the pope has held his annual christmas eve mass at st peter s basilica in the vatican. in his sermon the pope remembered those suffering from war. particularly those in ukraine. this year marks the tenth year of his papacy and tomorrow the pontiff will be speaking to the faithful who will be gathered below the balcony. the christmas day blessing urbi et orbi around noon. here s a little bit of what the pope said in his speech. translation: men and women in our role in their translation: men and women in our role in their hunger translation: men and women in our role in their hunger for - our role in their hungerfor wealth and power consumed even their neighbours. even their brothers and sisters. how many wars? and in how many places even today are human dignity and freedom treated with contempt. as always the principal victims of this human greed are the week and the
that the urbi et orbi blessing. is, to the city and to th world. that is, to the city and to the world. we will have more on the pope of s address and what he has had to say a little later. an air raid alert has been issued for the whole of ukraine this morning. unconfirmed reports suggest it happened after russian jets took to the skies in belarus. president putin later said he s 100% sure that russia will destroy us patriot missiles in ukraine as wthe west seeks to in the words of vladimir putin tear russia apart. it comes as officials in ukraine say three emergency workers have been killed on saturday in the southern region of kherson. the authorities said they had been working in an area liberated from russian forces. an explosive device which they had been working to make safe detonated, killing them all. also on saturday, russian shelling killed at least ten civilians in the city of kherson, among the deadliest attacks since russian forces were driven out of the city last m
it s a similar story injapan, where heavy snow in the north and surrounding areas has left more than a dozen people dead and at least 80 injured. over 10,000 households have also been left without power, and the meteorological agency has warned that snowstorms and high waves along the sea of japan coast could lead to snow drifts up to 60 centimetres deep. thousands of people are gathered in st peter s square in the vatican to hear pope francis deliver his christmas day message, where he is expected to offer prayers for war torn ukraine. these are the live pictures now. this year marks the tenth year of his papacy. the 86 year old head of the catholic church is to address the faithful from the central balcony of st peter s basilica in the vatican, before delivering the urbi et orbi blessing.