Texas father leads police to kids’ charred remains

Texas father leads police to kids’ charred remains

HOUSTON — The father of two missing children has led investigators to the children’s charred remains, police said Saturday.

Police found the remains of Randy Sylvester Jr., 7, and his sister Denim Sylvester, 3, packed in a wooden chest and a suitcase and left in a wooded area in southeastern Houston, about 5 miles from their home in suburban Pasadena.

Their father, Randy Sylvester Sr., 27, led searchers to the remains late Friday after a week of misleading statements about where the children were located, Mitchell said. Sylvester remained jailed Saturday on an assault charge stemming from an alleged Monday night attack on the children’s mother, Jerilynn St. Cyr.

Iraqi refugees to U.S.

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is nearing the halfway point in its goal to admit 12,000 Iraqi refugees by the end of September, the State Department said Saturday amid a flurry of activity on the issue.

Several senators on Friday called for the appointment of White House coordinator for Iraqi refugees and said the administration had not done enough to help those who have fled Iraq. The next day, the department said it was on track to meet the 12,000 target.

10 killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Roadside bombs killed five foreign troops and five government soldiers Saturday, part of a surge of violence that has made Afghanistan’s battlefields deadlier for foreign forces than those in Iraq. The U.S. administration already has highlighted the Iraq-Afghan comparison to lobby its NATO allies — with limited success — to commit more forces to Afghanistan for a conflict likely to test the West’s stomach for a long, grinding war.

Bush blames Democrats

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush is accusing Democrats in Congress of blocking his energy proposals, saying they are partly to blame for high gasoline costs pinching Americans’ budgets.

In his Saturday radio address, Bush urged Congress to lift its long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas drilling to increase U.S. energy production. Democrats have rejected the idea.

Mugabe blasts opponents

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — President Robert Mugabe accused the opposition of falsely claiming that their supporters were being beaten up ahead of next week’s presidential runoff, state-run media reported Saturday.

“They say this so that they can later say the elections were not free and fair. Which is a damn lie,” the state Herald newspaper quoted Mugabe as saying at a campaign rally Friday in the western city of Bulawayo.

Stampede kills 12 in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico City’s mayor expressed outrage Saturday that youths as young as 13 were among the dozen people killed in a nightclub stampede and said the officials involved in the police raid that sparked the crush had been suspended.

Police went to check reports of underage drinking and drugs in the News Divine club in a working-class Mexico City neighborhood Friday evening, causing hundreds of customers to try to flee the club.

Showdown on oil nears

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — The U.S. energy secretary said Saturday that insufficient oil production, not financial speculation, was driving soaring crude prices.

Secretary Samuel Bodman’s comments on the eve of an energy summit in the Saudi port city of Jiddah set the stage for a showdown between the U.S. and conference host Saudi Arabia, which has largely blamed speculation in the oil markets for record prices.

Naomi Campbell is sorry

LONDON (AP) — Model Naomi Campbell says she is sorry she assaulted two police officers during a dispute about lost luggage aboard a British Airways plane. But she has refused to apologize to the airline, accusing it of racism.

British Airways strongly denied the charge.

Campbell, 38, was sentenced Friday to 200 hours of community service and fined 2,300 pounds ($4,600) after she pleaded guilty to kicking, spitting and swearing at the officers aboard a plane at Heathrow Airport in April.

In an interview with Sky News broadcast Saturday, Campbell said she regretted her behavior and said “I apologize profusely” to the police. “As for British Airways, I don’t apologize,” she said.

Campbell accused British Airways staff of having racist attitudes.

Associated Press