India, Pakistan agree to full and immediate ceasefire

(VATICAN CITY) — The question looming on many minds around the world following the death of Pope Francis on Monday is who will become the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

The selection process will begin when all cardinals under the age of 80 who are eligible to participate are summoned to Rome to prepare for the secret conclave inside the Sistine Chapel to choose the next pontiff. This gathering typically begins between 15 to 20 days after the pope’s death.

While the inner workings of the conclave and how the group ultimately decides on a new pontiff remain a secret, experts are still weighing in on who could be the likely front-runners for the papacy.

Francis, who was a progressive leader of the church, had appointed roughly 80% of the cardinals who are eligible to vote for the new pope, according to Miles Pattenden, historian of the Catholic Church at Oxford University. But, Pattenden told ABC News that does not mean the next pontiff will directly mirror the same values as Francis.

“It’s a mistake to think of [Francis’ cardinals] as one homogenous block. Not all of them will have shared Francis’ views,” Pattenden told ABC News. “Some of them will have been open about that. He appointed them because they represented important areas or factions in the church that he thought should be represented. Other ones possibly weren’t in harmony with all of Francis’ views, but kept quiet about it. Now he’s no more, we will see where their actual positions are.”

Any baptized Catholic male is eligible to take Francis’ place, but Pattenden said Pietro Parolin, the cardinal secretary of state, and Luis Tagle, the archbishop of Manila in the Philippines, are the main front-runners.

Pietro Parolin

Parolin, who “looks very much on paper like he should be the obvious continuity candidate,” has been the secretary of state since August 2013 and is a “vastly experienced Vatican diplomat,” Petterden said.

“He’s got all the right credentials. The question is whether most of the cardinals want that or not,” Pattenden said.

Cristina Traina, religious studies professor at New York’s Fordham University, said Parolin is someone who is “extraordinarily versed in the internal workings of the Vatican, but that could count against him if they are interested in continuing Vatican reforms.”

Luis Tagle

A candidate similar in “charisma and emphasis on pastoral mission” to Francis is Tagle, who was appointed by Pope Benedict as the archbishop of Manila in 2011, Pattenden said.

“His downside is that he may be a little bit young, he’s only 67,” Pattenden said. “It’s not clear that he has the right kind of administrative experience. If the cardinals are looking for someone to steady the ship and to make sure that the Vatican stays in order, maybe they want someone else.”

Even though Francis “elevated a lot of cardinals with generally progressive views” and “it would be fairly automatic they’d choose one of their own, someone in Francis’ image,” Pattenden said there are still conservative candidates that could gain recognition, including Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo, Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson and Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah.

European moderates: Matteo Zuppi, Jean-Marc Aveline, Mario Grech

If the “more obvious front-runners don’t command majority appeal” during the selection process, Pattenden said European moderates, including Archbishop of Bologna Matteo Zuppi, Archbishop of Marseille Jean-Marc Aveline and Archbishop of Malta Mario Grech, could also potentially gain consensus among the conclave.

Regardless of who the successor will be, Traina told ABC News the new papacy will vary from Francis’, since not many candidates hold his stance of being pastorally progressive yet theologically conservative.

Pope Francis progressives: Marc Ouelett, Willem Eijk

The only two that Traina said resemble Francis’ approach would be Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouelett or Dutch Cardinal Willem Eijk.

“Successors have different skills than their predecessors, and that’s not because people are rejecting the predecessor skills,” Traina said. “It wouldn’t be surprising for there to be a change, the question is, which direction?”

ABC News’ Phoebe Natanson contributed to this report.

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LONDON — Vishwaskumar Ramesh, the only survivor of the Air India plane crash headed to the United Kingdom from Ahmedabad, India, that left all 241 other passengers and crew dead, along with five more on the ground, said he “thought I would die” as he recovers in the hospital a day after the tragedy.

“Everything happened in front of my eyes. I thought I would die,” Ramesh told NDTV in an exclusive interview on Friday. “The side where I was seated fell into the ground floor of the building. There was some space. When the door broke, I saw that space and I just jumped out.”

“The door must’ve broken on impact,” Ramesh continued. “There was a wall on the opposite side, but near me, it was open. I ran. I don’t know how. I don’t know how I came out of it alive. For a while, I thought I was about to die. But when I opened my eyes, I saw I was alive, and I opened my seat belt and got out of there. The airhostess … died before my eyes.”

The Air India airliner carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members was en route to the United Kingdom and crashed into a building shortly after takeoff on Thursday, leaving 246 dead, officials said.

The victims include 241 passengers and crew members as well as five medical students who were inside the medical college and hospital the aircraft crashed into, according to hospital officials. Many others inside the building were injured — some seriously — and are receiving treatment, hospital officials said.

Ramesh’s brother, Nayankumar Ramesh, said it is a “miracle” his brother survived.

“He said, ‘Our plane’s crashed, I don’t know where my brother is. I don’t see any other passengers. I don’t know how I’m alive, how I exited the plane,” Nayankumar Ramesh told ABC News about his brother’s escape from the plane. “Just hearing about the crash, I’m scared to fly now, to even stay on a plane now.”

The plane, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed in the Meghaninagar area near Ahmedabad airport, in India’s Gujarat state, the city’s Police Commissioner G.S. Malik said Thursday.

Boeing’s Dreamliner planes had not previously been involved in an incident where passenger fatalities were reported. This plane had more than 41,000 hours of flying time, which is considered average for this aircraft, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.

“Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected in Ahmedabad. I have spoken with Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran to offer our full support, and a Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau,” Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a statement.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a statement that he’d been in touch with local officials after the crash.

“The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us,” he said in a statement on social media. “It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it.”

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(LONDON) —  At least nine people were killed and dozens more were injured in an overnight Russian attack on several districts and residential areas in Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday.

“Overnight, Russia held a massive attack on Ukraine,”the Ministry of Defense said. “Cruise missiles, drones, ballistic weapons — yet another strike on peaceful cities and Ukrainian homes.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, who is traveling in South Africa, said Thursday he would cancel part of his planned visit and return to Ukraine earlier than expected.

“It is extremely important that everyone around the world sees and understands what is really happening,” he said. “Nearly 70 missiles, including ballistic ones. And about 150 attack drones.”

The Russian attack came amid intensifying negotiations to end the war, with White House officials pressuring Zelenskyy and Ukraine to accept a potential peace plan that may include ceding land to Russia, according to a senior Ukrainian official. President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Zelenskyy of prolonging “the ‘killing field.'”

At least 70 people were injured overnight, including 42 who were hospitalized, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Zelenskyy a few hours later said more than 80 people had been injured.

Six children were among the injured, the emergency service said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the strike, saying the Russian “military continues to fulfill its tasks, which are set by the supreme commander-in-chief.” He added that military orders from Moscow include striking “military and near-military targets.”

Rescue operations were continuing early on Thursday in the capital, where first responders were digging through the rubble of residential buildings for survivors, defense officials said.

“These attacks are yet another confirmation — Russia is not seeking peace. It continues to kill Ukrainians,” the ministry said on social media.

Outside of Kyiv, Russia also targeted the Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia regions overnight into Thursday, the ministry said.

“While claiming to seek peace, Russia launched a deadly airstrike on Kyiv,” Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s high representative for Foreign Affairs, said on social media. “This isn’t a pursuit of peace, it’s a mockery of it. The real obstacle is not Ukraine but Russia, whose war aims have not changed.”

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