South Park's latest Donald Trump episode saw record viewing figures
The second episode, which satirised Kristi Noem and ICE, became the highest-rated episode since 2018 and secured the biggest share in the series' history with 15.61 per cent of cable viewers.
Kristi Noem was depicted repeatedly shooting dogs, a reference to her confession about killing her own puppy, and was also mocked for alleged plastic surgery.
The show also featured Donald Trump and JD Vance, with Trump reportedly 'seething' over his portrayal in a relationship with Satan.
Noem dismissed the cartoon as 'petty' and 'lazy', stating she had not seen the episode but criticised its focus on women's appearance.
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The Independent
a few seconds ago
- The Independent
Democrat Senator said Alaska summit was ‘great day' for Russia: Putin was ‘absolved of his crimes in front of the world'
A key senator on the Foreign Relations committee called Donald Trump's Alaska summit with Vladimir Putin a 'disaster' Sunday and blamed the U.S. president for legitimizing his Russian opponent in front of the world. 'It was an embarrassment for the United States. It was a failure. Putin got everything he wanted,' said Chris Murphy, the ranking Democratic member of the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on European security cooperation. Murphy told NBC's Meet the Press that Trump was forced to abandon his main commitment — a call for a ceasefire — during the meeting and was similarly unable to convince Putin to drop demands for Ukraine to cede more territory, something the senator from Connecticut said was 'stunning' to see a U.S. president consider. 'He wanted to be absolved of his war crimes in front of the world. He was invited to the United States — war criminals are not normally invited to the United States of America,' Murphy said. Trump 'walked out of that meeting saying, 'I didn't get a ceasefire. I didn't get a peace deal. And I'm not even considering sanctions,'' the senator continued. 'And so Putin walks away with his photo op, with zero commitments made, and zero consequences. What a great day for Russia.' Murphy's comments to NBC come as two top Trump officials who traveled with the president to Alaska for the summit Friday, Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, did the rounds on separate Sunday morning programs defending the outcome of the president's meeting with Putin. The optics of the meeting are being endlessly scrutinized in the mainstream press, partly due to the few specifics released so far about what the two men discussed. Among those moments been picked apart by analysts included the arrival of the Russian president, which was preceded by U.S. troops, in uniform, rolling out a red carpet on the tarmac. On Sunday, Witkoff told CNN'S State of the Union t hat the U.S. secured what he claimed was a 'game-changing' development in the discussions: Putin's willingness to consider accepting a U.S. security agreement protecting the future sovereignty of Ukraine's borders. This was the first time negotiators were able to gain ground on the issue, he explained. 'We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO," he said. Witkoff wouldn't specify whether the security guarantee could lead to what Trump and his followers have long opposed — a promise to directly engage U.S. troops in defense of Ukraine should Russia continue crossing Trump's red lines. Murphy, on Sunday, seemed to imply that such a guarantee would be the bare minimum standard necessary for any peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. 'That [security guarantee] is an essential element of a peace agreement because any commitment that Vladimir Putin makes to not invade Ukraine again isn't worth the paper that it's written on,' said the senator. 'He's made that commitment many times. So yes, there has to be a guarantee that if Putin were to enter Ukraine after a peace settlement, that there would be some force there, a U.S. force, a U.S.-European force there to defend Ukraine.' He would go on to hammer Trump over reports that Witkoff wouldn't confirm when pressed by CNN's Jake Tapper, which revealed that Trump had signaled his own willingness to accept Russian demands for Ukraine to cede the entire occupied Donbas region as part of a potential agreement. Murphy said that the reported development was 'another sense that Putin is just in charge of these negotiations.' Chris Van Hollen, another Democrat on the Foreign Relations panel, was equally critical of Trump's meeting with the Russian president during an interview with ABC's Martha Raddatz on This Week. Heading into Friday's summit, Trump warned of 'severe consequences' if Russia continued to oppose peace efforts and said that he was working towards an immediate ceasefire. Afterwards, he claimed in a Truth Social post that "It was determined by all [in attendance] that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.' Van Hollen called this news a 'setback' for the U.S.'s European allies and Ukraine, while accusing Trump of being 'flattered' by Putin. 'There's no sugarcoating this. Donald Trump, once again, got played by Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Putin got the red carpet treatment on American soil. But we got no ceasefire, no imminent meeting between Putin and Zelensky,' said Van Hollen. Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to the Biden administration, agreed. "President Trump's stated goals were very simple, get an immediate ceasefire, and in the absence of a ceasefire, impose what he called severe consequences," Sullivan said. "Well, the summit has come and gone. There is no ceasefire. There are no consequences.' Trump is now scheduled to meet Monday with European leaders including Finnish president Alexander Stubb, German chancellor Friedrich Merz, French president Emmanuel Macron and the UK's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Stubb is known for his personal relationship with Trump, and is poised to be on-hand to quell any disputes between Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, who will also be in attendance. Zelensky is reported to be wholly opposed to any demand to recognize Russian occupation of the Donbas as legitimate.
