The world briefly 5/24/10

U.S.-born cleric calls for killing Americans

CAIRO -- A U.S.-born cleric who has encouraged Muslims to kill American soldiers called for the killing of U.S. civilians in his first video released by a Yemeni offshoot of al-Qaida, providing the most overt link yet between the radical preacher and the terror group. Dressed in a white Yemeni robe, turban and with a traditional jambiyah dagger tucked into his waistband, Anwar Al-Awlaki used the 45-minute video posted Sunday to justify civilian deaths -- and encourage them -- by accusing the United States of intentionally killing a million Muslim civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Black box found after Air India plane crash

MANGALORE, India -- Crash investigators pulled the black box from the charred, twisted wreckage of an Air India plane Sunday. Of the 166 passengers and crew aboard when the plane overshot a hilltop runway and plunged over a cliff at dawn Saturday, 158 were dead. Investigators and aviation officials combed through the wreckage of the Boeing 737-800 strewn across a hillside to try to determine the cause of India's worst air disaster in more than a decade. They recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, which they hope will give them important clues, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

Duchess apologizes after bribe sting

LONDON -- Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson said Sunday she was "very sorry" for her lapse of judgment after she was recorded apparently offering to sell access to her ex-husband Prince Andrew in return for $724,000. The duchess said in a statement that she had financial problems, but "that is no excuse for a serious lapse in judgment and I am very sorry that this has happened."

-- From wire reports