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HALIFAX — Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador are now reporting cases of the XBB.1.5 variant of the virus that causes COVID-19, reflecting a spread being reported south of the border.

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — The company that operates the Hibernia offshore oil platform has pleaded not guilty to three charges related to a 2019 oil spill off the east coast of Newfoundland.

HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government must guarantee housing for the 65 health-care workers it recently recruited from a Kenyan refugee camp, opposition parties said Thursday.

TORONTO — The Insurance Bureau of Canada is estimating insured damages from hurricane Fiona will now reach $800 million. The figure is higher than the bureau's original estimate of $660 million.

Halifax's police chief acknowledged Thursday that a Black woman whose car was mistakenly stopped by police late at night experienced a "shock factor" as she was arrested and handcuffed.

FREDERICTON — A New Brunswick man who fatally shot three Mounties eight years ago has applied to the province's highest court to have his precedent-setting sentence drastically reduced.

HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia legislature committee is recommending that the province raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour six months earlier than planned. The committee says the minimum wage should rise to $14.

HALIFAX — Capping off a year that saw Hockey Canada mired in scandal over its handling of sexual assault allegations, the world junior hockey championship in Halifax and Moncton, N.B., opened last month under a cloud.

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia says it has made conditional offers for work as continuing-care assistants to 65 people from a Kenyan refugee camp.

SAINT-SIMON, N.B. — New Brunswick RCMP say a 29-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder following the death of a well-known journalist in the province. The RCMP said in a news release that Philippe Hébert, who was arrested Dec.