By Caitlin Doornbos, Steven Nelson and Selim Algar - Nypost-- PALM BEACH, Fla. — Former President Donald Trump ranted against his unprecedented arrest and arraignment Tuesday night, telling supporters at Mar-a-Lago that the real “criminal” is Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “The only crime that I’ve committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it,” the 76-year-old said hours after pleading not guilty to 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in connection with hush-money payments made ahead of the 2016 presidential election to two women alleging extramarital affairs with him. “The criminal is the district attorney because he illegally leaked massive amounts of grand jury information, for which he should be prosecuted — or at a minimum, he should resign,” Trump added, referring details of his indictment beihg reported ahead of his initial hearing.

“[Bragg] campaigned on the fact that he would ‘get’ President Trump — ‘I’m gonna get him, I’m gonna get him’ — this is a guy campaigning… this, before he knew anything about me,” the 45th president told hundreds of fans gathered in his Palm Beach club’s ballroom. The current front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination also slammed the “Trump-hating judge” presiding over his case, Juan Manuel Merchan, and prosecutors leading other inquiries into his conduct — but focused his ire on Bragg in his 25-minute speech. “Alvin Bragg’s wife confirmed a report that claimed her husband ‘has Trump nailed on felonies.’ She has since locked down her Twitter account,” Trump said. Bragg’s case is a legal mess — what is he even charging Trump with? Trump went on to claim that Merchan’s recent conduct in the case against longtime Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg was “out of the old Soviet Union.” “The same judge told the fine man who worked for me for many, many years that if you admit your guilt, you will be in jail for 90 days. But if you don’t, if we go through a trial and you’re found guilty, you’re going away for 10 years, maybe longer,” Trump said. “They said, ‘You say anything about Trump’ — meaning that’s bad — ‘and you won’t even have to serve the 90 days — you’ll walk free’.”

by Najia Houssari -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Lebanese Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday praised Qatar’s contributions to helping Lebanon through its political and economic crises during a meeting with the Gulf state’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Regional Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Khulaifi. Mikati also highlighted the strong ties between the two states during talks with the visiting Qatari envoy. Mikati thanked Qatar “once again for supporting the Lebanese army and enabling it to carry out its responsibilities,” according to his media office. The Qatar official’s visit comes within the framework of the French-Arab-American endeavor to find solutions to the presidential vacuum in Lebanon, which has entered its sixth month as Parliament has held 11 failed voting sessions. Meanwhile, the Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces, the Lebanese Kataeb, and the Progressive Socialist Party are rejecting the candidate put forward by Hezbollah and its allies, MP Suleiman Frangieh.

In talks with Al-Khulaifi, Mikati discussed the situation in Lebanon and efforts by the caretaker government to tackle emergency cases as permitted by the constitution, his media office said. He added that the solution to the crises affecting Lebanon lies in electing a president as soon as possible. Al-Khulaifi also met Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi and head of the Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel. He later met Hussein Khalil, the political adviser to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, in the presence of the head of Hezbollah’s Coordination and Liaison Unit, Wafiq Safa.

By Najia houssari - arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Politicians need to commit to serving love, justice, and the good of humanity, Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi said on Sunday. His appeal, which was made during a sermon, came as Christian denominations in Lebanon that follow the Western calendar celebrated Palm Sunday. Economic and political matters were topics in Al-Rahi’s message as children carried candles and olive branches and participated in processions. Al-Rahi began his sermon — after a mass held in Bkerke — by reminding believers of the many children who are denied the joy of the holiday. He said: “The purpose of the power entrusted to politicians is service, not oppression. “Those in power are not lords but servants of the common good. A true politician is a servant. “If they are not, then they are bad politicians. Politics is a noble art in service of the common good. “Politicians are thus called upon to destroy their inner tendencies to be corrupt and selfish and serve personal interests or embezzle public funds.”

Al-Rahi addressed the nation’s MPs by saying that good politicians would promptly elect a president so that order can be restored to constitutional institutions. Al-Rahi is scheduled to meet Christian MPs on Wednesday in an attempt to smooth the way for a presidential candidate to emerge who enjoys broad support among the parties. A presidential vacuum has now prevailed in Lebanon for six months and Nabih Berri, parliamentary speaker, has ended sessions to elect a president after 11 failures. Suleiman Frangieh, the head of the Marada Movement and the presidential candidate supported by Hezbollah and its allies, returned from Paris on Saturday after meeting French officials, most notably Patrick Dorrell, an adviser to the French president. Frangieh’s meetings were held as the French work to overcome obstacles impeding the presidential elections.

By Hande Atay Alam, Tamara Qiblawi and AnneClaire Stapleton, CNN — Two flight attendants claim they were sexually assaulted by then Prime …