Former US President Donald Trump wished President Joe Biden “good luck” Thursday in his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and also jokingly gave him some last-minute advice.

“Good luck to Biden in dealing with President Putin—don’t fall asleep during the meeting, and please give him my warmest regard!” Trump said in a statement.

During his presidential campaign against Biden, the country 45th president nicknamed his successor “Sleepy Joe.”

‪Trump said he had a “great and very productive meeting” with Putin when he was president and the US won the respect of Putin and Russia.

‪“Because of the phony Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, made-up and paid for by the Democrats and Crooked Hillary Clinton, the United States was put at a disadvantage -- a disadvantage that was nevertheless overcome by me,” he said in the statement.

Biden will meet with Putin in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16, during which they will “discuss the full range of pressing issues, as we seek to restore predictability and stability to the U.S.-Russia relationship,” according to the White House./aa

Occupied Palestine

“Israeli” police attacked Palestinians praying outside the Old City's Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem with batons late Thursday. 

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 10 people were injured, with one of them taken to a hospital and the others treated by medical teams at the scene.

Earlier in the day, far-right “Israeli” lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, known for being a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted to make a public statement in front of the Damascus Gate, which exacerbated tensions.

Palestinians who protested against Ben-Gvir were attacked by “Israeli” police with stun grenades.

Some Palestinians, including children, were arrested./agencies

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib defended her fellow Congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Thursday after the House Democrat leadership criticized Omar over her tweet seemingly equating the US with the Taliban.  

"Freedom of speech doesn't exist for Muslim women in Congress," Tlaib said on Twitter.

Her tweet came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats said in a joint statement that drawing any comparison between the US and Israel and Hamas and the Taliban "foments prejudice and undermines progress toward a future of peace and security for all."

Tlaib said the House Democratic leadership should be "ashamed of its relentless, exclusive tone policing of Congresswomen of color."

"The benefit of the doubt doesn't exist for Muslim women in Congress," she wrote.

Omar triggered the backlash on Monday, posting a tweet after her questioning of Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

"We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity. We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban," it said.

Omar later clarified her remarks in a statement, saying: “On Monday, I asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken about…ongoing International Criminal Court investigations. To be clear: the conversation was about accountability for specific incidents regarding those ICC cases, not a moral comparison between Hamas and the Taliban and the U.S. and Israel.”

“I was in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries with well-established judicial systems,” she said./aa

Turks in the German state of Hessen expressed anger Thursday over a proposed bill that would leave Turkish lessons out of the school curriculum while offering Polish, Chinese, Portuguese and Arabic as a second language option. 

The Hessen State Turkish Associations Initiative Platform released an open letter slamming the proposal, saying "it is unacceptable to ignore the Turkish language and Turkish society in the curriculum" despite the state’s large Turkish population.

The platform said in the letter, which was addressed to the speaker of the Hessen State Parliament, Hessen state prime minister and all parties in parliament, that they were “deeply saddened” by the fact that Turkish is not included in the foreign language options in the curriculum.

Calling the move “humiliating,” it added that the proposal harms the “emotional ties” of the nearly 400,000 Turks living in Hessen while also “inflicting deep wounds” on them.

“The exclusion of Turks, the largest immigrant group in Hesse, under the pretext of a ‘cohesion policy’ is unacceptable," it added.

The letter called on German authorities to “correct this mistake as soon as possible.”/aa

The US Treasury Department said Thursday it is designating members of a smuggling network that helps fund Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force and Houthis rebels in Yemen.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the network led by Iran-based Houthi financier Sa’id al-Jamal generates tens of millions of dollars in revenue from the sale of commodities, like Iranian petroleum, which is then directed to the Houthis in Yemen.

"This network’s financial support enables the Houthis’ deplorable attacks threatening civilian and critical infrastructure in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. These attacks undermine efforts to bring the conflict to an end and, most tragically, starve tens of millions of innocent civilians," its director Andrea M. Gacki said in a statement.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital, Sana’a.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains./aa

Families of children abducted or forcibly recruited by the PKK terrorist organization continued their protests in eastern Turkey on Thursday.

Parents and siblings of abducted children, people who have lost relatives to PKK’s terror attacks, and workers of non-governmental organizations gathered at a protest camp outside the office of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey’s eastern city of Sirnak.

Three aggrieved mothers first started a sit-in outside an office of the HDP – a party the Turkish government says has links to the PKK terror group – in the southeastern Diyarbakir province in September 2019.

The demonstrations have since spread to other provinces, including Van, Mus, Sirnak, and Hakkari.

