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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Cartoonists this week are captivated by the upending of Japan’s ruling party after almost 60 years in power. They also have fun with Disney’s purchase of Marvel Comics, and it’s back to school time….amid the specter of the swine flu.
Cartoonists around the world mark the passing of another Kennedy and what it may mean for his favorite issue: reforming healthcare. The CIA comes in for some dark caricatures after this week’s report detailing aggressive forms of interrogation. So does Libya for its warm reception of one of its own: the terminally sick (and to many sickening) convicted Lockerbie bomber.
Afghans went to the polls this week and international cartoonists felt compelled to comment about it. You’ll see plenty of burkas, and Kalashnikovs, often in the same image. The cartoons are somber, poignant, provocative and deeply irreverent.
>>>Click here to start the cartoon slideshow.
Each week, The World brings you the best in political cartooning from across the globe. In this week’s cartoon slideshow, artists take aim at Afghanistan’s upcoming elections, the continued detention of Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi, and those noisy town hall meetings about health care reform in the United States.
This week’s cartoons reflect the shifting political ground under President Barack Obama. We see his approval ratings slip, more negative chatter about his ‘beers-at-the-White House’ as a teachable moment about race, and the seething debate over how to reform healthcare. But then the dramatic release of two American journalists from North Korea and cartoonists pick up their pencils and brushes to rehash former President Clinton’s reputation as a charmer.
This week cartoonists take a jab at President Obama’s attempts to defuse a racial flare-up by inviting the protagonists to the White House for a beer.
They also have fun with global warming fears, North Korea, the stunning corruption scandal in New Jersey, and the news that Microsoft and Yahoo are ganging up on Google.
Cartoonists find poignancy in the timing of the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing and the death of veteran newsman Walter Cronkite. President Obama goes in for some image polishing, North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have a long-distance war of words, and rumors of doping haunt the Tour de France.
Cartoonists find humor — sometimes quite dark humor — in President Obama’s offer of hope on his visit to Ghana, Iceland’s interest in joining the European Union, the politics of fighting global warming, the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing, and the current obsession with facebook.
Europe features large in this week’s political cartoons. We see President Obama and Russian President Medvedev try to flatter and dare each other into reducing their nuclear arsenals and this year’s G8 summit host, Italian president Silvio Berlusconi, appears to be preoccupied with his life outside of government. In other images, Sarah Palin has a plan to get to the White House and Barack Obama embraces his own plan to gradually withdraw from Iraq.
The on-going political turmoil in Iran provides inspiration for cartoonists this week. They also tackle the coup in Honduras, Bernie Madoff’s 150-year prison sentence. Oh, and yes…Michael Jackson.
Cartoonists note the sudden death of pop star Michael Jackson with images both respectful and, well, irreverent. Iranian mullahs define theocracy. The fly on President Obama’s arm gets a name. And even in death, Ed McMahon tries to find a new sidekick.
The post-election political crisis in Iran dominates this week’s political cartoons. The images range from funny depictions of voter fraud to very dark depictions of media censorship, and a deep uncertainty about what comes next.
This week cartoonists around the world share the excitement and concern as Iranians prepare to go to the polls. They also respond to North Korea’s latest provocations and the rightward results of the European elections.
“A New Beginning” is the theme of this week’s global political cartoons. It was the title of the speech President Barack Obama gave in Cairo when he addressed Muslims around the world. But it could easily describe the message of the GM bankruptcy and reports out of South Korea that North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il has nominated his third and youngest son, 26-year-old Jong-Un, as his successor.
