Pope Francis has appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, imploring him to “stop this spiral of violence and death” in Ukraine. Francis also denounced Sunday what he called the “absurd” risk of nuclear war. Francis made his strongest appeal yet on the more than seventh-month war as he addressed the public in St. Peter’s Square. The pontiff also called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “be open” to serious peace proposals. He also exhorted the international community to “use all diplomatic instruments” to end this “huge tragedy” and “horror” of war.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss has acknowledged she could have done a better job “laying the ground” for her package of unfunded tax cuts. But she insisted Sunday that she would push on with an economic plan that has caused turmoil on financial markets and weakened the country’s public finances. Truss acknowledged that the U.K. faces “a very turbulent and stormy time” but said her policies would lead to a “high-growth, low-tax economy” in the longer term. The comments are unlikely to calm Truss’s Conservative Party. The party opens its four-day annual conference on Sunday amid plunging poll ratings and growing public discontent.