Top story: The Italian coast guard has suspended rescue efforts for the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship, which crashed into rocks on Friday off the Italian island of Giglio in the Mediterranean. The death toll has risen to 11 people, and 24 others are missing.
The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, is under house arrest and accused of causing the accident by coming too close to shore and fleeing the cruise liner while passengers were still being evacuated. In a recording of testy exchanges between Schettino and coast guard official Gregorio De Falco released on Tuesday, De Falco says at one point, "Schettino, maybe you saved yourself from the sea, but I'll make you have trouble for sure. Go aboard." Schettino maintained in a court hearing that he could not return to the ship because it was lying on its side.
The work now shifts to salvage crews, who will pump half a million gallons of fuel from the ship to prevent an ecological disaster in a process that is expected to take two to four weeks.
Web blackout: Wikipedia has taken its English-language site offline for 24 hours to protest two Internet piracy bills -- the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) -- making their way through the U.S. Congress, with other sites like Reddit and Boing Boing following suit. Google is still humming, but the search engine has blocked out its logo and linked to an online petition urging Congress not to censor the web.
Africa
- A report by Oxfam and Save the Children suggests that a slow international response to famine in East Africa cost thousands of deaths.
- A suspect in Nigeria's deadly Christmas Day bombing has escaped from police custody.
- Gunmen from Eritrea attacked a group of European tourists in northern Ethiopia, killing five, wounding two, and kidnapping two.
Asia
- Pakistan has postponed a visit by U.S. envoy Marc Grossman until parliament can complete a review of bilateral relations, as tensions between the two countries continue to mount.
- Burmese pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who is seeking office in a rural township southwest of Rangoon, registered for the country's upcoming elections with supporters in tow.
- Chinese villagers launched another land grab protest, this time outside the Guangzhou city government building, as officials continue their crackdown on activists.
Middle East
- In a radio interview, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said a decision about an Israeli attack on Iran was "very far off," suggesting that Tehran's nuclear program has not yet advanced to a point that the Israelis deem unacceptable.
- Thirty-four people died in a surge of violence in Syria on Tuesday, as troops and rebels strike a ceasefire in one town and the Syrian government considers whether to extend the Arab League monitoring mission in the country, which expires on Thursday.
- Israeli prosecutors have launched a hearing on whether to indict Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on charges of fraud, breach of trust, and money laundering.
Europe
- Germany, Europe's largest economy, has lowered its economic growth forecast for 2012.
- After hinting at foreign interference with their space program last week, Russian officials now say they're investigating whether American radar systems caused their Mars probe to fail.
- Sweden is launching a new inquiry into the death of diplomat and Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg.
Americas
- Peruvian Vice President Omar Chehade has resigned over corruption allegations but will retain his seat in Congress.
- Several thousand workers at a project to widen the Panama Canal are on an indefinite strike over pay.
- A Canadian naval officer has been charged with passing along state secrets to an unspecified "foreign entity."
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