Britain torn apart by 'abused trust': Church leader

 The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, will Sunday use his Christmas Day sermon to blame "broken bonds and abused trust" for undermining British society.

The 61-year-old leader of the worldwide Anglican church will urge worshippers at Canterbury Cathedral in southeast England to contemplate the role of Christian morality in solving modern problems, according to extracts from the sermon released by his office.

"The most pressing question we now face, we might well say, is who and where we are as a society," he will say. "Bonds have been broken, trust abused and lost."

Britain is facing another year of economic hardship and public spending cuts and suffered major outbreaks of rioting and looting in its major cities in August.

"Whether it is an urban rioter mindlessly burning down a small shop that serves his community, or a speculator turning his back on the question of who bears the ultimate cost for his acquisitive adventures in the virtual reality of today's financial world, the picture is of atoms spinning apart in the dark," he will warn.

Williams spoke of his "sadness" during the summer riots, and also gave his support to the Occupy London protesters outside St Paul's Cathedral in the midst of internal church conflicts over how to handle the anti-capitalist camp.

The Archbishop will quote from to the 350-year-old Book of Common Prayer's Long Exhortation as he calls on citizens to reflect on their responsibilities to society.

"If ye shall perceive your offences to be such as are not only against God but also against your neighbours; then ye shall reconcile yourselves unto them; being ready to make restitution," he is to say.

Sudan army kills Darfur rebel leader

Sudan's army killed a key rebel leader and 30 of his Darfur-based troops in a battle which was still continuing on Sunday, officials said, after rebels announced an advance towards the capital.

Khalil Ibrahim, 54, who led the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), was wounded on Thursday evening in a clash with government forces in Umm-Gozain, an area of North Kordofan state near North Darfur, army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad told reporters.

"He died on Saturday evening" and was buried shortly afterwards, he said.

"In the clashes on Thursday, 30 of his troops were killed and a number of them were injured," Saad added. "We destroyed 12 Land Cruisers, four trucks and a tanker of oil."

The battle was continuing on Sunday, Information Minister Abdullah Ali Massar said at the same news conference, where officials refused to answer questions.

"The fighting is still going on in North Kordofan and North Darfur," Massar said.

Ibrahim's JEM was once the most heavily armed group in the Darfur region, although its recent strength remains unclear.

JEM said it would issue a statement later on Sunday.

Asked about the reported killing, a source close to the group said: "I'm pretty sure it's true."

Ibrahim's wife and daughter tried to hold a mourning ceremony at their home in south Khartoum but police forbade it, a witness told AFP.

The governor of North Kordofan said on government-run Sudan TV that rebel vehicles were seen burning after the clash.

Two fighter jets were also observed over the North Darfur capital of El Fasher at about mid-day on Sunday, a witness told AFP.

On Saturday the official news agency SUNA quoted Saad as saying the military was combing the North Kordofan-North Darfur region after JEM "attacked civilians" and targeted local leaders while looting their property in the Umm-Gozain, Goz Abyadh and Aramal areas.

The JEM announced on Thursday through its London-based spokesman that its forces had advanced into North Kordofan and were heading eastward towards Khartoum on a mission to topple President Omar al-Bashir's regime.

Saad told reporters that JEM brought about 140 vehicles and 300 troops into North Kordofan where they "took 700 people" to force them to join the movement.

A number of them fled to the army side after Ibrahim's death, he added.

In 2008, more than 200 people were killed when JEM guerrillas drove about 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) across the desert to the edge of Khartoum. Government troops repulsed them after heavy clashes, but the brazen attack shocked the regime.

In July, the government signed the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur with the Liberation and Justice Movement, an alliance of rebel splinter factions.

JEM and other key rebel groups - factions of the Sudan Liberation Army headed by Minni Minnawi and Abdelwahid Nur - did not join the pact.

Instead, last month they and the SPLM-North rebel group ratified documents forming the new Sudanese Revolutionary Front dedicated to "popular uprising and armed rebellion" against the National Congress Party government in Khartoum.

Ibrahim was a key player in the early days of the Darfur conflict which erupted in 2003 between non-Arab rebels and the Arab-dominated central government.

But recently the group's interests had turned away from Darfur.

The source close to JEM said the implications of Ibrahim's death remain unclear, "except to say it's a very significant turn of events for the Darfur rebellion and will definitely lead to a re-ordering within that particular movement."

In October, Ibrahim told AFP he had "returned to my country to fight for the rights of the people in all regions of Sudan."

He had sought refuge in Chad which expelled him in May 2010 after a surprise rapprochement with Sudan. Ibrahim then moved to Libya, whose leader Moamer Kadhafi offered him sanctuary before his regime collapsed this year.

According to the United Nations, at least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur, while the Khartoum government puts the death toll at 10,000.

UN officials say 1.9 million people are internally displaced and still living in camps in Darfur, with about 80,000 newly displaced by fighting this year.

Six people including Bashir are being sought or are before the International Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged crimes in Darfur.

Sudan's army kill Darfur rebel leader: State media

 Sudan's army killed a key rebel leader from the Darfur region, state media reported Sunday, three days after anti-government forces said they had begun advancing on the capital Khartoum.

"The Sudanese army announce that they killed Khalil Ibrahim in fighting today west of Wadbanda in North Kordofan," the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) said.

Ibrahim headed the Justice and Equality Movement, the most heavily armed group in the Darfur region.

The report could not be independently confirmed.

On Saturday SUNA, quoting army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad, said the military was combing the North Kordofan-North Darfur border area after JEM "attacked civilians" and targeted local leaders while looting their property in the Umm-Gozain, Goz Abyadh and Aramal areas.

