Parades

The Haitian army gave a parade Monday and nobody came. The occasion was the annual celebration of Haiti's defeat of French forces at the battle of Vertieres in 1803, when the onetime slave colony sealed its bid for independence. But instead of celebrating the historic victory over Napoleon's army, the Haitian people turned their backs on the military, some literally.

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.

About 80,000 cheering spectators lined downtown streets Saturday as rows of young U.S. Marines paraded by, sparking emotional scenes during the West Coast's largest homecoming celebration since the Persian Gulf War ended. The parade saluted troops who fought against Iraq and also was a belated gesture to the graying veterans of Vietnam who long ago came home to silence and scorn. "I was emotional, I was marching, and wow, everybody's cheering me on," said Gulf veteran Sgt.

The air may be chilly from the weekend's winter storm, but San Juan Capistrano is gearing up for spring by celebrating the annual return of the swallows. Monday was Swallows' Day for Mission San Juan Capistrano, where lore has it that cliff swallows return each year just in time for St. Joseph's Day after wintering 6,000 miles away in Argentina. Although the gregarious birds have hardly been seen at the historic mission in recent years, swallows nest in small numbers elsewhere, in the eaves of schools, shopping malls and underneath freeway overpasses.

A look at Laker championship parades: 1972 No parade. * 1980 * May 17--5,000 fans turn out for a rally at the Forum the day after the Lakers defeat Philadelphia to win the title. WHAT THEY SAID Coach Paul Westhead, commenting on how the Lakers were able to win the decisive game without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who stayed home because of a sprained ankle: "Walt Whitman said 'A teacher's goal is to teach the class so well that the class outdoes the teacher.'

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.

Despite temperatures in the 90s, hundreds of people gathered Monday afternoon to catch a glimpse of elephants, lions and tigers marching on the Anaheim Convention Center. The unlikely parade down Lewis Street and Katella Avenue marked the arrival Monday of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, which will perform at the convention center today through next Tuesday.

11 a.m.: Kickoff in front of Department of Water and Power (1st and Hope). Mayor Richard Riordan will introduce team. Parade route: The team will board seven double-decker buses and will travel: * West on 1st Street to Figueroa. * South on Figueroa to Staples Center (at 11th Street). * Pep rally at Staples approximately at 12:30 p.m. The Laker players will appear at the terrace at Staples Center after the parade. Fans will be ushered into the parking lot directly north of the arena.

No matter when they book the Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade to run down Broadway in Long Beach, some people won't show up. First Baptist Church, for instance, has made other plans for 11 a.m. Sunday. The Rev. Mark Chappell is taking the opportunity to deliver a sermon on "traditional family values," which he says discourage homosexuality. "The message that we're going to be bringing is that God loves the homosexual but he does not love homosexuality," Chappell said.

If pro football really is the national religion, the Mardi Gras-style victory parade for the New Orleans Saints on Tuesday displayed the varieties of religious experience: What other event would bring together Bobby Jindal, Louisiana's choirboy GOP governor, and the Ying Yang Twins, the Southern rap duo whose songs describe sexual activities that barely sound biologically possible? On Monday, Saints quarterback Drew Brees starred in the Super Bowl victor's traditional parade through Disney World.

Russell Arms Actor who started on 'Your Hit Parade' Russell Arms, 92, a singer and actor who was a regular vocalist on the popular TV musical program "Your Hit Parade" from 1952 to 1957, died Monday at his home in Hamilton, Ill., where he had retired with his wife, Mary Lynne. The Lamporte-St. Clair Funeral Home in Hamilton confirmed his death but did not give the cause. Along with other regular cast members Gisele MacKenzie, Snooky Lanson and Dorothy Collins, Arms performed what were billed as the seven most popular songs in the country every Saturday night on the NBC show.

The beads were flying all around them, some pooling in the street, some caught by revelers and cherished for a moment — most of them destined, in all likelihood, for the landfill. It was Mardi Gras 2011, and Kirk and Holly Groh were stationed in their family's traditional viewing spot downtown, where they had watched so many parades roll by in years past. This time, they kept thinking what a waste it was. Their hometown had never seemed more environmentally fragile.

Prosecutors on Friday declined to file murder charges against former Tournament of Roses official Richard Allen Munnecke, finding that DNA evidence presented by sheriff's detectives was insufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The decision came two days after Munnecke, 71, was arrested at his Alhambra home in connection with the 2004 death of Donna Lee Kelly, a Buick saleswoman and a longtime Tournament of Roses volunteer. The abrupt change in course left Pasadena's tournament community trying to process the news after an already surprising couple of days.

By all accounts, Richard Allan Munnecke was a model citizen. He devoted several decades to the Tournament of Roses, working up the ranks until he was one of its top directors. He sang in his church choir in San Marino and served in the Pasadena Rotary Club and many other civic groups. It was through his work at the Rose Parade that he met Donna Lee Kelly, a Buick saleswoman who was also a longtime volunteer for the annual parade effort. In 2004, Kelly, 59, was found dead, stuffed in the trunk of her car. Police investigated, but the case quickly went cold.

Three sanitation workers found it along the route of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day march: a nest of wires in a backpack. The homemade bomb was equipped with an unusual remote-controlled trigger and stuffed with more than 100 heavy fishing weights coated in rat poison. The Spokane County bomb squad disarmed it hours before the route would have been flooded with marchers last year. If the device had detonated and the weights had torn into the intended victims, the poison would have prevented their blood from coagulating, all but ensuring their deaths, lab analysts concluded.

Disneyland Paris will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a new nighttime spectacular in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and a revamped evening parade starting in April. The Disney Dreams show will feature castle projections, water screens, dancing fountains, pyrotechnic displays and laser effects that combine elements from the Magic, Memories, and You show at Florida's Magic Kingdom and World of Color at Disney California Adventure. PHOTOS: Disney Dreams water show at Disneyland Paris The new Disney Dreams nighttime spectacular at the French theme park will employ 30-foot-tall water screens in the moats in front of the castle that will serve as giant canvases for Disney animated scenes set to an original musical score.

EVENTS It's the Year of the Water Dragon and Chinatown is set to celebrate one of the most vibrant and colorful animals in the Chinese zodiac in style. The 113th Annual Golden Dragon Parade will kick off a celebratory Chinese New Year weekend full of traditional arts, crafts, music and dance. Food trucks and cupcake wars will keep hungry bellies satisfied. Chinatown's Central and West plazas, 943-951 N. Broadway, L.A. 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sat., 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sun. Free. (213) 680-0243; http://www.chinatownla.com

"What Price Glory?" Raoul Walsh directed this 1926 service comedy based on Maxwell Anderson and Laurence Stalling's play about two rival Marines (Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen) in France. "The Big Parade" King Vidor's seminal and influential 1925 drama set in France starring John Gilbert and Renée Adorée. It was the highest-grossing silent film. "Lilac Time" Silent superstar Colleen Moore plays the daughter of a French farmer who falls in love with a handsome young English aviator (Gary Cooper)