News for Youse: Emergency officials questioned, inquest begins, and Tom Cruise neighbour arrested

Emergency officials defend response Emergency Management B.C. tweeted a tsunami nearly 40 minutes after the alert went out from the U.S. Geological Survey on October 27, but B.C. officials claimed that they needed to confirm the information. They also noted that they activated nine operations centres, sent out 3,800 emails, and made 3,600 phone calls following a massive earthquake off Haida Gwaii.

Aftershocks will continue Seismic experts say that the region around Haida Gwaii will likely continue feeling aftershocks from the 7.7-scale earthquake for weeks, if not months.

Coroner's inquest begins This morning, coroner Vincent Stancato will begin holding an inquest into the death of Jeremy Michael Phillips, 33, at the Mountain federal prison in Agassiz nearly two years ago. He was murdered by his cellmate, serial killer Michael Wayne McGrady.

Dollar at three-month low The Canadian dollar is just over par with the U.S. greenback—its lowest level in three months—just as oil prices have dropped below US$86 per barrel, their lowest level in three months.

Hurricane Sandy shuts trading U.S. markets are closed and Wall Street traders are avoiding New York's financial district as Hurricane Sandy bears down on the Big Apple.

Chinese premier's family issues threat After the New York Times reported that Chinese premier Wen Jiabao's family held $2.7 billion in assets, their lawyer has claimed to the South China Morning Post that this hidden wealth didn't exist. The family has also threatened to sue over these "untrue reports".

Book publishing merger Random House and Penguin are combining their consumer publishing businesses, with Random House owner Bertelsmann holding 53 percent of the joint venture and Penguin owner Pearson owning 47 percent. More information is available here.

Allende granddaughter wins office Maya Fernandez Allende—whose grandfather Salvador Allende was deposed as president in a U.S.-backed coup in 1973—has been elected mayor of the Santiago suburb of Nunoa.

Giants win World Series The San Francisco Giants swept the Detroit Tigers in four straight games last night with a 4-3 extra-inning win, capturing Major League Baseball's World Series for the second time in three years.

Tom Cruise's neighbour arrested A drunken neighbour of actor Tom Cruise was tasered and arrested after allegedly trespassing onto the star's property in Beverly Hills.