Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott closed the G20 summit Sunday, 16 November, by detailing promises made by world leaders to boost their respective economies by at least 2.1% by 2018, for an impressive $2 trillion total uptick. Good for global economics. Much of the summit had focused on Russian President Vladimir Putin's position on the crisis in Ukraine, but there’s scant news on that other international confrontation: who won the now-infamous “shirtfront” challenge?
Tony "Tough Talk" Abbott had thrown down the gauntlet (promising to shed his shirt too) in a manly assets challenge with "Virile" Vladimir Putin. And we thought Latin America held the winning hand on machismo!
World media is mum on how that pectoral slap-down played out (Putin left the summit in a huff, claiming he needed to catch up on his sleep!), but we wondered what if Middle Eastern leaders indulged in the same silliness?
A quick spin on a search engine fleshed out far more than our imaginations could ever conjure up, and Photoshopped images filled the gaps that paparazzi failed to capture. Putin may best some of his Rusky comrades in the skin department, but some of our regional specimens can quite respectfully hold their own.
Brace yourself for this revealing run through some Middle Eastern leaders who are too sexy for their shirts. After viewing this dirty dozen, you’ll want to offer up a word of appreciation to our lady leaders who wisely just stick to politics.