At the protest in Sirnak on Thursday, family members called on children forcibly recruited by the terror group to give up their weapons and surrender to Turkish authorities.

A mother named Emine Ustek said her son, Metin, was abducted by the terrorist organization six years ago, when he was just 15.

“I want my son back from the HDP. As long as my body has the strength, I will keep coming here for my son,” she said.

“My Metin, wherever you are, just come back to us. We are waiting for you. We are dying of this pain; enough is enough, come back home.”

Her husband, Omer Ustek, said the PKK had taken away many youngsters from the area.

“Who are these people that take children from their fathers and mothers? They are the HDP and the PKK. We want them to bring back our children. We will keep protesting until our last breath,” he said.

Another distressed mother, Hamdiye Aslan, said her son was also taken away six years ago.

“This is the worst injustice to these children and their families. They separated our children from us; they tore our hearts out,” she said.

In Turkey, offenders who are linked to terrorist groups and surrender are eligible for possible sentence reductions under a repentance law.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants./aa

PKK terrorists have torched a civilian home in northern Iraq, local media reported on Thursday.

Members of the PKK terror group sought to break into the home of a villager in the district of Akre of Duhok province, according to local media reports.

The civilian, who did not allow the terrorists into his home, had to flee to a relative's residence for his safety.

When the terrorists returned, they set his house on fire.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot./aa

Turkish police nabbed a far-left terror group member who was wanted on international red notice in the western Mugla province, authorities said on Thursday.

According to a statement by the Directorate General of Security, the terrorist, only known by the initials H.K., was a member of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML).

The terrorist was also one of the perpetrators of an attack which killed a police officer in 1979.

The statement also said that the terrorist was a senior member of TIKKO, the armed wing of TKP/ML terror group and involved in many armed attacks.

Founded in 1972 in Turkey, TKP/ML is an outlawed group that carries out illegal activities, as well as armed attacks to establish a Marxist-Leninist rule in the country. It is listed as a terror organization in Turkey./aa

Eight civilians were killed and 27 others, including women, were injured in a Houthi missile attack in the Yemeni city of Marib on Thursday, according to local authorities.

The attacks were carried out by four Houthi ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drone strikes, the Marib governorate said on Twitter.

“One ballistic missile hit a mosque in central Marib city while another missile fell in a women’s prison yard,” it added.

There has been no comment from the Houthi rebel group on the report.

The rebels and government forces share control of the Marib province.

Since February, the Iranian-backed rebels have engaged government forces in fierce battles to take control of Marib, the government’s most important stronghold where the Defense Ministry is headquartered. The area is also rich in oil and gas.

Yemen has been ravaged by violence and instability since 2014, when Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital city of Sanaa.

A Saudi-led coalition aimed at reinstating the Yemeni government worsened the situation, causing one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises, with 30 million people accounting for 80% of the population needing humanitarian assistance and protection.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the conflict has claimed more than 233,000 lives./aa

CHICAGO, United States

The son of Pakistani immigrants will become the first Muslim to serve on American's federal bench, one step below the Supreme Court.

Zahid Quraishi was confirmed on Thursday by the US Senate in a 81-16 vote.

Quraishi will serve on the US Federal District of New Jersey, moving from his job as a magistrate judge in the state.

Although Quraishi received mostly bi-partisan support for his nomination, Democrats in particular, praised the vote.

"Judge Quraishi has devoted his career to serving our country," said New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, "and his story embodies the promise of America as a place where anything is possible."

Senator Corey Booker, also from New Jersey, recommended the 46-year-old Quraishi for the position. Booker called it "an extraordinary moment" in praising and downplaying the cultural significance of the appointment. He called Quraishi a person of conviction and patriotism, "who happens to also be Muslim."

Quraishi was born to Pakistani immigrants in New York City and grew up in neighboring New Jersey. He attended Rutgers Law School but after the Sept.11, terror attacks, he joined the Army as a military prosecutor. He was later deployed to Iraq in 2004 and 2006.

Quraishi later worked for the US Department of Homeland Security as an assistant US attorney specializing in cases of public corruption, organized crime and financial fraud.

Quraishi's confirmation is being celebrated by Muslim advocacy groups.

Salam Al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council told New Jersey news outlet, Northjersey.com, that Quraishi should pave the way for future Muslims in the American judiciary.

"We expect at some point there to be more judges nominated by the White House and confirmed by the Senate," Al-Marayati said, "and we hope [the Senate] removes this barrier of a religious litmus test for nominees.”/aa