Vahid

A bombing at a martial parade in western Iran on Wednesday killed at least 12 people, including a 5-year-old and the wives of two Iranian military commanders. The explosion struck amid a large crowd attending the event, which was intended to underscore the nation's battle readiness. An additional 75 people were injured, at least 12 seriously, in what officials described as a "terrorist attack. " No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, which occurred in the restive ethnic Kurdish city of Mahabad about 40 miles east of the border with Iraq.

Los Angeles survived "Carmageddon," but now come the bus wars of Hollywood. One of New York's largest tour bus companies has launched a West Coast operation on Hollywood Boulevard, pitting itself against Southern California's oldest and biggest tour bus company. CitySights LA, a subsidiary of a New York bus company, has deployed a fleet of 14 double-decker buses to escort tourists around Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Venice and Santa Monica beaches. The move makes CitySights one of the largest of more than a dozen tour companies in Hollywood and puts it in direct competition with Starline Tours, which was launched in 1968 and now runs 20 double-decker buses as part of a fleet of 80 tour buses around Los Angeles.

World premieres of new dramas starring Adam Driver and Naomi Watts, a nonfiction look at director Michael Haneke and a documentary about African oil-drilling executives produced by Brad Pitt are to be among the films in competition at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, organizers said Tuesday. Laurie Collyer, director of 2006 indie darling "Sherrybaby," helmed the Watts film, "Sunlight Jr.," which stars the British-Australian actress as a convenience store operator in a relationship with a paraplegic (Matt Dillon)

Huseyinaga Hasimov is not a man of modesty, riding high on the kind of banking scheme that has captured the imagination of many people struggling to get by in the small trans-Caucasus state of Azerbaijan. "I am 33, the same age as Jesus Christ. But I have no plans to die. My people still need me," said the effusive Hasimov, chief of the Azerbaijani enterprise known as Vahid. Western diplomats say his claims to have 1.

It isn't easy being a serious art-house filmmaker in Iran. Witness the sentencing last year of renowned directors Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof to six years in prison and banishment from making movies for 20 years because of their protests of the contested 2009 presidential elections, which saw hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continue in power. Though Iranian films are shown in international festivals and have distributions in numerous countries, most are never released in Iran.

Soccer, like any other sport, can produce the most touching of scenes, sometimes joyous, sometimes heart-wrenching. The 2006 World Cup on Sunday produced a moment that combines both. Picture the scene: Mexico's fans celebrating deliriously in the stands. Iran's supporters streaming out of the stadium, a subdued mass, their team beaten but its spirit unbowed. Down on the field a series of vignettes play out.

The merry-go-round of top coaches in Europe began spinning a little faster Sunday when Italian Claudio Ranieri, whose Chelsea team is in second place in the English Premier League and is in the semifinals of the European Champions League, said he wants a decision this week on his future. Despite the London club's success and the coach's popularity among fans, Ranieri's job has been debated ever since Chelsea was bought by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in July. "I love it, I love it a lot.

Gold, the shiny metal that has inspired avarice throughout history, is getting a play again. The price of gold, which paused and retreated slightly on Tuesday, has jumped to more than $350 an ounce in recent days on reports that George Soros, a major global investor, has taken a big position.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will rename Manoucher Mottaki as foreign minister, an advisor said today, a move that suggests the Islamic Republic will not harden its already tough posture in negotiating with the West. Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad, fresh off what France described as his successful efforts to help secure the release of two French nationals held inside Iranian prisons, arrived in Tehran to meet with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ahmadinejad, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Will T. Boone Pickens Jr. win the takeover fight for Newmont Mining? Probably not, but the contest already has demonstrated that even the most powerful companies are not immune from pressure in today's fast-moving markets. Newmont isn't just any company. It is a holding of the worldwide mining combine controlled by Anglo American Corp., the world's largest gold producer, and DeBeers Mines Ltd., the world's largest diamond producer.