Students at Queen's Park protest poverty

Hundreds of student protesters marched through downtown Toronto Thursday afternoon, forcing road closures and traffic snarls for part of the afternoon.

The protest was part of a "Day of Action" in 13 Ontario cities to demand an end to poverty in the province.

The Canadian Federation of Students called on Premier Dalton McGuinty to invest more in social services and equity measures.

The students left the University of Toronto's Convocation Hall at around 2 p.m. ET, walking eastbound on Wellesley. They marched southbound along Bay and headed west on College Street to Queen's Park.

Just after 4 p.m., the students, reached the Ontario legislature near College Street and University Avenue.

Police walked with the protesters, implementing rolling road closures as the march progressed, although traffic cleared up later on.

The federation says record-high student unemployment coupled with record-high tuition fees have placed students in a precarious position.

Students are also calling for employment insurance and social assistance reform, a livable minimum wage and reduced tuition.

Rallies are being held in Toronto, Ottawa, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Mississauga, Guelph, London, Sault Ste. Marie, Peterborough, Scarborough, St. Catharines, Kingston and Windsor.

Police ID man shot to death in east end

Toronto police have identified the man who was shot to death in the city's east end Monday night.

The body of Theodoros Tiku, 27, was found riddled with gunshot wounds Monday night near Pape Avenue and Danforth Avenue.

The shooting happened in a parking lot, police said.

"At approximately 10 to eight [Monday] evening, passersby heard the sound of multiple gunshots in the area of Gough [Avenue] and Danforth [Avenue]," said Insp. Art Little.

"A passing medical person responded to the scene where a male ... was found lying in the street suffering from multiple gunshot wounds."

Police searched the neighbourhood and went door-to-door looking for witnesses.

The killing marks the 46th homicide in Toronto this year.

Boy, 6, robbed after birthday party

A six-year-old boy was robbed Thursday night after attending a birthday party in Winnipeg.

According to police, the boy was on his way home from the party at about 9:30 p.m. CT. He was walking with his grandmother in the Spence area of downtown when they were confronted by a teenaged boy who demanded the bags that the six-year-old was carrying.

When the six-year-old refused to turn them over, the teen pushed him into a brick wall, said police spokesperson Const. Jacquie Chaput.

The boy suffered minor injuries — scrapes and bruises — and did not require medical attention.

Police were called and a teenaged suspect was arrested in the same area just after 10 p.m.

He has been charged with robbery with violence and a variety of breaches from previous court orders.

The suspect is in custody at the Manitoba Youth Centre.

The bags only contained leftover food from the birthday party, said Chaput.

Man shot, wounded self at end of police standoff in Camrose

A 31-year-old man was in hospital Thursday after shooting himself in the chest at the end of an hours-long standoff with police in Camrose, Alta., authorities said

The standoff began just before noon when Camrose police arrived at a house near 42nd Avenue and 58th Street in the city's south end.

They were investigating an incident that reportedly took place Tuesday evening in which a man who said he had a gun demanded narcotics from a local drug store.

Local police and the RCMP Emergency Response Team arrived at the house of the man they suspected of being involved in the incident.

After several shots went off inside the house, police cordoned off the area.

Police said they tried to speak to the man and convince him to surrender. Around 4:30 p.m., a single gunshot was heard in the house.

The man was found inside with a gunshot wound to the chest, police said. He was taken to hospital. His condition was not known.

No other injuries were reported.

Police said they released very few details about the incident while it was going on in order to protect the safety of officers and the public.

Man tells German court of Egyptian wife's killing

DRESDEN, Germany — The husband of a pregnant Egyptian woman knifed to death in a German courtroom testified Monday that the alleged attacker continued stabbing his wife even after she was on the ground.

The suspect, 29-year-old Alexander W., arrived for his trial in the same court room Monday with his face concealed beneath a hood, hat, sunglasses and a mask. Only after several urgings by the judge did he remove the mask, hat and hood, but he was fined for contempt of court for keeping the sunglasses on.

He faces charges of murder, attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm for the July slaying of 31-year-old Marwa al-Sherbini. As in all criminal cases in Germany, Alexander W.'s surname will be withheld by the court unless the defendant is convicted.

The attack has outraged Muslims, who dubbed al-Sherbini "the headscarf martyr" and lambasted it as evidence of Islamophobia in Europe.

Members of al-Sherbini family including her husband, Elwy Ali Okaz, are acting as co-plaintiffs in the trial — meaning they can review evidence, file motions and question witnesses.

On the trial's opening day, Okaz described the attack, in which he also was injured trying to protect his wife.

The suspect "still stabbed her when she was already lying on the floor," Okaz said in Arabic, identifying Alexander W. as the attacker.

About 200 police officers secured the Dresden courthouse Monday amid fears of a potential revenge attack.

