The U.N. refugee agency on Thursday chose as a goodwill ambassador a Syrian teenage girl who helped save a boat carrying fellow refugees and later became an Olympic swimmer. Yusra Mardini joined other notables like actress Cate Blanchett and author Khaled Hosseini in the unpaid advocacy role. UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said Mardini "represents the hopes, the fears and the incredible potential of the more than 10 million young refugees around the globe."

A family of Syrian refugees had been invited to dinner in a penthouse atop the Waldorf Towers, the official residence of the United States ambassador to the United Nations. [...] Morad and Ola Al Teibawi, and their five children — ages 3 to 17 — came to the Waldorf from their tiny apartment in Paterson, N.J., on Monday evening, guests of Samantha Power, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, and her husband, the writer and law professor Cass Sunstein.