Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: Libya must declare ceasefire
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has ignored U.N. demands to declare a cease-fire and risks further Security Council action if he doesn’t halt the violence.
Ban told the 15-member council that representatives of Gadhafi’s government and the Libyan opposition will be among those attending an African Union meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Friday, on Libya.
Dozens hurt in Jordan protest against King Abdullah II
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Protesters and supporters of Jordan’s king clashed in the capital of Amman late Thursday, and about 35 people were hurt in one of the most violent incidents in three months of demonstrations.
About 2,000 Jordanians demanding government reforms joined an encampment at a central square. They were attacked by about 300 supporters of King Abdullah II who threw rocks at the demonstrators, injuring some of them.
Former Ukraine president charged in investigative reporter’s death
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma says he has been charged in the brutal slaying of an investigative reporter over 10 years ago.
Kuchma spoke Thursday after the latest round of questioning by investigators. He would not specify the nature of the charges.
The Prosecutor General’s Office suspects Kuchma of abuse of office in giving illegal orders to his subordinates that eventually led to the killing of Heorhiy Gongadze in 2000.
Wisconsin billionaire executive charged with child sex assault
RACINE, Wis. (AP) — A billionaire executive, whose family has run SC Johnson for five generations, was charged Thursday with having sexual contact with a now 15-year-old girl over the course of several years.
Samuel Curtis Johnson III, who goes by Curt, faces a count of repeated sexual assault of a child. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
 
Disney cruise ship reports female crewmember missing at sea
MIAMI (AP) — A crewmember on a Disney cruise ship has been reported missing at sea off the western coast of Mexico.
Disney Cruise Lines spokeswoman Christi Donnan says the female crewmember was reported missing Tuesday morning after she failed to report for a scheduled shift on the Disney Wonder.
The woman’s name was not released. Donnan says Disney conducted a thorough search of the ship Tuesday.
The Mexican Navy was searching along the ship’s route from Los Angeles.
Louisiana Senate working to redesign current 39 districts
(AP) — Senate President Joel Chaisson’s plan to redesign the Senate’s 39 districts and add a new minority district among them has scraped through a committee and will be heard by the full chamber next week.
The Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 4-3 Thursday to advance Chaisson’s remapping proposal after hours of debate about how to properly represent minorities, municipalities and hurricane-damaged regions of the state.
The corresponding House committee delayed a vote on remapping for the 105 House districts.
Ninety percent of state tax returns filed electronically this year
(AP) — The Louisiana Department of Revenue says more than 1 million individual state tax returns have been filed electronically.
The agency said Thursday it’s the earliest point in the tax-filing season that the 1-million point has been hit — and 90 percent of all returns filed this year have been electronic.
In 2010, the state received 1.3 million returns filed electronically.
The revenue department says a refund typically is processed in 10 days if the return comes in electronically. Traditional paper returns take three to four months.