Vatican The Vatican named Friday as the date of Pope John Paul II's funeral as thousands of mourners gathered in a sun-filled Saint Peter's Square to pay their last respects when his body goes on public view. Vatican Keen to pay their last respects to Pope John Paul II, some 10,000 mourners gathered in Saint Peter's Square hours before the body of the pontiff was to go on three days of public view. SAfrica South African president and peacebroker Thabo Mbeki was in a second day of talks with Ivory Coast leaders to try to end a civil war simmering since 2002 amid hopes his mediation would finally end the crisis. Iraq A bomb exploded near Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, two days after a brazen attack on the US-run facility, as Iraqi politicians held more talks to try to agree on the shape of the new government. Mideast Right-wing extremists have caused outrage by desecrating the tombs of three of Israel's national heroes amid fears that militant opponents of the Gaza pullout plan could try to disrupt the withdrawal with an attack on Jerusalem's disputed mosque compound. Austria Iran still hopes to strike a deal with the European Union on its peaceful use of nuclear energy, one that will assuage fears that it is trying to develop atomic weapons, President Mohammad Khatami said. Iran Iran's high-profile and popular national police chief, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, has quit his post amid widespread expectations he intends to stand in this year's presidential election. Russia Kyrgyzstan's ousted president Askar Akayev formally resigned from his post, ending the political uncertainty that followed the sudden toppling of his longtime regime in the key Central Asian nation. Saudi A fierce firefight between Saudi security forces and suspected Islamic militants raged on in the north of the kingdom for a second straight, leaving as many as eight militants dead and at least 15 security personnel wounded, media reports said. Japan Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said that Japan would seek to expand cooperation with NATO in Afghanistan where the North American-European alliance leads peacekeeping operations. Thailand Authorities investigating three bombings that killed two people and injured almost 80 people in Thailand's restive south said they had an image of a bombing suspect taken from a security camera.