New charges in Mo. child sex case

LEXINGTON, Mo., Nov. 18 (UPI) –

New charges were added Tuesday in the case of a Missouri man and his four sons who allegedly engaged in years of sexual abuse of children.

Burrell Mohler Sr., 77, of Independence and his sons appeared in court, the Blue Springs Examiner reported. Mohler and three of the younger men said they were still trying to find lawyers.

Prosecutors added new rape charges against all five, while Mohler was also charged with use of a child in a sexual performance.

Several women have come forward, saying when they were children they were forced into bizarre sex acts. The allegations include charges that girls as young as 5 were forced to participate in weddings to older men.

One woman has said she was held in a basement at a Mohler farm near Bates City, where she gave birth to two children, court documents indicated. She said the newborn babies were buried under the floor.

Mohler’s brother, Darrel, was arrested in Florida. Authorities…

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COL BKB: Kansas 57, Memphis 55

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 18 (UPI) –

Cole Aldrich had 18 points and 11 rebounds Tuesday and No. 1 Kansas held on to edge Memphis 57-55 in a rematch of the 2008 national championship game.

Sherron Collins scored 12 and Xavier Henry added 11 for Kansas (2-0).

The Tigers (1-1) had a chance to win in the final seconds but a 3-point try by Elliott Williams hit the rim.

Williams, with 21 points, was the only Memphis player in double figures. The Tigers shot 34.5 percent from the field and made only 6-of-25 3-point attempts.

Williams hit a 3-pointer with 16.7 seconds to play to pull the Tigers to within one point. After Collins sank one of two free throws, Williams took the final shot of the game but came up short and Kansas got the rebound.

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Obama meets Premier Wen

BEIJING, Nov. 18 (UPI) –

U.S. President Barack Obama, concluding his China visit, met Wednesday with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao for talks on issues including trade.

It is my sincere hope that your current visit will lift the comprehensive and cooperative China-U.S. relations to a new level, Wen told Obama at their meeting, China Daily reported.

After his meeting with Wen, Obama planned to visit the Great Wall in the north suburb of Beijing before leaving for South Korea.

Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao held long talks Tuesday covering various issues. The two agreed to cooperate on climate change and on North Korea’s return to the six-nation talks on its denuclearization.

Obama, while describing Tibet as part of China, urged his hosts to resume talks with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Hu said his talks with Obama were on an equal footing and called for rejection of protectionism in all its manifestations.

Obama’s vis…

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NCAA: Oklahoma 72, UL-Monroe 61

NORMAN, Okla., Nov. 18 (UPI) –

Willie Warren had 24 points Tuesday in No. 17 Oklahoma’s 72-61 victory over the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

Tony Crocker had 13 points for the Sooners (2-0), in the 1,500th win in school history and the 150th career win for Coach Jeff Capel.

Tony Hooper led the Warhawks (1-2) with 17 points.

UL-Monroe gave the Sooners an early scare with an 11-0 run that resulted in a 16-8 lead but Oklahoma battled back to take a 27-24 lead at halftime.

The Warhawks were able to take a 39-38 lead near the 6-minute mark of the second half on a layup by Jarvis Hill but the Sooners responded with a 9-0 run and led the rest of the way.

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COL BKB: Michigan State 75, Gonzaga 71

EAST LANSING, Mich., Nov. 18 (UPI) –

Durrell Summers scored 21 points and hit two crucial free throws late in the game Tuesday to pace second-ranked Michigan State to a 75-71 win over Gonzaga.

Summers’ foul shots in the closing seconds locked up the win for the Spartans (2-0) after Gonzaga had come with 71-70 with 1:08 to go in the game. Seventeen of Summers’ points came in the second half of the rematch of the classic, three-overtime Gonzaga win over Michigan State in the 2005 Maui Invitational.

Kalin Lucas scored 19 points and Raymar Morgan connected on 10-of-11 from the foul line to finish with 16 points for Michigan State, which had to come back from a 13-point first-half deficit for the home win.

