Vatican Grief and praise swept around the world for Pope John Paul II, whose death overnight ended a 26-year pontificate that helped topple communism in Europe and struggled to spread peace everywhere. Vatican More than 100,000 people, including the entire Italian cabinet, attended a special mass in memory of Pope John Paul II at St Peter's square, presided over by the late pope's secretary of state Cardinal Angelo Sodano. Vatican The Italian government is expecting two million pilgrims to attend Pope John Paul II's funeral at the Vatican, ministerial sources cited by the Italian news agency ANSA said. Vatican Many feeling orphaned by the death of Pope John Paul II, tens of thousands of Roman Catholics gathered in St Peter's Square for their first mass without their spiritual leader, whom some already call a "saint". Vatican Poland mourned the death of its most beloved son, Pope John Paul II, with thousands in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country flocking to places of worship and pilgrimage to alleviate their grief through prayer. Vatican US President George W. Bush hailed Pope John Paul II as one of "history's great moral leaders" as the United States mourned the death of a pontiff remembered for both his spiritual and political influence. Vatican The Roman Catholic stronghold of Latin America mourned the death of Pope John Paul II as Church leaders from the region headed to Rome and residents speculated on whether one of their own might replace him. Russia-Kyrgyzstan A parliamentary delegation from Kyrgyzstan arrived in Moscow for talks with the Central Asian nation's ousted president Askar Akayev, aimed at persuading the veteran leader to officially resign. Iraq Iraq's new parliament finally elected a speaker -- Sunni Arab MP Hajem al-Hassani -- and two deputies -- Shiite Hussein al-Sharastani and Kurd Aref Tayfur -- two months after historic elections. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe's southern African neighbours endorsed elections that handed a massive victory to President Robert Mugabe's ruling party, saying they reflected "the will of the people."