Dozens of followers of Pakistan’s top Taliban leader were in a compound when a suspected US missile attack hit today, killing 27 militants in an al-Qaida stronghold near the Afghan border, officials said.

The world’s Catholics are looking to the College of Cardinals to begin the difficult task of choosing a worthy successor to Pope John Paul II today, as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who filled Rome to bursting for the pontiff’s funeral began their journey home.

Throngs of pilgrims waved Polish flags, recited the rosary and sang hymns as they packed the cobblestone streets leading up to the Vatican today to bid an emotional farewell to Pope John Paul.