AFP reports that media rights groups are pressing the UN to intervene in the case of Prageeth Ekneligoda, a Sri Lankan cartoonist who disappeared 14 months ago. With 17 journalists killed in the last decade, Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous countries on earth for reporters. Ekneligoda worked for an opposition newspaper.

Michael Cavna of Comic Riffs has an interesting article on Arab cartoonists working amid the various uprisings in the Middle East, including with Cartoon Movement contributors Amr Okasha and Sherif Arafa.

Writer Erin Polgreen has launched the Tumblr site Graphic Ladies, spotlighting women working in comics "to help shift the overwhelmingly dude-ified narrative of the comics industry and spotlight the work of rad lady creators."

The 2010 Grambs Aronson Award for Cartooning With a Conscience was given to Gary Varvel, the editorial cartoonist for the Indianapolis Star. Varvel won for his series "The Path To Hope," an exploration of the lives of the urban poor in Indianapolis. The judges cited his empathy toward the people profiled and the ambition of the multi-part series.