Ambitious and impatient, Afghan leader eyes aid, peace, reform
KABUL (Reuters) – New Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has set about overhauling a dysfunctional administration and containing a growing insurgency with plenty of energy, and some would say impatience, in marked contrast to his predecessor.
Brazil targets Petrobras contractors as corruption probe expands
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s comptroller general opened cases on Wednesday against eight engineering conglomerates suspected of bribery and fraud in deals with Petrobras, holding them accountable for their role in a widening corruption scandal at the…
Putin under pressure to show he can cure Russia’s economic ills
MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin is under pressure to show he has a prescription to cure Russia’s rapidly growing economic ills in his annual state of the union address on Thursday.
Lebanon says detained woman was Baghdadi wife for three months
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s interior minister said on Wednesday that a women detained by security forces was the wife of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for three months, the first Lebanese government official to speak publicly on the arrest…
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.
