The time is 18:00 (UTC) on May 18th, 2006, and this is Audio Wikinews News Briefs.
Nepal
Prime Minister of Nepal, Giriraj Koirala proposed in Parliament a resolution which is aimed at drastically curtailing the monarch's powers. According to the resolution, the King will be stripped of his status as the Supreme Commander of the Royal Nepal Army (which is to be renamed as the Nepal Army Cabinet). Portions of the Nepalese national anthem which praise the King have been cut out.

Angola
A cholera epidemic in Angola has killed over 1,200 people in the past three months. The UN World Health Organization (WHO) says about 35,000 people are have fallen ill, half the victims in the capital of Luanda, where the first cases were detected in February.
The UN say the epidemic is Angola’s worst cholera outbreak in almost two decades continues to rage on with 546 new cases and 31 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. A third of the victims are children under 5.

Italy
In his first speech since being sworn in as the country's leader, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi says the US-led invasion of Iraq had been a mistake. He says his new government will propose the withdrawal of Italy's 3000 troops from Iraq.

Australia
Australian opposition leader Kim Beazley is expected to release his workplace plan when he will speak to a union delegate meeting in Sydney today.
At the meeting today, there will be delegates from the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU), Energy Union, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMFU) and Australian Workers Union (AWU).
Under the plan, employers will be prevented from employing overseas migrants for 12 months after sacking Australian workers from the same job.

United States
The FBI and Bloomfield Township, Michigan Police are searching land on a horse farm in Milford Michigan for clues or evidence related to former Teamsters union leader, Jimmy Hoffa who was 62 when he went missing in 1975. The FBI received a tip a few weeks ago from an FBI source which authorities believe is credible and detailed enough to warrant a search of the property.

India
The Bombay Stock Exchange Senstitive Index (Sensex) crashed 826 points and the National Stock Exchange's index (Nifty) 246 in what was the largest ever intra-day drop in the their histories. At the end of day's trade, the Sensex closed at 11,391 and the Nifty at 3,388. The market breadth is also negative - 2081 shares have declined, with only 336 stocks advancing.
Analysts speculated that the reason for this drop was that the U.S. CPI number, which was released yesterday, was above expectations. This, coupled with weaknesses observed in the London Metal Exchange, has led to losses in emerging markets like India, Mexico, and Brazil.

sports - sailing
Briton Dee Caffari and her 72ft steel cutter Aviva are on the last part of their journey around the world. The former PE teacher from Hertfordshire is just 55 miles from becoming the first woman to sail around the world solo against the prevailing winds and currents.

sports – Australian rugby
The Canterbury Bulldogs, a team in Australia's National Rugby League have entered into an agreement with New South Wales police to provide extra police at all games in NSW. The agreement follows a spate of violent incidents at Bulldogs matches this year.

sports – football
FC Barcelona captured Europe's top football trophy on Wednesday with a 2-1 victory in the final against English club Arsenal F.C.
The game was watched by 79,500 fans - including King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain.

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Wikinews:Briefs/May 18, 2006