November 8, 2016: Pope Francis on Monday decried people trafficking, calling it a "modern form of slavery", a "true crime against humanity" and a "scourge which especially affects women and children".

NewsGram brings to you current foreign news from all over the world.

"One of the most troubling of those open wounds (in the world) is the trade in human beings, a modern form of slavery," Francis told a conference in Rome on human trafficking.

"It violates the God-given dignity of so many of our brothers and sisters and constitutes a true crime against humanity," the pontiff said.

NewsGram brings to you top news around the world today.

Powerful economic interests and criminal networks were behind human trafficking, "a scourge which especially affects women and children", he said.

Check out NewsGram for latest international news updates.

"Indifference and even complicity, a tendency on the party of many to look the other way" must be fought by raising public awareness of human trafficking, better coordination by governments, judiciaries and security forces, he said. (IANS)