Saad gave no casualty figures.

The JEM announced on Thursday through its London-based spokesman that its forces were advancing from Darfur eastward towards the capital Khartoum.

JEM spokesman Gibril Adam Bilal said the group had reached En Nahud, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of Darfur in North Kordofan, on a mission to topple the regime led by President Omar al-Bashir.

Bloc Quebecois set to choose new leader

The Bloc Québécois is choosing a new leader Sunday as the party seeks to rebuild after a disastrous showing in the May election.

Two current MPs, Maria Mourani and Jean-Francois Fortin, along with Daniel Paille, who lost his seat last election, are running for the top job.

But the leadership race has rarely made headlines and largely failed to grab the public's attention.

The separatist party had been dominant under longtime leader Gilles Duceppe until its near-total wipeout in the May 2 election. The Bloc Québécois, which held 47 of Quebec's 75 seats in the previous Parliament, saw just four of its candidates elected.

Party membership has slumped since then.

More than a quarter of the party's 53,000 members didn't renew their card and won't be able to vote for the next leader.

NDP leader hopefuls prepare for first debate

The nine people vying for the NDP leadership job are getting ready for Sunday's debate and members of their party are eager to hear what they have to say.

It will be the first time the candidates face off against each other and it is a chance for some of the lesser-known ones to make an impression on NDP members, and Canadians. The contest has already been underway for more than two months and those trying to replace Jack Layton, who died in August, have been busy campaigning across the country. Now they will be drawn together in one room to lay out their visions for their party, side by side.

"I'm very happy that the debates are starting. I think many members of the party, Canadians, want to see who these folks are in the context of the leadership and the debates are a good place to observe that," said NDP MP Andrew Cash. "I'm going to be looking to see real leadership qualities."

Another MP, Glenn Thibeault, said it's been hard to pay constant attention to all of the campaigns so he's anxious to listen to the candidates as they pitch themselves as the best person to take over the NDP caucus.

"Where are we going to go? Where's the vision? I think that's something we all want to start hearing and seeing because we had that with Jack and now we need to look for what our new leader can bring," he said. "Having that large a field gives us an opportunity to hear lots of new and maybe different ideas and opinions."

Charlie Angus, said he'll be looking for a vision, and personality to drive that vision.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing what they have to say and who is really going to emerge as a leader," he said.

It will be a crowded stage at Ottawa's Convention Centre for the afternoon event, scheduled from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET. The candidates – Niki Ashton, Robert Chisholm, Nathan Cullen, Paul Dewar, Thomas Mulcair, Peggy Nash, Romeo Saganash, Martin Singh, Brian Topp – will be taking questions that were submitted to the NDP from the public and will have a chance to give their views. There will also be opportunities for them to debate each other.

The contest so far has been tame and polite, but Sunday's debate might mark a turning point with candidates striving to set themselves apart and challenging each other's policy proposals. The theme for the two-hour debate is the economy and some of the candidates have already released policy statements on the topic.

Ottawa MP Paul Dewar said he's looking forward to debating his jobs plan, and other issues.

"The debates also allow Canadians to see the policy and style differences between us. Since I launched my campaign, I have introduced new policy ideas on issues like Canada's jobs deficit, improving health care, and demanding support for communities like Attawapiskat. For me, the debates should be about issues like these, issues that impact the lives of Canadians," he said in an email.

Toronto MP Peggy Nash released her economic policy statement on Friday, timed well given Sunday's theme.

"I'm looking forward to sharing my ideas about exactly where the Conservatives are getting it wrong in their economic approach, and what a New Democratic government would do differently to get Canada back on the right track," she told CBC News.

Martin Singh, a pharmacist from Nova Scotia is pitching himself as the business-friendly NDP candidate who wants a national entrepreneurship strategy. Singh and Topp are the only two candidates who have no elected experience, but Topp has a long history with the party, was close to Jack Layton, and was president of the federal NDP until he stepped down to enter the leadership race.

"I don’t know Martin Singh at all and I'm doing to be very interested to find out a little more about him," said Cash.

Some of the candidates acknowledge that such a large group of them poses some challenges.

"There are a lot of colleagues on the stage and so, while the debates will be a great opportunity to showcase how great our team is, there won't be an enormous amount of airtime for each of us," said Topp. "I'm hoping to be able to make a few key points about my priorities – about how we'll defeat the Harper government in the next election, and do so for a purpose."

"Having nine great candidates on stage is a wonderful way to showcase our party's talent, but it means no one candidate will dominate the event. I am looking forward to having a pleasant and constructive exchange," Thomas Mulcair said.

Quebec MP Françoise Boivin, who is backing Topp, plans to attend the debate in person Sunday. "I think he's going to be great," she said. Boivin is looking forward to hearing from his rivals as well.

"Now it's going to be time to put a bit of meat around the bone, tell members their vision," she said.

The candidates will be thinking on their feet – they don't know the questions in advance – and for the second hour of the debate, they will have to think and respond in French.

That's an easier task for some than others. Chisholm and Dewar, for example, acknowledge their French is on the weak side while others are fully bilingual or proficient in both official languages. Bilingualism has become an important issue for the NDP since the May 2 election when Quebec helped sweep it to Official Opposition. More than half of the NDP's seats now come from the province.

The debate is being moderated by two Parliament Hill journalists, Stephen Maher and Joël-Denis Bellavance. It is open to the public and the NDP is broadcasting the debate on its website.

Sunday is the first in a series of six debates, more are scheduled over the coming weeks in Halifax, Quebec City, Winnipeg, Montreal and Vancouver. The new leader will be elected March 24 in Toronto.