What the world is reading

Charlie Brookers New Year resolutions are for everyone in the world,except himself. The first in the list is,Stop creating Keep Calm and Carry On variants. Everyones churning out Keep Calm merchandise these days. The original wartime poster,rediscovered more than 10 years ago by the owner of Alnwicks Barter Books,belongs on a poster,or a mug,or a tea towel sold by Barter Books. But not on a packet of condoms or a soft drink. Or a cushion. Or engraved on your babys face8230;Moneygrabbers with no right to the Keep Calm phrase and no connection to Barter Books have attempted to trademark it. Also on the list are Stop pretending cupcakes are brilliant,Stop pretending Lady Gaga and Beyoncé are endlessly fascinating. Theyre not Mayan gods8230; Let them sing and leave it at that and Stop making superhero movies. No normal adult can possibly relate to such movies,unless youre a child8230;

The Washington Post

Patent wars 2012: Heres what to expect

Digital thinker Dominic Basulto writes that the tech patent wars that flared up throughout 2011 will be in full swing one again,starting with the fight over operating systems as Google attempts to protect its Android OS from rivals. Basulto quotes from a Boston Globe report to say that Apple,Samsung,Google and Microsoft are all engaged in over 100 patent lawsuits in at least 10 different countries. That sort of patent mayhem,extended into areas from smart phones and tablets to operating systems,could put a serious damper on innovation in the global tech sector in 2012, he writes.

The Australian

School visit Michelles turning point

Damian Whitworth quotes from The Obamas: A Mission,A Marriage,a new,behind-the-scenes book on the Obamas by Jodi Kantor,to talk about how a visit to a London girls school was the unlikely turning point that showed Michelle Obama how to carve a public role for herself and escape the unhappy isolation that plagued her early days in the White House. She saw the responsibility,the impact,the potential of her role. Her time in the White House had been isolating,yet now across the Atlantic she felt so connected. Standing on the modest stage,aides said later,Michelle Obamas new position began to make sense to her for the first time, writes Kantor. Addressing the girls,Michelle Obama said,Although the circumstances of our lives may seem very distant,I want you to know that we have very much in common.Nothing in my lifes path would have predicted that I would be standing here as the first African-American First Lady of the United States of America.

Dawn

US priorities for 21st century

The US unveiled its priorities for 21st-century defence on January 5,2012 in a brief document titled,Sustaining US Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st-Century Defence. Academic Haider Nizamani urges Pakistani policymakers and security analysts to carefully read and understand the document as they recalibrate the nature and direction of bilateral ties with the US. On the face of it there is nothing in the declared US interests that should put Pakistan on a collision course with the US. In fact,if Washington pursues these interests in an even-handed manner,then Pakistan could be a beneficiary of an international system led by the US. However,that would require a fair amount of rethinking and reordering on the part of Islamabad in engaging with the US, writes Nizamani.