Sites Go Offline In US Piracy Law Protest – A number of high-profile websites are taking part in a 24-hour “blackout” to protest against two bills being considered by Congress to tackle copyright infringement. The above image is what you see if you do a search on Wikipedia or if you visit HuffingtonPost. [bbc]

Damning Evidence Against Shipwreck Captain Emerges As Five More Bodies Are Found – Five further bodies were found in the wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship on Tuesday as it emerged coast guard officials ordered the captain to jump immediately back on the vessel when they discovered that he was in a lifeboat rather than commanding the evacuation of more than 4,000 passengers and crew. [telegraph]

SA’s All-Share Index Hits All-Time High – South Africa’s all-share index hit a lifetime high in early trade on Tuesday, as commodity firms such as Impala Platinum ticked higher, tracking gains in global equities after upbeat economic growth data in China. [mail&guardian]

Virgin’s Richard Branson In .xxx Domain Name Dispute – Virgin is attempting to gain control of the domain richardbranson.xxx. The company took the action after an individual unconnected with the company registered the name. The top-level domain launched last year after considerable debate. [bbc]

Muhammad Ali Turns 70 – Muhammad Ali’s first sounds were “Gee-Gee, Gee-Gee.” His beautiful mother Odessa Clay called her son “G-G” for the rest of her life, and years later, Ali would say, “After I won the Golden Gloves, I told Mama that from the very beginning, I was trying to say, ‘Golden Gloves.’ ” So began the life of Muhammad Ali, who celebrates his 70th birthday yesterday. [time + famous quotes]

Man Who Mooned The Queen Pleads Guilty – A barman who ‘mooned’ the Queen with an Australian flag tucked between the cheeks of his bare bottom will not be charged with wilful exposure, police said today. Liam Warriner, from Sydney, will plead guilty to a lesser charge of causing a public nuisance, which carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail. [dailymail]

CSA Saga ‘Worse Than Hansie’ – Former CSA president Norman Arendse said the damage the bonus saga had done to the image of cricket in South Africa “could be worse” than when former Proteas skipper Hansie Cronje accepted bribes to influence the outcome of matches in the late 1990s. [news24]

Yahoo Founder Jerry Yang Resigns – Jerry Yang is exiting the Yahoo! Inc (YHOO). board and its management team, the latest casualty of an overhaul that led to the ouster of Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz and left the company in search of strategic options. Yang, who started Yahoo in 1995 with David Filo, also left the boards of Yahoo Japan Corp. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. [bloomberg]

Kris Proposal To Kim Was Staged – According to Radar Online, Kris Humphries’ entire “caught on film” proposal to Kim was staged. The NBA star was reportedly hoping to propose to his 5’2″ girlfriend in Minnesota but his plan was nixed by producers and even Kim, herself. “Kim told Kris how, where and when to propose, it was absolutely no surprise to her whatsoever,” an insider told Radar. [huffers]

World IPv6 Launch Day Set – Leading internet firms have set 6 June as the World IPv6 launch day. IPv6 is the new net address system that replaces the current protocol IPv4, which is about to run out of spaces to allocate. Web companies participating in the event have pledged to enable IPv6 on their main websites from that date. [bbc]

Poachers Kill Rhino Bull Near Mossel Bay – Rhino poachers have struck again in the Western Cape, killing a bull on a private farm near Mossel Bay and stripping it of both its horns, police said on Tuesday. The bull’s carcass was found on Monday on Bergsig farm near Hartenbos and Mossel Bay, said Colonel Vishnu Naidoo. [mail&guardian]

Prince Philip Appears In Public After Heart Scare – Appearing at a fund-raising dinner at Cambridge University on Tuesday night, Prince Philip, 90, showed no signs of the heart problem which saw him spend Christmas in hospital. He wore a black overcoat over a dark suit and looked relaxed. [skynews]

LA Approves Condom Rule For Porn Performers – In a major defeat for porn studios, the Los Angeles City Council has given final approval to a city ordinance requiring porn actors to wear condoms during film shoots. The 9-to-1 vote Tuesday marks a significant victory for the L.A.-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation. [latimes]

Sarkozy Refuses To Answer Credit Rating Questions – A testy Nicolas Sarkozy refused to answer a question about France’s credit downgrading four times yesterday – before criticising others for a ‘lack of coolness’. The French president was furious when a reporter raised the humiliating demotion of France by ratings agency Standard and Poor’s from AAA to AA plus. [dailymail]

Five Tourists Killed By Rebels In Ethiopia – FIVE foreign tourists were killed by unknown armed rebels in Ethiopia’s restive Afar region in the country’s north, Ethiopian state television reported. Ethiopian Television (ETV) said two tourists were injured severely and have been brought to a health clinic by defence forces. [newsau]