Military Parade

Torrance's 28th Armed Forces Day Parade will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, proceeding along Torrance Boulevard from the downtown area west to the Civic Center Complex. Lt. Gen. D'Wayne Gray, commanding general of the Pacific Fleet Marine Force and commander of the Pacific Marine Corps bases, will be grand marshal. Torrance, which has enthusiastically backed the parade, is the smallest of eight cities that the Department of Defense officially supports as sites for Armed Forces Day observance.

SANA, Yemen - A suicide bomber targeted soldiers rehearsing Monday for a military parade here, killing as many as 112 people and signaling that Islamic extremists may be shifting their focus to Yemen's capital after weeks of intense battles in outlying provinces with U.S.-backed government forces. Al Qaeda affiliate Ansar al Sharia claimed responsibility for the bombing in retaliation for American-assisted government offensives against its strongholds in southern Yemen. Unnerved by increasedU.S.

Mexican leftists will relax their protest in Mexico City against President-elect Felipe Calderon to allow a military parade to pass, their leader said Sunday. The move is seen as a bid to avert street violence during the annual Independence Day parade through the capital's central square, or Zocalo, on Saturday. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who says he was robbed of victory in the July 2 presidential election, told supporters to suspend an ongoing sit-in to make way for the event.

This is a parade that demands state-level security. Discipline. Extreme secrecy. Ordinary people will not be allowed anywhere near the parade route in Beijing on Thursday, when the People's Republic of China marks the 60th anniversary of its founding with a military parade. That applies even to people who live in the neighborhood: Entire apartment buildings along the route toward Tiananmen Square are being evacuated to prevent residents from watching. Cameras and binoculars are forbidden in many locales.

Up to 20,000 people are expected to attend a parade Saturday that kicks off the South Orange County Military Celebration to welcome home troops from the Persian Gulf War. After the parade's ticker-tape finale, the crowd is expected to gather at the beach around the San Clemente Pier for a barbecue. A band from El Toro's 3rd Marine Air Wing and 800 marching Marines from Camp Pendleton will lead the 68-entry parade. Participants include mayors from five South County cities, Supervisor Thomas F.

Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani, a pivotal player in the Persian Gulf crisis, presided Saturday over a military parade marking Iraqi aggression against his country and welcomed Syrian President Hafez Assad, an Arab ally of Iran in that country's 1980-88 war with Baghdad. Assad has committed Syrian troops to the Arab forces facing Iraq, and his three-day visit to Tehran is expected to center on the explosive confrontation in the gulf, where Iran and Iraq remain rivals for power.

Angry Communists demanded a return to orthodoxy, radicals accused them of leading Russia to ruin and one marcher fired shotgun blasts within sight of Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev on Wednesday as the traditionally staid ceremonies marking the Bolshevik Revolution exposed the scale of the nation's discord and discontent.

SANA, Yemen - A suicide bomber targeted soldiers rehearsing Monday for a military parade here, killing as many as 112 people and signaling that Islamic extremists may be shifting their focus to Yemen's capital after weeks of intense battles in outlying provinces with U.S.-backed government forces. Al Qaeda affiliate Ansar al Sharia claimed responsibility for the bombing in retaliation for American-assisted government offensives against its strongholds in southern Yemen. Unnerved by increasedU.S.

Sultan Kaboos ibn Said staged a lavish military parade to open a weeklong celebration of his 45th birthday and his 15 years of ruling Oman. Former President Gerald R. Ford, King Hussein of Jordan, Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi were among representatives of 60 countries at the parade.

The Soviet capital's once sacrosanct Revolution Day military parade across Red Square will have competition Wednesday from at least three anti-Communist protests by people who believe that the deeds of founding father Vladimir I. Lenin and his disciples are nothing to celebrate. It's the 73rd anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, but the first time city authorities have sanctioned counter demonstrations.

Hours before he left Tehran today for a trip to the United Nations, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was his combative, rhetorical self: threatening to cut the hands off would-be invaders and claiming that the U.S. military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan was an insult to the region. His remarks came during a military parade that featured jet fighters and missiles capable of reaching Israel and Europe. The president's speech veered from peace and security to worshiping God to warning "arrogant powers" that the "Iranian nation will resist all invaders."

Mexican leftists will relax their protest in Mexico City against President-elect Felipe Calderon to allow a military parade to pass, their leader said Sunday. The move is seen as a bid to avert street violence during the annual Independence Day parade through the capital's central square, or Zocalo, on Saturday. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who says he was robbed of victory in the July 2 presidential election, told supporters to suspend an ongoing sit-in to make way for the event.

Flanked by thousands of cheering paradegoers on the sidewalk, Lyle Moulton enjoyed a brief respite from the constant worry he has endured since his son left for Iraq in March. Wearing a T-shirt printed with a picture of Garret, a 23-year-old Marine, Moulton cheered when a pair of F-14 fighter jets boomed overhead, setting off dozens of car alarms. "Now that my son is over there, this parade is very personal," he said.

Tens of thousands of armed men marched here in President Saddam Hussein's home city Saturday, vowing to defend him to the death, shortly before the two top U.N. weapons inspectors met with Iraqi officials and called on them to produce "substance" to meet international demands that Iraq disarm. In order that Iraq assuage the U.N.

The tanks were squeaky and spewed clouds of smoke. The soldiers marched out of step. Some of the trucks had bullet holes in their windows. The helicopters, though freshly painted, were mostly antiques. And one MIG warplane had crashed the day before, killing the pilot. But despite the flaws, a military parade Sunday here in the Afghan capital conveyed a strong message about the power of Northern Alliance figures in the interim government.

Nearly 2,000 U.S., French and British soldiers shouldered their rifles and marched for the last time down Berlin's monument-studded main boulevard in a farewell parade that provided a muted final chapter to the long saga of the Cold War.

U.S. Ambassador Arthur A. Hartman will not attend a Red Square parade commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany because the killing of an Army officer in East Germany is "still unresolved," a U.S. Embassy spokesman said today. Maj. Arthur D. Nicholson Jr. was shot and killed by a Soviet sentry March 24 near Ludwigslust. The Soviets said the American, a member of the U.S. liaison mission in East Germany, was spying in a restricted military area. U.S. officials denied the charge.

Thousands of demonstrators booed scandal-plagued President Fernando Collor de Mello at a military parade Monday and called for his resignation as Independence Day protests erupted around the country. Opposition leaders said the protests were spontaneous. They said that plans for huge anti-government rallies were dropped to avoid antagonizing military leaders, who have discreetly endorsed a campaign to remove the president.