Daily Mirror
a minute ago
- Daily Mirror
Donald Trump's Gaza blackout as US President BANS visas for desperate and starving kids
Visas for starving and sick children from Gaza have been halted by Donald Trump's administration following pressure from a conservative activist who questioned why they were allowed into the US Donald Trump's administration has stopped giving US visas to children in urgent need of medical help from Gaza. A day after conservative activist Laura Loomer posted videos on social media of kids from Gaza arriving in the US for medical treatment and questioning how they got visas, the State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a review. The State Department said the visas would be stopped while it looks into how "a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas" were issued in recent days. Secretary of State Marco Rubio today told "Face the Nation" on CBS that the action came after "outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it". Rubio said there were "just a small number" of the visas issued to children in need of medical aid but that they were accompanied by adults. The congressional offices reached out with evidence that "some of the organisations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas," he asserted, without providing evidence or naming those organisations. As a result, he said, "we are going to pause this programme and reevaluate how those visas are being vetted and what relationship, if any, has there been by these organisations to the process of acquiring those visas." Loomer on Friday posted videos on X of children from Gaza arriving earlier this month in San Francisco and Houston for medical treatment with the aid of an organisation called HEAL Palestine. "Despite the US saying we are not accepting Palestinian 'refugees' into the United States under the Trump administration," these people from Gaza were able to travel to the US, she said. She called it a "national security threat" and asked who signed off on the visas, calling for the person to be fired. She tagged Rubio, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. Trump has downplayed Loomer's influence on his administration, but several officials swiftly left or were removed shortly after she publicly criticised them. The State Department on Sunday declined to comment on how many of the visas had been granted and whether the decision to halt visas to people from Gaza had anything to do with Loomer's posts. HEAL Palestine said that it was "distressed" by the State Department decision to stop halt visitor visas from Gaza. The group said it is "an American humanitarian nonprofit organisation delivering urgent aid and medical care to children in Palestine." A post on the organisation's Facebook page last Thursday shows a photo of a boy from Gaza leaving Egypt and heading to St Louis for treatment. It said he is "our 15th evacuated child arriving in the US in the last two weeks." The organisation brings "severely injured children" to the US on temporary visas for treatment they can't get at home, the statement said. Following treatment, the children and any family members who accompanied them return to the Middle East, the statement said. "This is a medical treatment programme, not a refugee resettlement programme," it said. The World Health Organization has repeatedly called for more medical evacuations from Gaza, where Israel's over 22-month war against Hamas has heavily destroyed or damaged much of the territory's health system. "More than 14,800 patients still need lifesaving medical care that is not available in Gaza," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday on social media, and called on more countries to offer support. A WHO description of the medical evacuation process from Gaza published last year explained that the WHO submits lists of patients to Israeli authorities for security clearance. It noted that before the war in Gaza began, 50 to 100 patients were leaving Gaza daily for medical treatment, and it called for a higher rate of approvals from Israeli authorities. The UN and partners say medicines and even basic health care supplies are low in Gaza after Israel cut off all aid to the territory of over 2 million people for more than 10 weeks earlier this year. "Ceasefire! Peace is the best medicine," Tedros added Wednesday.
The Sun
a minute ago
- The Sun
‘She regrets playing with me' – Venus Williams' doubles partner makes heartbreaking quip after linking up with legend
HAILEY BAPTISTE joked that Venus Williams regretted playing with her while reflecting on her recent doubles run with the tennis icon. Baptiste, 23, partnered up with Williams in what was the 45-year-old's return to action following a 16-month lay-off. 3 3 The pair defeated Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue before narrowly falling to No2 seeds Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai. Baptiste and Williams' matches attracted huge crowds, with even NBA superstar Kevin Durant pulling up to watch. Ahead of the US Open, Baptiste caught up with pal Frances Tiafoe over coffee. The pair have plenty in common, having both honed their talents at the Junior Tennis Champions Center at Maryland Park as kids. During their conversation, posted on the ATP's social media channels, Baptiste reflected on the surreal experience of playing with American icon Williams. The world No51 said: "It was insane. From the moment I heard that we were going to play and it was set up, I was like, that's all I can think about. I'm about to play with a legend." When Tiafoe, whose twin brother Franklin coaches Baptiste, pointed out the nerves that come with playing alongside such an illustrious partner, she added: "Every ball I miss I'm like 'she regrets playing with me'." As Tiafoe howled with laughter, Baptiste went on: "She's like 'I'm wasting my time'. I was obviously crazy nervous. Venus and Serena are obviously the people I looked up to my entire life. "They pack arenas bro, standing room only. Walking onto court that day, on our first match. The noise, I never... "Especially for doubles, we're talking about doubles. That was at Citi Open, it could have been Ashe the way people sounded, it was nuts." Asked about Durant's attendance, Baptiste admitted: "I was so locked in on Venus, like I can't even think about KD. "I heard it, like I heard people start screaming, 'KD, KD'. He was into it though, clapping and everything. I was so focused on Venus." Williams stunned Peyton Stearns in the singles even at the Citi Open, beating the world No35 6-3 6-4 in front of a raucous crowd. The tour veteran has been awarded a wildcard for the upcoming US Open - 28 years on from reaching the final on her debut back in 1997. Williams is also set to take part in next week's glitzy revamped mixed doubles event. The legendary tennis icon will partner fellow American Reilly Opelka. Baptiste, meanwhile, will also be in singles action in New York. The Washington-born star will hope to win a singles match at the US Open for the first time. 3
