The Mask

The first former US president to face criminal charges: Donald Trump now holds this dubious and historic record after a court in New York indicted him on 34 counts of falsifying business records.

The charges relate to a $130,000 hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.

Mr Trump's dramatic day In Court dominates Front Pages around The World .

Photos of the former president inside and outside court appeared on on Wednesday, under pun-heavy headlines such as " Donald (in the) Dock" and " Trump in The Eye of the Stormy".

Brazilian newspaper O Globo, meanwhile, published a piece titled " ". The Paper said his advisers saw the case and vast media attention as " a lucrative campaign ad" and " stimulus for online fundraising". Mr Trump has declared he is running in the 2024 presidential election.

" With the spotlight on him, he returns to guide The News cycle, " it wrote.

Le Monde also highlighted what it called the " political benefits" of the arrest.

" By playing again The Broken record that invariably presents him as The Victim of a 'Witch Hunt ' and a plot by the 'Deep State ', Trump is forcing his camp to take his side, " published last week and promoted again after his arrest.

It accuses the Republican Party of learning nothing, two years after Mr Trump's supporters stormed The Capitol , and says his backers are " locked into a veritable cult of personality" around the former president.

" The result is a weakened judiciary and a democracy under increasing strain. "

German daily newspaper Tagesspiel ran with the headline " Nothing but The Truth ? " - reflecting Mr Trump's track record of false or misleading claims - while in another German publication, Der Spiegel , columnist Roland Nelles wrote a piece titled " ".

" Miracles still do happen, " he wrote about the former president's arrest. " After eluding The Wheels of justice for so long with an unending repertoire of tricks, feints and lies, he now finds himself equal before The Law After All . "

After his court appearance, Mr Trump was released on bail and returned to his estate in Florida, where attacking critics, opponents and the justice system.

" Donald Trump has definitely thrown off The Mask , " Italian newspaper La Stampa wrote, saying that while some may have expected " moderation and a step back from the tycoon" after his charges, this " all-attack" speech proved The Opposite .

Pro-Kremlin Russian daily Izvestia, however, instead leads its coverage of Mr Trump's arrest with quotes from Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova , who called the arrest " The Crisis of liberalism". " This is when The System , which is declared as Absolutely Free , ends up devouring or denying itself, " She Said .

China's state-controlled media did not pay much attention to The Court case on its Front Pages . But there was much discussion of The Story on Social Media site Weibo. a hashtag noting that Trump could face 136 years behind bars if found guilty on all counts saw More Than 340 million views and 11,000 comments as of 05:30 GMT on 5 April.

And some users even viewed the case as The Beginning of a " civil war" in the US, considering it part of a " political persecution" launched by the Democrats against Mr Trump.

Source of news: bbc.com