Bangkok

Saudi teen claims asylum: A Saudi teenager fleeing her family has won refugee status after barricading herself in an airport hotel room in Bangkok and posting about her plight on social media. Thai authorities had planned to deport Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, 18, until an international outcry led the United Nations refugee agency to get involved. “My life is in danger,” Alqunun said. She said her family beat her, once locked her in a room for six months after she cut her hair, and want to kill her for renouncing Islam and becoming an atheist. During a family visit to Kuwait, she broke away and flew to Thailand, hoping to reach Australia from there. The U.N. has now asked Australia to take in Alqunun as a refugee. Women in Saudi Arabia are barred from traveling, working, or going to school without a male relative’s consent.