The time is 23:00 (UTC) on July 18th, 2006 and this is Audio Wikinews News Briefs.
Indonesia
Relief officials have said that at least 341 people have been killed by a tsunami which hit the Indonesian island of Java on Monday, July 17th, afternoon. An underwater earthquake, which measured 7.7 on the Richter scale, triggered the two-metre-high tidal wave.
United States
Space shuttle Discovery landed at Cape Canaveral at 13:14 UTC yesterday. It returned after a thirteen day mission to the International Space Station.
Canada
Michael Byers, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia, revealed in Sunday's Toronto Star that while he was in Tel Aviv in 2004, he met with a lawyer who advises the Israel Defence Force about rules of engagement Scenarios which were unfolding were discussed.
New Zealand
The New Zealand Commerce Commission has fined the Bank of New Zealand. It has been forced to pay NZ$5 million [five million New Zealand dollars] in compensation to its customers, $500,000 [five hundred thousand dollars] in fines and $80,000 [eighty-thousand dollars] in costs to the Commerce Commission. The money will be placed into a bank account to be monitored by an auditor, and if there is any money left over it will be donated to a consumer organization.
United Kingdom
BBC Wales and iPTV station, VTV are reporting that a light aircraft made an emergency landing at 13:00 BST, at Treforest Industrial Estate, near Cardiff, south Wales.
United States
Temperatures as high as 44 °C [Celsius degrees] or 111 °F [Fahrenheit degrees] have hit the US today, a continuation of Monday's triple-digit record Fahrenheit highs in some areas.
We invite you to visit wikinews.org for up-to-date news and information. This has been Audio Wikinews Newsbriefs. Thank you for listening, and enjoy the rest of your day.
This recording has been released under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
Wikinews:Briefs/July 18, 2006