BBC News with Kathy Clugston.

Tribal elders in the Afghan city of Kandahar have sharply criticized the country's President Hamid Karzai over issues of security and corruption. On a rare visit to the region, Mr Karzai was told that few dared to join the Afghan National Army because they risked being killed by the Taliban. In what the BBC correspondent there described as heated exchanges, others accused the president of failing to deal with bribery and nepotism. Mr Karzai told the gathering the people of Kandahar had to take a strong stand against the militants.

"There will be no security in Kandahar, and you will not be able to build unless all the people of Kandahar stand with one voice and pursue their sons, telling them to join the police and the army and getting education in order to serve their country and serve Kandahar."

In the Vatican's latest response to the child abuse scandal involving priests, Pope Benedict's leading Cardinal Angelo Sodano has said believers will not be influenced by what he called "petty gossip". He made his remarks during the traditional Easter Mass in St Peter's Square in Rome. From there, David Willey reports.

Pope Benedict's Easter Mass celebrated in the rain-swept St Peter's Square began with a surprise speech in defence of the pontiff by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, a senior Vatican cardinal. It was the first official reaction in Rome to a chorus of international protest of revelations about pedophile priest scandals in a number of countries. He said the Catholic Church would not be intimidated. Pope Benedict himself chose not to mention the scandals, but what the Vatican terms "petty gossip" has in fact caused a serious crisis of credibility to the Roman Catholic Church.