NPRWorld

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waves in Pakdasht, southeast of Tehran, Nov. 23. Ahmadinejad on Wednesday said he was surprised at European moves to isolate Tehran's central bank. HO/Reuters/Landov hide caption

In Volos, optician Klita Dimitriadis accepts partial payment in Local Alternative Units, or TEMs. She then spends the TEMs at a monthly farmers market, or exchanges them for other services. Sylvia Poggoli/NPR hide caption

Patients sit after their cataract surgeries at a hospital of the Aravind Eye Care System in Madurai, India. Reinhard Krause/Reuters/Landov hide caption

Syrian has come under increasing international pressure in recent days. On Monday, Syrians protested in the capital Damascus against the Arab League's decision to impose sanctions. Syria has also come under sharp criticism from an independent commission that accused the security forces of systematically carrying out abuses against anti-government demonstrators. Yin Bogu/Xinhua /Landov hide caption

Key provisions of the Kyoto Protocol expire in December of 2012, and experts say there's no real global framework in place to replace the treaty that was supposed to be the first step toward ambitious actions on climate change. Above, a coal-fired power plant in eastern China. China is now the leading carbon dioxide emitter in the world. AFP/Getty Images hide caption

U.S. servicemen line up to board a bus as they begin their journey home at Al Asad Air Base west of Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 1. The U.S. has promised to withdraw from Iraq by the end of the year as required by a 2008 security agreement between Washington and Baghdad. Some 39,000 U.S. troops are scheduled to clear out along with their equipment. Khalid Mohammed/AP hide caption