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SYRIA

Gunfire and shelling rattles a city in central Syria, killing a 12-year-old boy, as President Bashar Assad’s harsh regime expands its crackdown on a seven-week uprising by sending tanks and reinforcements to key areas. Authorities arrest a 10-year-old boy, apparently to punish his parents, and file charges against a leading opposition figure who is suffering from cancer. The continued crackdown suggests that Assad’s regime is determined to end the uprising by force and intimidation.

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LIBYA

Shortages of basic supplies are making life in Libya difficult for residents, with long lines at gas stations and some shops closed, a result of more than two months of clashes between forces loyal to ruler Moammar Gadhafi and rebels. Hardest hit is the besieged city of Misrata, the only city near the capital of Tripoli still under at least partial rebel control.

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YEMEN

Yemeni security forces backed by army units open fire on protesters demanding the ouster of longtime president Ali Abdullah Saleh, killing three. In all, tens of thousands of protesters mobilize in several cities and towns, the latest installment of almost three months of daily protests. One protester is killed in the western port of Hodeida, and two are killed in the southern city of Taiz when elite Republican Guard forces tried to disperse protesters by firing in the air.

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BAHRAIN

Bahrain’s king sets a fast-track timetable to end martial law-style rule in a bid to display confidence that authorities have smothered a pro-reform uprising, even as rights groups denounce the measures. The announcement to lift emergency rule two weeks early on June 1 comes hours after the start of a closed-door trial accusing activists of plotting to overthrow the Gulf state’s rulers. The decision appears part of Bahrain’s aggressive international campaign to reassure financial markets and win back high-profile events. They include the coveted Formula One grand prix that was canceled in March after deadly clashes and protests by the country’s majority Shiites, who are seeking greater rights and freedoms.

Breaking news reporting: No award. Finalists: Chicago Tribune staff for coverage of the deaths of two Chicago firefighters killed while searching for squatters in an abandoned burning building; The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, a joint staff entry, for coverage of the Haitian earthquake, often working under extreme conditions; and the Staff of The Tennessean, Nashville, for coverage of the most devastating flood in the area’s history.

Investigative reporting: Paige St. John of the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune, for her examination of weaknesses in the murky property-insurance system vital to Florida homeowners, providing handy data to assess insurer reliability and stirring regulatory action. Finalists: Walt Bogdanich of The New York Times for his spotlighting of medical radiation errors that injure thousands of Americans, sparking national discussion and remedial steps; and Sam Roe and Jared S. Hopkins of the Chicago Tribune for their investigation, in print and online, of 13 deaths at a home for severely disabled children and young adults, resulting in closure of the facility.

Explanatory reporting: Mark Johnson, Kathleen Gallagher, Gary Porter, Lou Saldivar and Alison Sherwood of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for their lucid examination of an epic effort to use genetic technology to save a 4-year-old boy imperiled by a mysterious disease, told with words, graphics, videos and other images. Finalists: The Wall Street Journal Staff for its penetration of the shadowy world of fraud and abuse in Medicare, probing previously concealed government databases to identify millions of dollars in waste and corrupt practices; and The Washington Post staff for its exploration of how the military is using trauma surgery, brain science and other techniques both old and new to reduce fatalities among the wounded in warfare, telling the story with words, images and other tools.

Local reporting: Frank Main, Mark Konkol and John J. Kim of the Chicago Sun-Times for their immersive documentation of violence in Chicago neighborhoods, probing the lives of victims, criminals and detectives as a widespread code of silence impedes solutions. Finalists: Marshall Allen and Alex Richards of the Las Vegas Sun for their compelling reports on patients who suffered preventable injuries and other harm during hospital care, taking advantage of print and digital tools to drive home their findings; and Stanley Nelson of the Concordia (La.) Sentinel, a weekly, for his courageous and determined efforts to unravel a long forgotten Ku Klux Klan murder during the Civil Rights era.

