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NEW YORK: “South Park” continued its cartoon assault on the Trump administration Wednesday, with an episode that addressed the federal takeover of Washington, D.C.’s police department.
The latest installment on Comedy Central depicted the recurring character “Towelie” — a walking, talking towel — riding in a bus past landmarks like the Supreme Court building and the Capitol as armed troops marched in the streets. A tank rolled by in front of the White House.
The half-hour episode, which primarily satirized artificial intelligence, also roasted world leaders and tech CEOs for kowtowing to President Donald Trump. Eventually Towelie ended up with the president in the Oval Office.
“South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone recently signed a reported $1.5 billion, five-year deal with Paramount for new episodes and streaming rights to their series, which began its 27th season this summer.
Their second episode of the season depicted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shooting puppies, a reference to a story from the former South Dakota governor’s biography where she said she killed the family dog because of its behavioral issues. Noem was also depicted being trailed by a team of beauticians having to reattach her face.
“It’s so easy to make fun of women for how they look,” Noem told Glenn Beck in response to the episode.
The season premiere mocked Trump’s body in a raunchy manner and depicted him sharing a bed with Satan. That scenario reappeared in Wednesday’s episode.
The White House has dismissed “South Park” as a fourth-rate, no-longer-relevant show. But it has been attracting attention; Comedy Central said the Noem episode had the highest audience share in the show’s history, a reference to the percentage of people with televisions on watching the cartoon.

LONDON: One of the most valuable violins in the world, crafted three centuries ago and once owned by composer Niccolo Paganini, is to be played at a top UK classical music festival.
The violin, known as the Carrodus, is one of only around 150 made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu known to have survived down the centuries, and was acquired by a philanthropic group for $20 million in June.
It was crafted in 1743 in Cremonia, northern Italy, and will be played for the first time as part of the BBC Proms by South Korean violinist Inmo Yang.
The violin once owned by Italian virtuoso Paganini will be seen on August 28 at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
“I can’t believe how lucky I am to have this instrument. This is easily one of the greatest instruments ever made,” Yang, who is also making his debut at the Proms, told AFP.
“I feel a duty to take good care of the instrument and make a beautiful sound, so that people know that it’s worth playing these instruments rather than having them in a vault in a museum.”
The Stretton Society, a network of philanthropists, patrons and sponsors that has loaned the violin to Yang, seeks to acquire rare and valuable instruments to lend to the world’s leading musicians.
Guarneri was one of the most important violin makers of all time, alongside Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari, said the society’s co-founder Stephan Jansen.
Whereas Stradivari made instruments for the Church and the nobility, Guarneri’s violins were made for musicians, and they became renowned for their deep and sonorous tones, Jansen said.
“Inmo is one of the finest musicians of his generation,” Jansen told AFP.
“When he came to my house and I showed him the fiddle, it was clear from the very first second that this is a match,” he said. “Because in the end, it’s also about chemistry, you know?“
Yang will perform Pablo de Sarasate’s “Carmen Fantasy,” which he described as “a virtuoso piece for the violin.”
The broad palette of the violin adds the “strong, at times flirty character of the Carmen character,” said Yang.
The instrument’s sound is also “quite unpredictable,” he said, and “this kind of capricious nature really gives more liveliness to the piece.”
“Thinking that Paganini used this instrument is kind of spiritual, and I think people also want to hear Paganini’s music played on his own violin,” Yang added.
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One of the most valuable violins in the world, crafted by an Italian maker three centuries ago and once owned by composer Niccolo Paganini, is to be played at a top UK classical music festival.
The violin, known as the Carrodus, is one of only around 150 made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu known to have survived down the centuries, and was acquired by a philanthropic group for $20 million in June.
It was crafted in 1743 in Cremonia, northern Italy, and will be played for the first time as part of the BBC Proms by South Korean violinist Inmo Yang.
The violin once owned by famed Italian composer and violin virtuoso Niccolo Paganini will be seen on August 28 at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
“I can’t believe how lucky I am to have this instrument. This is easily one of the greatest instruments ever made,” Yang, who is also making his debut at the Proms, told AFP.
“I feel a duty to take good care of the instrument and make a beautiful sound, so that people know that it’s worth playing these instruments rather than having them in a vault in a museum.”
The Stretton Society, a network of philanthropists, patrons and sponsors that has loaned the violin to Yang, seeks to acquire rare and valuable instruments to lend to the world’s leading musicians.
Guarneri was one of the most important violin makers of all time, alongside Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari, said the society’s co-founder Stephan Jansen.
Whereas Stradivari made instruments for the Church and the nobility, Guarneri’s violins were made for musicians, and they became renowned for their deep and sonorous tones, Jansen said.
“Inmo is one of the finest musicians of his generation,” Jansen told AFP.
“When he came to my house and I showed him the fiddle, it was clear from the very first second that this is a match,” he said. “Because in the end, it’s also about chemistry, you know?“
Yang will perform Pablo de Sarasate’s “Carmen Fantasy,” which he described as “a virtuoso piece for the violin.”
The broad palette of the violin adds the “strong, at times flirty character of the Carmen character,” said Yang.
The instrument’s sound is also “quite unpredictable,” he said, and “this kind of capricious nature really gives more liveliness to the piece.”
“Thinking that Paganini used this instrument is kind of spiritual, and I think people also want to hear Paganini’s music played on his own violin,” Yang added.