What the world is reading

It takes a lot for the grinding conflict in Afghanistan to make bigger headlines than the Republican presidential contest,says an editorial in LA Times,but recent news about that country has made even the Romney-Gingrich slugfest pale in importance. First,and most dramatically,a new National Intelligence Estimate suggests that little progress has been made over the last year in improving security or boosting the countrys government or military capabilities,says the editorial. Just as disheartening was the release of a video that appears to show four US Marines urinating on the corpses of slain Taliban fighters. Finally,word has emerged of a recent diplomatic shift that could lead to the renewal of peace talks with the Taliban,says the editorial.

The Guardian

The Artist at Globes

The Artist was made as a love letter to cinema. said its director Michel Hazanavicius,and so it was at the Golden Globes on January 15 when it won three out of its six nominations,including Best Motion Picture. The Globes distinguishes between drama and comedy or musical,and Alexander Paynes bittersweet The Descendants has won convincingly in this first category,taking home best picture and best actor for its star,George Clooney. According to Peter Bradshaw,the question of what is a drama and what is a comedy is traditionally highly exasperating at the Golden Globes,although the category-split does at least make reasonably sure that awards do not simply go to the po-faced contenders.

The Washington Post

Arab Spring myths

When the Arab Spring began a year ago,the Western world was shocked,writes Fouad Ajami,but once unleashed,the upheaval knew no restraint. Since then,the rebellions have spawned a steady stream of punditry and conventional wisdom about the Arab Springsome of it vastly mistaken. Ajami lists the first myth as Obamas 2009 Cairo speech helped inspire the Arab Spring,saying that by the time of these rebellions,the Arab and Muslim romance with President Obama had long vanished. Another myth: These are Facebook and Twitter revolutions. Ajami says these rebellions had been fueled by traditional sparks,by common people.

The Daily Beast

Hunger Diary

Africa is famished. America is fat. Sudanese-born model Alek Wek,now living in Brooklyn,knows both worlds and shares her experiences,saying,Its an awful feeling,being hungry. In this world,I found,many people were hungry too,but for different reasons, writes Wek. They wanted their bodies to look a certain way,whether their bodies were meant to or not. They chose not to eat,feels Wek about the Western world. But now shes going to start talking to schoolkids around the world,through Skype. We all have different backgrounds,different relationships with each other,and with the food we eat, says Wek. But theres one thing we all share: We eat to nurture ourselves,to feel stronger. We eat to live, she concludes.

Vanity Fair

Freud,Interrupted

Lucian Freuds final portrait is of a naked man and a dog,writes David Kamp. It is unfinished,but otherwise betrays no sign of the agedness of its creator,who died last July 20,halfway through his 89th year. Freud was intensely private,rejecting the idea that an artists life mattered to his art. But Freud,arguably the greatest portrait painter of his era,forged his closest bonds in his studio. With two major Freud retrospectives in view,Kamp learns that those who sat for himduchesses,drag queens,most of his women,and many of his childrenwill never forget what they discovered.