What's happening around the world Saturday: -- TOP STORIES -- + Hunt for bomb suspect after Boston lockdown + Kerry in Istanbul for Syria crisis meeting + Chechnya back in focus over Boston bombing suspects + Iraqi provincial elections amid spike in violence BOSTON, Massachusetts: Monitoring the intense manhunt for a man alleged to be one of the perpetrators of this week's deadly bombings in Boston, after authorities put the entire region on lockdown in pursuit of the suspect. Picture. Video. Graphic (US-ATTACKS)

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, under pressure to forge a national unity government, has pledged to launch talks "in the near future" on forming a new cabinet after the resignation of prime minister Salam Fayyad. Abbas made the remarks late Thursday at a meeting of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which was attended by Fayyad. "We will hold consultations in the near future to form a government," said Abbas, according to a statement issued after the meeting.

What's happening around the world Thursday: -- TOP STORIES -- + Obama in Boston to honour marathon bomb victims + Italy holds key vote for president BOSTON, Massachusetts: President Barack Obama travels to Boston to attend a special inter-faith service for the victims of the deadly marathon bombings, as investigators hunt for those responsible. Picture. Video. (US-ATTACKS)

Caretaker prime minister Salam Fayyad, in his first public comments since he resigned, called on Wednesday for a general election to rebuild the Palestinian political system. The Palestinians "need ... a general election, as the only way to rebuild our political system and achieve our national goals," he said in his weekly radio address as premier. Fayyad, who resigned on Saturday, was a bone of contention between president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, which dominates the West Bank, and its bitter rival the Islamist Hamas movement, which governs the Gaza Strip.