
Saudi king to meet with Obama amid Gulf concerns over Iran
Saudi King Salman will meet with US President Barack Obama in Washington on Friday to seek more support in countering Iran, as the Obama administration aims to use the visit to strengthen relations after a period of tensions. The visit is the king’s first to the United States since ascending... read more »

Father of drowned Syrian boys prepares to take bodies home
The distraught father of two Syrian toddlers who drowned with their mother and several other migrants as they tried to reach Greece identified their bodies on Thursday and prepared to take them back to their home town of Kobani. Abdullah Kurdi collapsed in tears after emerging from a morgue in the... read more »

First Tamil in 32 years to lead opposition in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO: A Tamil lawmaker became leader of the opposition in Sri Lanka’s parliament for the first time in 32 years on Thursday, in the latest sign of progress towards ethnic reconciliation on the once bitterly divided island. Rajavarothiam Sampanthan is the first lawmaker from the ethnic... read more »

Canada ‘takes back’ asylum refusal of drowned three-year-old Sy...
The family of three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi, whose photograph was taken at the Turkish beach where his body washed ashore, was seeking asylum in Canada but the family’s application was initially refused by the country, reported media outlets. However, late Thursday Aylan’s... read more »