As news happens, political cartoonists around the globe take up their brush pen or pencil and come up with images and often a few choice words to comment on the events of the day. Each week, The World’s Carol Hills selects a group of cartoons that reflect on issues in the news. For cartoons prior to June 2009, please click here.
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Cartoon Slideshow: The Perils of Poking Fun at Yemeni Politics
Kamal Sharaf is an artist and satirist in Yemen who has dared to question the status quo. Through his cartoons he challenged former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and suffered for it. He was forcibly taken from his home in 2010 and spent a month in prison. These days Kamal Sharaf continues to take comparatively progressive stands on issues like women’s rights and is not afraid to question the direction of the new Yemeni president.
Cartoon Slideshow: Assad Continues to Ignore Critics
Syria’s Bashar al-Assad is not listening … to his opponents, to his international critics, or even to Koffi Annan, the UN/Arab League envoy who is talking, persuading — even pleading with Assad to play ball with Annan’s six-point peace plan. Pope Benedict visits drug trade-addled Mexico, and meet some non-human drug addicts: the food on your plate.
Jordanian Cartoonist Emad Hajjaj Draws the Arab Spring
Emad Hajjaj is a Palestinian editorial cartoonist based in Amman. He was born in Ramallah on the West Bank but has lived most of his life in Jordan. His editorial cartoons appear in the Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad as well as other Arabic language newspapers. They also appear in English through Cagle Cartoons. Over the past year or so Hajjaj has been consumed with the Arab Spring, both as a cartoonist and as an Arab. Here’s a selection of his recent cartoons, arranged chronologically.
Russia’s Dmitri Medvedev: The Mini-Me to Vladimir Putin
Dmitri Medvedev is leaving the Russian presidency in May 2012 but for many political cartoonists, he never really arrived. Looking back at cartoons published during his presidency, The World’s Carol Hills finds Medvedev portrayed as the ultimate ‘mini-me’ to Vladimir Putin, the puppet on a string, the dog ordered to fetch, basically a doormat. Enjoy.
Soviet Era Dark Humor Makes a Comeback
The Soviet jokes disappeared when the Soviet Union collapsed, but that brand of dark humor has made a comeback in Russia today.
Batwing: An African Superhero Takes on Congo
DC Comics has created an African superhero modeled after Batman. His name is Batwing and he’s battling evil in the Democratic Republic of Congo!
Cartoon Slideshow: Crisis in Syria
Blood, blood and blood are the subjects of this cartoon slideshow about Syria. Cartoonists around the globe are responding to the blood being spilled in the violent crackdown on demonstrators — especially in the Syrian city of Homs. Bashar al-Assad is the villain and the images are graphic, in your face, and unsubtle.
Cartoon Slideshow: Russia’s Vladimir Putin
Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is a man in the middle….the middle of a campaign. He wants to be Russia’s president — again. He’s in the middle of protests against him. So he’s staging his own support rally in response. And Putin is also in the middle of the international outrage over the violence in Syria. Russia sells lots of weapons to Syria and Putin (along with his representatives at the UN) are neutering any real efforts to end the government-sponsored violence in Syria.
Cartoon: Facebook Going Public
Dutch cartoonist Tom Janssen uses a familiar emoticon to show how Facebook (the company) is probably feeling about the upcoming IPO.
Settler Cartoonist Shay Charka Skewers All Sectors of Israeli Society
The World’s Middle East correspondent, Matthew Bell, profiles Israeli cartoonist Shay Charka who lives in the West Bank. He hopes for peace with his Palestinian neighbors but doesn’t believe that a two-state solution is possible. Charka’s cartoons skewer all sectors of Israeli social and political society.
Understanding Haiti Through Comics
Cartoonist Matt Bors is editing a comic strip about life in Haiti since the earthquake. It’s drawn by a Haitian cartoonist and written by a Haitian reporter, both based in Port au Prince. The first installment of the comic strip was published online Thursday.
Zahra’s Paradise: A Graphic Novel Explores Iran’s Political Problems
‘Zahra’s Paradise’ is the new graphic novel by an Iranian-American author. He tells host Marco Werman how he created a webstrip based on the images streaming out of the Iranian protests in 2009.
Cartoon: Democracy According to Syria’s Bashar al-Assad
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad doesn’t get why the whole world is demanding he introduce democratic reforms. Australian cartoonist Alan Moir captures al-Assad’s take on democracy.
Cartoon Slideshow: Fury Over Continued Violence in Syria
There’s anger, sadness and downright fury over the continued violence in Syria. Much of the vitriol is directed against Arab League observers who arrived in Syria in late December to monitor the situation. There’s widespread feeling — which you’ll see in these cartoons — that the observers are ignoring the violence all around them.
Cartoon: NASA’s Predictions for 2012
NASA held a press conference last month to try to debunk the latest doomsday scenarios for Earth in 2012 but Chinese cartoonist Luojie thinks the space agency may have forgotten one thing.
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