Latest news with #cartoon
Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Fadhli won't say sorry over cartoon allegedly belittling Thai-Cambodia peace efforts
PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari had faced backlash over a cartoon which critics said mocked Malaysia's role in brokering peace between Thailand and Cambodia. PETALING JAYA : PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari has refused to apologise over a now-deleted social media post featuring a cartoon which appeared to belittle Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's role in mediating the Thailand-Cambodia conflict. Fadhli, who is also the Pasir Mas MP, said he would leave the matter to the police following reports lodged against him by several parties. 'I leave it to the police, as reports have already been made. I do not intend to apologise,' he briefly told FMT. The cartoon in question depicted a monkey acting as a judge between a goat and a sheep fighting over bananas, with the caption: 'The goat and sheep shouldn't need a monkey to mediate their banana dispute.' Earlier today, Bangi MP Syahredzan Johan and PKR Youth chief Kamil Munim said Fadhli should apologise to the people of Cambodia and Thailand over the posting. 'If you can't contribute positively, at the very least, don't be a disruptive and negative voice,' Syahredzan said in a Facebook post. Kamil, meanwhile, said Fadhli's behaviour undermined national dignity, adding that Malaysia would not condone such 'reckless and foolish actions that show no respect for other nations'. Several Pakatan Harapan MPs have since lodged police reports at the Dang Wangi police headquarters over the matter. A ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand took effect at midnight on Monday, ending five days of intense border fighting that left at least 38 people dead and displaced more than 300,000. The agreement was reached after Malaysia, as Asean chair, along with the US and China, brought both sides to the table for peace talks in Putrajaya on Monday.
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Maureen Dowd: CBS and other media outlets caving to Trump is sickening. At least South Park will still hold people accountable
We haven't heard this much talk about the presidential anatomy since the other guy in the Jeffrey Epstein files was in the Oval. President Donald Trump , a master at minimising others, is now being literally minimised on South Park by the crass and fearless creators of the cartoon. I could have told Trump that it's best not to provoke brilliant satirists. I learned that lesson the hard way 20 years ago. When I wrote Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk, about the tangled father and son saga that led to the invasion of Iraq , I wanted Pat Oliphant, a lacerating political cartoonist, to do the book's cover. READ MORE I wheedled until that acerbic Aussie finally agreed. When the drawing came back, it was dazzling: a tiny, jangly-eyed George W Bush under a big cowboy hat, his hands braced at the guns on his holster. He was walking down the driveway of an overgrown haunted version of the White House with a gargoyle hanging from the trees. Oliphant had given the president the body of a bug. Even though the book was harshly critical of W Bush and his scheming advisers, I was worried that the sketch might be a bit too disrespectful to the president. The cartoonist was a firm believer in 'stirring up the beast', as he called it, taking a torch to the lies and hypocrisy of the powerful. So, naturally, he was contemptuous when I suggested that we make W Bush less buglike. But, faced with more wheedling, he reluctantly agreed to take another crack at it. I waited nervously. When the new illustration came in, W Bush no longer looked like a bug. Oliphant had made the president look more like a monkey. And he was even smaller. It was a valuable lesson. Don't mess with satirists. They'll always have the last say, and it will be blistering. Even though jesters had more leeway in ancient courts to speak truth to monarchs, rulers could order up an axe or a noose if the truth cut too close to the bone. [ 'I will not be intimidated': But has Rupert Murdoch met his nemesis in Donald Trump? Opens in new window ] As the Fool says to Lear: 'I marvel what kin thou and thy daughters are: They'll have me whipped for speaking true, thou'lt have me whipped for lying; and sometimes I am whipped for holding my peace.' Drew Lichtenberg, the dramaturge at Washington's Shakespeare Theater Company, told me: 'Queen Elizabeth I passed a series of 'Vagabond Acts' making it illegal to be a travelling player, unless you had an aristocratic patron. Freelance actors were regarded as homeless people unless they wore the livery of a lord. It was the 16th-century version of yanking Stephen Colbert off the air , censoring the broadcast of views that the ruler didn't want performed without their say-so.' Recently, Colbert scorched Paramount , CBS' parent company, for caving to Trump with a $16 million (€13.6 million) settlement over his 60 Minutes lawsuit, hoping to get the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to favour its merger with Skydance. 