Canada will grant asylum to a Saudi woman who fled alleged abuse from her family and has spent nearly a week barricaded in a Bangkok hotel room, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. When asked if bringing al-Qunun to Canada could further inflame tensions with Saudi Arabia, Trudeau would only say Canada is standing up for human rights. Before that, Canada and Saudi Arabia were engaged in a diplomatic spat over a federal government tweet criticizing a Saudi civil rights crackdown. "Canada has always been unequivocal that we will always stand up for human rights and women's rights around the world," Trudeau said. When the United Nations made a request that we grant Ms. al-Qunun asylum we accepted."

Source: CBC News January 11, 2019 10:43 UTC