An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 shook Istanbul and other areas Wednesday, prompting widespread panic and scores of injuries in the Turkish city of 16 million people, though there were no immediate reports of serious damage.

Arab mediators are working on a proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war that would include a five- to seven-year truce and the release of all remaining hostages, officials said on Wednesday.

A change in popes & through death or resignation & is a complicated process, with centuries-old rituals involving the transition in leadership for both the spiritual head of the global Catholic Church and the Vatican&s head of state.

No one knows who the world&s Catholic cardinals will choose to succeed Pope Francis as the new leader of the global Catholic Church. But for those watching attentively, there are sometimes hints about who might emerge as the next pontiff. The process to choose a new pope is long and secretive. Most of the world&s 252 cardinals are coming to Rome to take part. Those under the age of 80, about 135 prelates, are preparing to enter into a conclave to elect the next pontiff. Once it starts, which by Church law should be no earlier than May 6, the cardinals will be completely shut off from the modern world until a new pope is named.