'I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles,' the comedian said. 'It's big, fat bribe.' A few days later, news broke that CBS, which has cratered from the Tiffany network to the Trump-fealty network, had cancelled the top-rated broadcast show for financial reasons. But who can believe that's the whole story? If it were just about money, there were a lot of better ways to handle Colbert, a big talent and valuable brand. CBS could have cut costs, or it could have transitioned him over the next five years into some combination of streaming or podcasting within the Paramount family. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a staple of late-night US television, will end in 2026, the CBS network said, days after the comedian blasted parent company Paramount's $16 million settlement with Donald Trump as 'a big fat bribe'. Photograph:Announcing that he was being dumped right after he criticised CBS reeked of censorship. Certainly, King Trump celebrated, crowing on Truth Social: 'I absolutely love that Colbert' got fired.' He even added: 'I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next.' The FCC chair, Brendan Carr, said that The View – airing on ABC, which also caved to Trump, paying a whopping $15 million for George Stephanopoulos' misspeaking – might be in the administration's crosshairs. 'Once President Trump has exposed these media gatekeepers and smashed this facade, there's a lot of consequences,' Carr said, ominously. CBS is, as Colbert said, 'morally bankrupt'. It's sickening to see media outlets, universities, law firms and tech companies bending the knee. (Hang tough, Rupert!) Satirists are left to hold people accountable, and they are more than ready. Colbert's fellow humorists jumped in to back him up, most brazenly the South Park creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, fresh off a Paramount deal worth more than $1.25 billion. (South Park, popular with conservatives, does not defend liberals; it loves jeering at both sides and woke overreach.) Its 27th season premiere – 'Sermon on the 'Mount,' as in Paramount – featured Trump with a 'teeny-tiny' you-know-what. It depicted the president cuddling with Satan and romancing a sheep. It ripped the Paramount deal, the CBS settlement, the Colbert firing, Trump's 'power to sue and take bribes' and the president's manic attempt to divert attention from ties to Epstein, as the paedophile's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell , no doubt angles for a pardon by spilling some information. It also showed a deepfake of Trump, rotund and naked, walking in the desert, Christ-like, 'for America'. As Puck's Matthew Belloni said: 'The AI deepfake Trump was particularly brilliant, given that the same day the episode aired, the president announced White House AI policy positions favouring lacklustre protections against exactly this kind of dangerous technology.' The White House sniffed that 'no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump's hot streak'. At Comic-Con on Thursday, the South Park creators were deadpan about their rebellious reaction to Trump's attempt to stifle critics and wreak revenge. 'We're terribly sorry,' Parker said, making it clear they were anything but. The tiger picnics last. – the New York Times
The Sun
24-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Long-running TV cartoon's future revealed after 27 seasons on air as bosses make big announcement
TV bosses have finally spilled the beans on what's next for a much-loved cartoon that's been causing chaos for 27 seasons. The hit cartoon has been renewed for five more years in a mega deal – with 50 new episodes and a major streaming shake-up. 4 4 South Park fans are in for a thrilling surprise as the long-running cartoon is going absolutely nowhere. Paramount bosses have signed off on a whopping new five-year deal with creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, promising 50 brand new episodes and making Paramount+ the official US streaming home of the iconic show for the first time ever. All 26 previous seasons will also be available on the platform alongside the new ones – with the latest series kicking off TODAY on Comedy Central and dropping on Paramount+ tomorrow. The foul-mouthed favourite first burst onto screens back in 1997. Nearly three decades on, it's still pulling in huge numbers with its razor-sharp satire and fearless humour. In a statement, execs praised the show's creators as 'singular, creative forces' whose work has made South Park 'more popular today than ever before.' Matt and Trey, who also serve as executive producers, said they were 'grateful' for the bumper new deal – and promised to keep delivering the savage laughs fans love. And while Trey joked about 'bringing championships to the city,' it's clear South Park's real home is in the hearts (and group chats) of loyal viewers everywhere. South Park is one of the longest-running cartoons in TV history - keeping the jokes coming and controversy fresh. Since its debut in the 90s, South Park became Comedy Central's game-changer, rocketing viewership