Charb's poignantly prophetic last cartoon for Charlie Hebdo

After the events of Wednesday, when armed gunmen shot and killed 12 people at the offices in Paris of the French satirical weekly "Charlie Hebdo", there's little that hasn't been said, written or reported, both within France and abroad.

As a tribute to those who died here are two images.

The first is a screenshot taken for the weekly news magazine "L'Obs". It's the very last cartoon drawn by "Charlie Hebdo's" editor, Stéphane Charbonnier or "Charb", who was one of those killed in the attack.

It's tragically predictive with the headline reading, "Toujours pas d'attentats en France?" "Still no attacks in France?" and an armed Islamist militant saying, "Attendez" or "Wait".
"On a jusqu'à la fin janvier pour présenter ses vœux "We have until the end of January to present our New Year's wishes" - a satire on the French (political and social) tradition of wishing others a happy New Year throughout the whole of the month.

Charb's last cartoon (screenshot from "L'Obs")

And the second powerful image is that of the front cover of Thursday's edition of the national daily Libération.

No translation needed.

Libération front cover tribute to "Charlie Hebdo"

Charlie Hebdo's satirical front cover on Hollande's "Moi, président de la république"

Remember back in 2012 during the televised debate between Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, the two candidates in the second round of the presidential elections?

That moment when former TF1 news anchor Laurence Ferrari asked Hollande what sort of president he would be if elected and the response he gave?

It was a brilliantly written and perfectly delivered speech in which the repeated phrase, "Moi président de la république".

François Hollande (screenshot from 2012 televised presidential debate)

In giving his answer Hollande clearly attacked Sarkozy's style in office saying how he would be less omnipresent in the running of the country and allow the government to do exactly what it had been elected to do.

And he began each point with, "Moi président de la république", repeating the phrase to show he clearly saw himself in the job.

Moreover, he would "lead by example" and "his behaviour would be irreproachable" - a clear reference to how public Sarkozy's private life had been during his presidency.

Ho hum.



Given recent revelations (yes yawn) about Hollande's alleged relationship with French actress Julie Gayet, the weekly satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo just couldn't resist "joining in the fun" in its own inimitable  style.

Its front cover this week shows just how different Hollande really is from his predecessors.

No comment.

Charlie Hebdo front cover