Dresden prosecutors have said the defendant was driven by a "hatred of non-Europeans and Muslims," according to the indictment. If convicted, Alexander W. could face life in prison. The trial is scheduled to last until Nov. 11.

Al-Sherbini was killed while giving court evidence in July against a Russian-born attacker who was convicted of defamation for having called her a "terrorist" and "Islamist" during an altercation.

Prosecutors say Alexander W. smuggled a 7-inch (18-centimeter) kitchen knife into the courtroom and stabbed al-Sherbini repeatedly in front of her husband, 3-year-old son and eight courtroom officials.

Okaz was stabbed when he tried to intervene, and was accidentally shot in the leg by a security guard who mistook him for the attacker.

The case is being closely monitored in Germany and abroad. Egyptian Ambassador Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy was attending the trial, as were representatives of leading Muslim rights groups in Germany.

Ramzy said he expected "a speedy sentence. A just sentence that is commensurate with a serious crime."

In al-Sherbini's home city of Alexandria, in Egypt, dozens of supporters, friends and family members gathered for a rally demanding justice in the German case.

"We will never forget you, Marwa," the crowd shouted.

The protesters held photos of al-Sherbini and small banners in both Arabic and English calling for "justice ... punishment."

On the Net:

• http://www.marwaelsherbiny.com

Mountie's last calls played at murder trial

The final radio calls of RCMP Const. Christopher Worden, who was shot to death in Hay River, N.W.T., two years ago, were played Friday at the trial of the Mountie's accused killer.

A 12-person N.W.T. Supreme Court jury heard the recordings, which came from the Yellowknife RCMP dispatch centre handling calls for police in Hay River in the early-morning hours of Oct. 6, 2007, when Worden was shot four times.

Worden, 30, was originally from Ottawa and had been working as an RCMP officer in the Northwest Territories since 2002. He had been stationed in Hay River, a town of about 3,650 near the N.W.T.-Alberta border, since 2005.

Emrah Bulatci, a 25-year-old Alberta man who was dealing drugs in Hay River, is charged with first-degree murder in Worden's death.

When Bulatci's trial started on Wednesday, his lawyer acknowledged that Bulatci did shoot Worden, but did not intend to kill the offcer.

On Friday, court was told that just after 4 a.m. MT on Oct. 6, Worden had contacted the police dispatcher to say he was going off-duty, but would be on-call for another two hours.

Less than one hour after that call, the dispatcher called Worden at home to relay a call for assistance regarding a man who was threatening to commit suicide.

The recording captured a groggy-sounding Worden saying, "I'll suit up and I'll let you know when I'm on the road."

About 20 minutes later, the dispatcher contacted Worden to tell him there was another complaint, this time about people throwing rocks at a house in a different part of Hay River.

In his final call, made around 5:30 a.m., Worden said he was still looking for the suicidal man and would not be able to respond right away.

"I'm going to be 10-7 at 55 Woodland trying to locate that first individual," he said. The police code "10-7" meant he was going to that address.

The public housing unit at 55 Woodland Drive belonged to Rachel Martel, a relative of the suicidal man.

Several witnesses have already testified that Bulatci was at 55 Woodland that night, keeping to himself downstairs while an all-night party was taking place upstairs.

Some of those witnesses told the jury that Bulatci had a gun with him that night.

Worden was found later that morning, lying in a treed area about 50 metres away from the house.

The radio tapes were the last items of evidence the jury heard before being dismissed for the weekend. The trial continues on Monday.

Postal staff start national strike

Thousands of postal workers are manning picket lines across the country at the start of national strikes as a war of words erupted over the increasingly bitter mail dispute.

Up to 42,000 mail centre staff and network drivers have launched a 24-hour strike, while 78,000 delivery and collection workers will walk out on Friday.

The Communication Workers Union is set to announce further strikes after hopes of reaching a last minute deal collapsed, leading to bitter recriminations.

Union leaders launched an angry attack on Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, saying he was working "hand in hand" with the Royal Mail to "undermine" the dispute.

General secretary Billy Hayes accused him of being the "minister without responsibility".

Mr Hayes said the union would be taking legal action against the Royal Mail over its plans to recruit 30,000 agency workers to deal with the effects of the strike as well as the Christmas rush.

Legal opinion had been received and the union would be testing the Royal Mail's move in the High Court.

Other union leaders have urged the Government to take action against the Royal Mail because it was illegal to hire workers to cover for strikers involved in a legitimate dispute.

Mr Hayes accused Lord Mandelson of "walking away" and "washing his hands" of the dispute. Dave Ward, the union's deputy general secretary, said the Royal Mail had no intention of resolving the dispute and seemed intent on "sidelining" the concerns of postal workers.

Lord Mandelson said he deeply regretted the strike decision, adding that industrial action was not in the best interests of the Royal Mail, the work force or "hard pressed" consumers and businesses.