviewed dozens of residents of Wardak and Afghan government officials who alleged that Afghan men working with a small unit of U.S. special forces had illegally detained, tortured and killed suspected insurgents.

A U.S. defense official in Washington said a review in recent months in cooperation with Afghanistan's Defense Ministry and National Directorate of Security (NDS) intelligence agency found no involvement of Western forces in any abuse.

The peaceful two-hour protest began on Tuesday at the offices of the Wardak provincial council shortly after it held a meeting.

"If the situation remains like this, this province will collapse very soon," said protester Haji Abdul Qadim. "People will join the insurgency very soon because of the abuses of these forces."

In another incident that could feed local hostility to the American forces in Wardak, a Swedish organization which runs health clinics across Afghanistan accused the U.S. military on Tuesday of occupying and damaging one of its facilities.

The incident occurred before dawn on February 11, the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) said in a statement.

"Foreign soldiers entered the ... health facility by force, tied up and blindfolded the guard on duty, and occupied the facility," the statement said.

Doors and windows were broken and medical equipment was destroyed, SCA director Andreas Stefansson said.

It was the second time one of SCA's clinics had been occupied by foreign forces since October, when soldiers spent three days in another Wardak clinic.

After the October incident, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had told them it would ensure it did not happen again, Stefansson said.

"What we are seeking is that they actually live up to what they say," Stefansson said.

A spokesman for ISAF said the latest operation was carried out in conjunction with Afghan forces and aimed at detaining an insurgent leader who had taken refuge inside the clinic.

ISAF said the building was not marked as a medical facility and they had compensated residents for the damage.

Stefansson also said a group of Afghan special forces had bullied and threatened the lives of health workers at the Maidan Shar hospital several days earlier.

(Reporting by Mirwais Harooni; Writing by Dylan Welch; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

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