Wall Street Journal - World News

After years of trying to increase the number of women in its military, Norway has decided to draft females into the armed forces, making it the first NATO member to take the step, Norwegian officials said.

Pakistani militants killed two polio-vaccination workers, just as the city of Quetta mourned the deaths of at least 24 people in twin attacks the previous day.

A string of apparently coordinated bombings and a shooting killed at least 51 people and wounded scores across Iraq, extending a wave of violence that is raising fears of a return to widespread killing.

Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain's 10 crown dependencies and overseas territories would sign an international convention to help combat tax evasion.

Protesters confronted heavy security in Belfast, Northern Ireland, over the weekend before the opening of the two-day Group of Eight summit on Monday.

In this week's pictures, a protester get hit with a water cannon in Turkey, a house stands charred in Colorado, a tennis player grips his trophy in France, and more.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Sunday appointed 17 new provincial governors, including seven members of his Muslim Brotherhood, adding to its power.

When he visits Berlin this week, U.S. President Barack Obama won't likely draw the same enthusiasm on the streets that he received during his first visit in 2008, as Germans have become disappointed with his administration's foreign and security policies.

Hassan Rohani, a pragmatic, moderate candidate backed by opposition supporters and reformist political parties, was elected as Iran's next president in a landslide vote.

Regional presidents meeting at a summit on Zimbabwe asked President Robert Mugabe to delay elections he has set for the end of July.

Kuwait's constitutional court forced new parliamentary elections Sunday, dissolving the current chamber on the basis of flaws in the election law, the media reported. The decision may set the state for a new wave of political showdowns in the Gulf nation.

Kabul will officially take over national security in the coming week, putting the spotlight on a growing but troubled force.

Turkey's riot police launched a crackdown to clear an occupied park in central Istanbul just hours after the prime minister issued a final warning to antigovernment demonstrators to leave.

Irish Road Bowling—a low-tech cross between golf and bowling—has been played in Ireland since the 1600s. Much more recently the sport has popped up around the U.S.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has approved keeping Patriot missile-defense batteries and F-16 warplanes in Jordan, officials said, in a move aimed at shoring up support for the kingdom and at deterring Syria.

Pakistani police stormed a hospital that had been taken over by gunmen, freeing hostages and ending a five-hour standoff that began with a bombing just outside the emergency room and left five dead.

Iran's preliminary election results show that the candidate backed by the opposition and reformist political factions, Hassan Rohani, is leading in polls by a landslide, giving a decisive victory to Iranians calling for change.

The Obama administration's dramatic shift in favor of arming Syria's rebels was the product of two months of increasingly unsettling assessments.

Gunmen staged overnight attacks on at least six security buildings and outposts throughout Libya's eastern city of Benghazi, killing five soldiers, military officials said.

Vietnamese police have arrested one of the country's best-known bloggers for posting criticism of the communist government, intensifying a crackdown against Internet-fuelled dissent in the one-party, authoritarian state.