from 980,000 in its first episode to a staggering 8.2 rating (6.2 million viewers) by season two's finale. South Park reveals Eric Cartman's weight loss from Ozempic use ahead of The End of Obesity special as fans 'can't wait' At the height of its early fame, it averaged 3.5 to 5.5 million viewers per episode and helped boost Comedy Central's household reach from 9 million to 50 million in just one year. South Park generated over 53 billion streaming minutes - more than Friends or The Office on rival platforms at the time. The show consistently ranks in the top 0.2-2.7% of most in-demand TV shows in the US. It's still going strong in 2025 as the third most popular streaming show in Canada - beating even heavy hitters like Yellowstone and The Last of Us. Along the way, the show has snagged multiple Emmys (including for Make Love, Not Warcraft), a Peabody Award, and a global fanbase clamouring for more. From igniting Comedy Central to ruling the streaming world, South Park isn't just a cartoon - it's a cash cannon, a cultural icon, and still the punchiest satire in the game. 4 4
CTV News
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Cartoon camp from down under returns to Edmonton after COVID-19 hiatus
Kids at the Cartoon Kingdom day camp practicing their skills on July 23, 2025. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton) Danny Cohen feels drawn to the northern hemisphere every summer. COVID-19 kept the cartoonist in Sydney, Australia for years before he could return with his day camp for kids, Cartoon Kingdom. He's the cartoon camp director currently on what he calls a 'mini world tour,' bringing his artistic programs to Winnipeg, Edmonton, Fort McMurray and then hopping across the pond to London. From now until July 25, Cohen is teaching 20 kids out of Crestwood Community hall. 'My job is to take [the kids] away from all the electronic stuff and go back to the old school style of art and drawing,' he said. 'And you know what? It's good.' Danny Cohen Danny Cohen is a professional cartoonist who spends his Australian winter in the northern hemisphere running summer camps. July 23, 2025. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton) It's winter back home in Australia and all the kids are in school, which makes the northern hemisphere the perfect location for Cohen for running his camps year-round. Cohen was the self-proclaimed 'naughty' kid in school who made a career out of his artwork. He does cartoons, caricatures, works parties and events. When he's not doing that, he's right here, teaching kids how to unlock their creativity. '[I] show kids how to become creative and convert their ideas … they're drawing cartoons, they're doing treasure hunts, they're doing shaving cream battles,' he said. The camp in Edmonton is running for five days for the first time since it was shut down in 2020. In that time, his students will throw boomerangs, draw Australian animals, have teddy bear picnics and more. And while numbers are down because of the hiatus, Cohen still remembers the parents and kids who came before the pandemic. 'I come by myself, I'm leaving at home, my wife and my children … and when I see familiar faces, my heart melts,' he said. 'That makes me want to come back again and again. It's the kids that make me come back.' Tre Kupczak Ainslie Tre Kupczak Ainslie is 13 now, but he was seven when he went to Cartoon Kingdom for the first time. This is his second time ever going because of COVID-19. July 23, 2025. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton) One of those pre-COVID kids, Tre Kupczak Ainslie, is 13 now. It's his second time coming to the camp in six years. 'It's fun to make new friends … you get to just have fun,' he said. He appreciates the cartooning style as somebody who doesn't draw a lot. Samina Kholmatova Samina Khomatova practices her cartooning at Cohen's day camp on July 23, 2025. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton) It's Samina Kholmatova's first time at camp. The nine-year-old had friends who helped her decide to 'give it a go.' 'I learned lots of skills from Danny's teaching,' she said. Cohen has faith that word will get around and numbers will go back to normal as the camp starts running annually once again. 'I do these camps in 11 countries around the world, but I think Canada is my favourite,' he said. With files from CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson
The Independent
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Newspaper apologises to MP for ‘racist' cartoon
The Observer newspaper issued an apology and removed a cartoon after Zarah Sultana accused it of racism. The controversial cartoon depicted Ms Sultana on a raisin box, which she described as 'brownfacing' and mocking her surname. Ms Sultana criticised The Observer's apology as 'mealy-mouthed' for not explicitly labelling the cartoon as racist or directly naming her. The cartoon also featured Jeremy Corbyn with communist symbols, satirising the new political party he is forming with Ms Sultana. Ms Sultana resigned from the Labour Party earlier this month to establish a new political party with Mr Corbyn.
