More than 2,000 homes and businesses throughout the province were hit with power outages on Thursday.

The bulk of the electricity failures were in the Bedford area, where 1,456 customers were left in the dark starting at about 11:23 a.m.

Brooke Taylor’s political career took a leap upward with Wednesday’s cabinet shuffle.

Once a cabinet pariah, the Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley MLA is now near the top of the political heap as minister of transportation and infrastructure renewal.

New faces are at the top of government’s three biggest departments as Premier Rodney MacDonald reworked his cabinet Wednesday ahead of an expected election this spring.

Wednesday’s cabinet shuffle also means government’s long-promised climate change action plan, which had been set for release Friday, is likely on hold again while new Environment Minister David Morse gets up to speed on the background.

OTTAWA _ Federal officials say an operation is underway to evacuate more than three dozen Canadians from the war-stricken Gaza Strip.

A senior government official has told The Canadian Press the evacuation began early today and should be completed soon.

Herring Cove man charged with robbing five banks in Halifax between July and October of last year has elected to be tried by a Nova Scotia Scotia Supreme Court judge alone.

Due to extreme weather and slippery road conditions most newspaper deliveries in metro should be completed by 9 a.m..

PORTLAND, Maine _ The coast guard in the United States says waters leading to a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in Robbinston, Maine, are suitable for tanker traffic if steps are taken to reduce risks.