Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon speaks during a news conference in his offices on Nov. 21, 2005, in Jerusalem. Sharon announced his split from his right-wing Likud party to form a new political party, Kadima. He was on the way to re-election in 2006 when he suffered a stroke and fell into a coma from which he never awoke. David Silverman/Getty Images hide caption

Iranian women look at a jewelry shop display in Tehran, Iran, in 2010. Iran now appears to be stockpiling gold in an attempt to stabilize its economy, which has been hit hard by Western sanctions. Atta Lenare/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

An Iranian boy holds a tray of eggs at a grocery store in Tehran last month. From Sunday, Sept. 30, to Monday, Oct. 1, the Iranian currency lost nearly one-third of its value against the dollar. Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

An Iranian man checks the rates of foreign currencies at a currency exchange bureau in central Tehran on Sept. 29. The Iranian currency lost nearly one-third of its value in a day over the weekend. Maryam Rahmanian/UPI/Landov hide caption

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech in Tehran in July. Khamenei says Western-led sanctions will not force Iran to change its policies, but there are signs of other concerned voices in Iran. AP hide caption

Iranians walk through the main bazaar in Tehran in January. Sanctions by the EU and U.S., plus political woes related to the Syrian uprising, have created the most serious crisis faced by Tehran since the 1980s. Vahid Salemi/AP hide caption

Ibrahim Ahmad, the son of the owner of the Imperial Bagpipe Manufacturing Co., tests a bagpipe at a factory in Sialkot, Pakistan. The Pakistani city is the largest producer of the instruments most commonly associated with Scotland. Farooq Naeem/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf is greeted after his election in June. Just weeks later, many Pakistanis expect the nation's Supreme Court may soon attempt to force Ashraf from his position, as it did his predecessor. Rizwan Tabassum/Getty Images hide caption

Pakistani border guards check trucks heading to Afghanistan, in the tribal area of Khyber last week. Qazi Rauf/AP hide caption

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivers a speech under a portrait of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on June 2. The supreme leader has said repeatedly that nuclear weapons are un-Islamic and Iran will not pursue them. But in the West, many are skeptical. Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Iranians line up at a gas station to fuel their motorcycles in central Tehran in February. Oil is the lifeblood of Iran's economy, but the planned EU boycott is expected to deal a major blow to Iranian oil exports. Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

A Rosneft flag flies over the Russian oil giant's refinery near the city of Samara. Growth of Russia's oil and gas output has stalled, but Exxon Mobil and other foreign firms have signed deals to help exploit the Arctic. Nikolay Korchekov/Reuters/Landov hide caption

Friends and relatives take part in the funeral ceremony of Sergei Magnitsky at a cemetery in Moscow in 2009. The tax lawyer was arrested after he began investigating fraud at Hermitage Capital, which had been seized by the Russian tax police. He later died in prison. Mikhail Voskresensky/Reuters/Landov hide caption

Vladimir Putin takes the oath of office during his inauguration as Russia's president at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow on Monday. Putin will be serving his third term as president, after four years as prime minister and two previous presidential terms. Dmitry Astakhov,/AP hide caption

Vladimir Putin, currently prime minister, begins his third term as Russia's president on Monday. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP hide caption

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivers a speech during Iran's Nuclear Technology Day at the presidential palace in Tehran, Iran, on April 8. UPI/Landov hide caption

A concert in Pyongyang in February 2012 commemorates the birthday of North Korea's late leader, Kim Jong Il. The backdrop shows a North Korean rocket that was launched in April 2009 — and was followed a month later by a nuclear test. Kyodo/Landov hide caption