Britain considers sending Challenger 2 battle tanks to Ukraine

Pope Francis has said wars such as that in Ukraine where civilian areas are subjected to what he called indiscriminate destruction are “a crime against God and humanity”.

Delivering his annual “state of the world” address, Francis spoke of “the war in Ukraine, with its wake of death and destruction, with its attacks on civil infrastructures that cause lives to be lost not only from gunfire and acts of violence, but also from hunger and freezing cold”.

He quoted from a Vatican constitution, saying “every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and humanity which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation”.

Referring to the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, he said: “Sadly, today too, the nuclear threat is raised, and the world once more feels fear and anguish.”

He repeated his appeal for a total ban on nuclear weapons, saying even their possession for reasons of deterrence is “immoral”