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Pope Francis deplores 'icy winds of war'

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis used his Christmas message Sunday (Monday in Manila) to lament the 'icy winds of war' buffeting humanity and to make an impassioned plea for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, a 10-month-old conflict he decried as 'senseless.'

At noon in Rome, Francis delivered the traditional 'Urbi et Orbi'' (Latin for ''to the city and to the world') speech from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.