President Obama has arrived in Saudi Arabia with a 27-member delegation to Saudi Arabia to pay respects following the death of King Abdullah and to meet Saudi Arabia’s new king, Salman. Officials traveling with Obama include CIA Director John Brennan, General Lloyd Austin, head of U.S. Central Command forces in the region, and Secretary of State John Kerry. Meanwhile, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has established a research and essay competition to honor the late King Abdullah. The contest will be open to students at the National Defense University. Dempsey described King Abdullah as a “man of remarkable character and courage.” This comes as Saudi Arabia carried out its first beheading under the new king on Monday. In a statement, Amnesty International said: “While we recognize that Saudi Arabia is in a period of mourning, it must also be acknowledged that there are serious concerns about torture and unlawful detention or beheading by the authorities in the past decade.”