The pesky Bulldogs (1-1) were led by Elias Harris with 17 points and nine boards, while Robert Sacre also had 17 points in defeat.

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Russell will rehire 1,200 union workers

NEW YORK, Nov. 18 (UPI) –

Sportswear manufacturer Russell Athletic has agreed to rehire 1,200 Honduran workers it laid off after they unionized, the company announced.

The decision follows pressure by students and officials at U.S. colleges and universities intended to get the company to reinstate the employees, who were let go in January when the company closed the factory where they worked, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Administrators from 89 schools — including Georgetown, UCLA, Boston College, Columbia, Harvard, New York University, Stanford, Michigan and North Carolina — joined in the campaign, called United Students Against Sweatshops, the newspaper said.

As part of the campaign, colleges and universities either suspended or terminated licensing agreements through which Russell made athletic wear bearing school logos. Some of the agreements were worth more than $1 million in sales, the Times said.

The pressure campaign included pickets at NBA games, distribut…

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Cross burned at home of mixed-race family

WEST WHEATFIELD, Pa., Nov. 18 (UPI) –

Investigators said they were trying to identify the people who lit a cross on the front lawn of a white Pittsburgh-area couple with a black adopted son.

Joe and Mary Walbeck of West Wheatfield told WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh, the family was hurt by the cross-burning. Joe Walbeck said Shaquille Howard, 16, who has been part of their family for three years, had been accepted in the neighborhood and town.

The Walbecks discovered the 6-foot cross when they woke up Sunday morning.

Howard is a star on the football team at United High School. Joe Walbeck speculated the cross-burning might be connected to the team’s loss in a playoff game Saturday.

I was shocked of what happened, he said. I’ve never had anything happen like this before and it just ate me up that someone would do something like this.

The state police are investigating and said the perpetrators could be charged with ethnic intimidation if they are cau…

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NBA: New Orelans 110, LA Clippers 102

NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 18 (UPI) –

David West’s 24 points helped nail down the first win for New Orleans Hornets Coach Jeff Bower Tuesday in a 110-102 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers pulled to within 58-55 at 67 seconds into the third quarter but New Orleans responded with a 12-1 run to put the game away, capped by a 3-pointer from David Brown, who finished with 16 points for the Hornets.

Bower, the Hornets’ general manager, took over the coaching duties last week for Byron Scott, who was fired.

Peja Stojakovic scored 15 points for the Hornets, who were again without guard Chris Paul, who sprained an ankle Friday’s against Portland.

Al Thornton poured in 30 points and Baron Davis added 23 for the Clippers, who lost for the fourth time in five games.

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Americans see China as economic threat

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) –

As U.S. President Barack Obama traveled in China a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey indicated most Americans see the Communist country as an economic threat.

The findings released Monday found 71 percent of Americans consider China an economic threat to the United States, while two-thirds of the respondents said China is a source of unfair competition for U.S. companies, CNN reported.

The survey found 51 percent of Americans consider China a military threat, with 47 percent disagreeing. The report said the 4-point margin was within the poll’s 4.5 percent sampling error.

Obama met with Chinese President Hu Jintao behind closed doors Tuesday in Beijing.

Later addressing a joint news conference, Hu said any national differences between the two countries were normal, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

We have both agreed to conduct dialogues and exchanges on issues including human rights and religion, in the spirit of eq…

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Hu says China-U.S. differences normal

BEIJING, Nov. 17 (UPI) –

Chinese President Hu Jintao, after his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, said Tuesday their countries must accommodate each other’s core interests.

Obama, on the third day of his first China visit as president, met with Hu behind closed doors after receiving an honor guard at Beijing Great Hall of the People, CNN reported.

Speaking at a joint news conference after their meeting, Hu said any national differences between the two countries are normal, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

We have both agreed to conduct dialogues and exchanges on issues including human rights and religion, in the spirit of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, so as to boost understanding, mitigate differences and broaden consensus, Hu said.

Obama, speaking to students in Shanghai Monday, had stressed the importance of basic rights including freedom of information, expression, worship and political…

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