Maritime guns for hire adapt to changes in sea piracy
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Cash-strapped maritime security firms are being forced to use fewer costly elite guards and to diversify into other businesses such as cyber security, as a steep decline in Somali pirate attacks and hotter competition erode fast-thinning margins. 
Obama says poor economic situation may change Putin ways
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he doubted Russian President Vladimir Putin will change course until politics catch up with the rough economic situation in Russia.
Ten killed when small plane crashes in central Colombia
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Ten people, including five children, were killed in a plane crash in Colombia on Wednesday minutes after its crew signaled mechanical problems, the civil aviation authority said.
Hungary summons U.S. envoy over McCain’s ‘neo-fascist’ comment
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary’s Foreign Ministry summoned the U.S. envoy on Wednesday after U.S. Senator John McCain called Prime Minister Viktor Orban a “neo-fascist dictator.”
Italy’s Renzi wins confidence vote on labor market reform
ROME (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi won a Senate confidence vote on Wednesday, empowering him to draw up labor reforms aimed at making a chronically sluggish economy more competitive.
Swedish PM calls first snap vote in 50 years after far-right force budget defeat
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden called its first snap election for more than half a century in March after a far-right party helped defeat the center-left minority government’s first budget in parliament on Wednesday.
U.S. embassy warns of potential attack in southeast Turkey
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The U.S. Embassy in Ankara said on Wednesday it had received reports that “extremist groups” may be planning an attack against a Syrian opposition group in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep.
Egypt to criminalize insults to ‘revolutions’ of 2011 and 2013: spokesman
CAIRO (Reuters) – President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi plans to issue decrees to criminalize insults to Egypt’s two “revolutions” of 2011 and 2013, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
U.S. believes Iran launched air raids on Islamic State in Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has indications that Iran has carried out air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq in recent days in what appeared to be the first such operations by Iran’s air force, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
U.S. leads 25 more air strikes against Islamic State militants: CENTCOM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States military launched 14 more strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria and led 11 strikes in Iraq since Monday, according to U.S. Central command.
