Free Republic

U.S. authorities are now investigating the cases of so-called "child brides" among the Afghans who fled Afghanistan in the past few weeks and are now in U.S. custody both inside the U.S. and in facilities abroad. CBS News has learned that "several" Afghan women and girls who were evacuated to facilities in the United Arab Emirates have told officials that their families forced them into marriage outside of the Kabul airport so that they could be eligible for evacuation. A senior State Department official said authorities are taking the claims seriously and investigating.

A group of Syrian boys as young as seven have been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting girls at an indoor swimming pool in Germany. The incident is said to have happened on Monday in Mariendorf, a borough in the capital Berlin. Seven boys aged between seven and 14 surrounded and harassed several girls, police say. The suspects allegedly swam behind the girls, surrounded them and then grabbed them by their bottoms and breasts. According to the father of one of the girls, the boys completely surrounded their victims so they were unable to escape. The man had brought his...

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Attorneys filed a federal lawsuit against IHOP and a local franchise owner on Tuesday, claiming that the restaurant owners fired four managers across the Metroplex in 2010 because they are Muslim. The attorneys for the four managers said that their clients are still unemployed because of the damage done to their reputations. The managers worked at IHOP locations in Plano, Burleson, Fort Worth and Arlington — all owned by Anthraper Investments. “It became very clear to them that they were no longer wanted,” explained attorney James Vagnini, who represents the men in their lawsuit. “One by one,...

Rumors continued to circulate Monday via e-mail and the Internet about what exactly happened on an AirTran flight at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in November. At the time, AirTran told Channel 2 Action News that an unruly passenger on a cell phone forced the pilot to take the plane back to the gate. Monday, a passenger said the situation went well beyond that. “It was extremely intense. I’ve never experienced anything like that,” said passenger Brent Brown. Brown runs a security consultant company and is a frequent flier. But even for him, he said the events of Flight 297 were...