[1] Arriving Late While Muslim pays off. From [2] Bloomberg News, with thanks to Doc Washburn:

Northwest Airlines will offer an apology and compensation to a group of 40 Muslims who said they were turned away from a U.S.-bound plane in Germany.

The payment will cover "extra flight and hotel costs" incurred after the airline refused to let the group board a Jan. 7 Frankfurt-to-Detroit flight, the Michigan office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Wednesday in a prepared statement.

"We welcome Northwest Airlines' apology and offer of limited compensation as a positive step toward addressing the concerns of the Muslim passengers," the group's executive director, Dawud Walid, said in the statement.

The group had arrived early enough for the flight but was denied boarding on the grounds that they were too late, according to the rights group. Northwest spokesman Dean Breest said the flight already had been closed to passengers when the group reached the gate.