The time is 18:00 (UTC) on August 22nd, 2006, and this is Audio Wikinews News Briefs.
Ukraine
According to the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry a Russian Tu-154 passenger jet of St. Petersburg-based Pulkovo Airlines with 171 passengers including at least 6 children and 11 crew members onboard, was confirmed to have crashed in eastern Ukraine at approximately 2:30 p.m. near the Russian border. A distress signal is reported to have gone off moments before the crash. The plane was on its way to St. Petersburg from Anapa. Wreckage and many bodies have been found.

Congo
There have been three days of violent clashes in Kinshasa between supporters of Jean-Pierre Bemba and incumbent Democratic Republic of the Congo President Joseph Kabila following the release of results from the first round of Congo's elections. The two presidential candidates will face each other in a run off election on October 29th after the first round of votes, on July 30th, failed to produce a victor.

China
Australian media have reports that a passenger on board a plane from China to Australia discovered a note warning that a bomb would explode on the China Southern Airlines flight from Guangzhou to Sydney. The note was apparently found one hour into the journey, AAP reports. The note forced the pilot to take emergency action and return to Guangzhou

Persian Gulf
An oil platform in the Persian Gulf, owned by the Grup Servicii Petroliere of Romania, has allegedly been boarded by Iranian troops after being fired at by a helicopter. Romanian officials have not "heard anything" from the workers on the platform since the attack, according to a company statement.

North America
Nine men have been charged in Canada and the United States with plotting to buy surface-to-air missiles and AK-47 rifles that would have been sent to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Eight people, including three Canadian citizens, were charged in Brooklyn, New York yesterday. At the same time the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested a 26 year old in Ontario in relation to the plot. He faces extradition to the United States.

Scotland
The crisis in the Scottish left has intensified as former Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan has announced his intention to launch a new left wing party.

New Zealand
A 26-year-old has been sentenced to life in prison at the Auckland High Court, a minimum of 16 years after he killed a 58-year-old man who owned an Uptown Mini Mart, on 19 June, 2005.

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Wikinews:Briefs/August 22, 2006