Saudi woman fleeing family flies to Canada after gaining asylum

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, fled to Thailand last week accusing her family of abuse

An 18-year-old Saudi woman who said she was abused by her family and feared for her life if deported back home has left Thailand for Canada, which has granted her asylum, officials said.

The fast-moving developments capped an eventful week for Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun. She fled her family while visiting Kuwait and flew to Bangkok, where she barricaded herself in an airport hotel to avoid deportation and grabbed global attention by mounting a social media campaign for asylum.

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Rahaf al-Qunun: Labor says Saudi refugee should be resettled in Australia

Bill Shorten urges Scott Morrison to accept Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun now that the UN has validated her refugee claim

Labor has said the Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun should be resettled in Australia now that her refugee claim had been validated.

The party’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, told ABC radio on Thursday Bill Shorten had written to Scott Morrison urging him to accept Qunun.

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Rahaf al-Qunun: Saudi teenager given refugee status by the UN

Australia to consider asylum request after home affairs minister says she would not get ‘special treatment’

Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun has been found to be a refugee by the United Nations, and the Australian government will now consider her asylum request, according to the Department of Home Affairs.

The 18-year-old woman barricaded herself in a Bangkok airport hotel room on Sunday to prevent her forcible return to Saudi Arabia, where she claims her family will kill her because she has renounced Islam.

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Rahaf al-Qunun: Saudi woman under UN protection as Australia urges asylum claim

Thai authorities say 18-year-old will not be forced to return with her father to the Middle East, where she claims her family will kill her

An 18-year-old Saudi woman who barricaded herself in a Bangkok airport hotel room to prevent her forcible return to a family she claims will kill her, has been taken under the protection of the UN high commissioner for refugees in Thailand.

The Australian government said on Monday night Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun’s situation was “deeply concerning” and it had lobbied the Thai government and the UNHCR to allow her to formally claim asylum.

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Saudi woman shuts herself in Thai hotel room to avoid deportation

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun says she will be killed if forced to return to abusive family

An 18-year-old Saudi woman being detained in Bangkok having fled from her family after renouncing Islam fears she will be killed if she is repatriated, according to a close friend who said the threats to her life are real.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun has barricaded herself in her hotel room for fear that Thai immigration officials, who have gathered outside her door, would force her on to a plane to leave the country. Thai immigration officials have confirmed she has been denied entry to the country.

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Tropical Storm Pabuk batters Thailand coast but tourists are spared the worst

Nearly 30,000 people are forced into emergency shelters as the waning weather system skirts Koh Samui

Floods and blackouts caused by Tropical Storm Pabuk have left nearly 30,000 people in evacuation shelters across southern Thailand, but tourists stranded on holiday islands were spared the worst and began to plot routes home.

Pabuk, a once in three-decades weather system, packed winds of up to 75km (45 miles) an hour and brought heavy rains and storm surges as it lashed the entire south of the kingdom on Friday, downing power cables and causing widespread flooding.

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Tropical Storm Pabuk buffets Thailand’s east coast

Trees felled and roads flooded but storm appears to have done less damage than feared

Rain, wind and surging seawater from a tropical storm has buffeted coastal villages and tourist resorts on southern Thailand’s east coast, knocking down trees and utility poles and flooding roads.

One person was reported dead and another missing after a fishing boat with a crew of six capsized in high waves, but by nightfall it appeared that Tropical Storm Pabuk had caused less damage than feared.

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Killing the messenger

Yet again the knee jerk reaction in Thailand to any criticism is to kill the messenger rather than fix the problem. Your report says the governor of Chiang Mai wants criminal charges laid against a local magazine for posting a "blasphemous" painting on Facebook showing ancient kings, Mengrai, Ramkhamhaeng and Ngam Muang, wearing pollution masks as part of a campaign to protest against hazardous smog.

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"I had my legs blown off in Iraq, and because I had my legs blown off in Iraq, people are listening to me. I'm not going to get my legs back, and that's fine, but if that gives me a platform to talk about the things that are important to me, like education and jobs, that's great."

Corruption inquiry launched in Phuket after detained illegal immigrants spared deportation

POLICE ON the resort island of Phuket have arrested 2,415 illegal immigrants during a one-year period, but failed to hand over the majority of them to immigration police for deportation. The finding has led to deputy national police commissioner Pol General Srivara Rangsibharamanakul issuing an urgent order for police to apprehend illegal immigrants who are still at large.

Samae San chief leads 100 in protest of navy land seizure

The mayor of Sattahip's Samae San Sub-district took the unusual step of defying the government's protest ban by leading 100 local residents to demonstrate outside Pattaya Provincial Court over the military's repossession of land they've occupied for a century. Prasert Pitakorn and the residents have sued the Royal Thai Navy and Treasury Department to give up their claim on a 1,900-rai parcel of land they claim belongs to the Royal Household Bureau within 30 days.

61 Thai officials jailed for trafficking Rohingya Muslims, Bangladeshis

Bangkok [Thailand], July 20 : In Thailand's largest human trafficking case, the Bangkok Criminal Court has convicted and sentenced a very high-profile former three-star general and 61 other defendants, including ex-officials for trafficking Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladeshis as part of a crime syndicate after receiving kickbacks from trafficking kingpin Ko Tong. While the former Lt.

James Comey’s axing by Donald Trump sets off US political storm

Washington, DC: US President Donald Trump has ignited a political firestorm by firing FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading an investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign's possible collusion with Russia to influence the election outcome. The Republican president said he fired Comey, the top US law enforcement official, on Tuesday over his handling of an election-year email scandal involving then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Exclusive – Japan seeks to win Thai air defense radar contract: sources

FILE PHOTO: A F-16 fighter jet from the Thai Royal Air Force performs during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, November 24, 2015. Japan is seeking to win a contract to supply Thailand with an air defense radar system built by Mitsubishi Electric Corp, as it looks to counter growing Chinese influence in the Southeast Asian nation, according to four Japanese government officials and one industry source.

The Latest: China praises Thai king’s friendship

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Bhumibol worked to strengthen ties between China and Thailand and "made an irreplaceable contribution to cementing the two people's friendship and expanding bilateral cooperation." "China deeply mourns King Bhumibol's passing and expresses sincere condolences to the Thai people and government," the ministry said.

Thais offer prayers as prince rushes home amid king worries

Thais pray behind portraits of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Siriraj Hospital where the king is being treated in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016. . Thais pray while holding up portraits of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Siriraj Hospital where the king is being treated in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016.