National reporting: Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein of ProPublica for their exposure of questionable practices on Wall Street that contributed to the nation’s economic meltdown, using digital tools to help explain the complex subject to lay readers. Finalists: David Evans of Bloomberg News for his revelations of how life insurance companies retained death benefits owed to families of military veterans and other Americans, leading to government investigations and remedial changes; and The Wall Street Journal Staff for its examination of the disastrous explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, using detailed reports to hold government and major corporations accountable.

International reporting: Clifford J. Levy and Ellen Barry of The New York Times for dogged reporting that put a human face on the faltering justice system in Russia, remarkably influencing the discussion inside the country. Finalists: Deborah Sontag of The New York Times for her coverage of the earthquake in Haiti, steadfastly telling poignant, wide-ranging stories with a lyrical touch and an impressive eye for detail; and The Wall Street Journal staff for its examination of the causes of Europe’s debt crisis, taking readers behind closed doors to meet pivotal characters while illuminating the wider economic, political and social reverberations.

Feature writing: Amy Ellis Nutt of The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J., for her deeply probing story of the mysterious sinking of a commercial fishing boat in the Atlantic Ocean that drowned six men. Finalists: Tony Bartelme of The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C., for his engaging account of a South Carolina neurosurgeon’s quest to teach brain surgery in Tanzania, possibly providing a new model for health care in developing countries; and Michael M. Phillips, of The Wall Street Journal, for his portfolio of deftly written stories that provide war-weary readers with fresh perspective on the conflict in Afghanistan.

Commentary: David Leonhardt of The New York Times for his graceful penetration of America’s complicated economic questions, from the federal budget deficit to health care reform. Finalists: Phillip Morris of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, for his blend of local storytelling and unpredictable opinions, enlarging the discussion of controversial issues that stir a big city; and Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune for her versatile columns exploring life and the concerns of a metropolis with whimsy and poignancy.

Criticism: Sebastian Smee of The Boston Globe for his vivid and exuberant writing about art, often bringing great works to life with love and appreciation. Finalists: Jonathan Gold of the LA Weekly for his delightful, authoritative restaurant reviews, escorting readers through a city’s diverse food culture; and Nicolai Ouroussoff of The New York Times for his well-honed architectural criticism, highlighted by ambitious essays on the burst of architectural projects in oil-rich Middle East countries.

Editorial writing: Joseph Rago of The Wall Street Journal for his well-crafted, against-the-grain editorials challenging the health care reform advocated by President Barack Obama. Finalists: Jackson Diehl of The Washington Post for his insightful editorials on foreign affairs, marked by prescient pieces critical of America’s policy toward Egypt well before a revolution erupted there; and John McCormick of the Chicago Tribune for his relentless campaign to reform an unsustainable public pension system that threatens the economic future of Illinois.

Editorial cartooning: Mike Keefe of The Denver Post for his widely ranging cartoons that employ a loose, expressive style to send strong, witty messages. Finalists: Matt Davies for cartoons in The Journal News, Westchester County, N.Y., work notably original in concept and execution, offering sharp opinion without shrillness; and Joel Pett of the Lexington Herald-Leader, for provocative cartoons that often tackle controversial Kentucky issues, marked by a simple style and a passion for humanity.

Breaking news photography: Carol Guzy, Nikki Kahn and Ricky Carioti of The Washington Post for their up-close portrait of grief and desperation after a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti. Finalists: Daniel Berehulak and Paula Bronstein of Getty Images for their compelling portrayal of the human will to survive as historic floods engulfed regions of Pakistan; and Carolyn Cole of the Los Angeles Times for her often haunting images of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, capturing the harsh reality of widespread devastation.

Feature photography: Barbara Davidson of the Los Angeles Times for her intimate story of innocent victims trapped in the city’s crossfire of deadly gang violence. Finalists: Todd Heisler of The New York Times for his sensitive portrayal of a large Colombian clan carrying a genetic mutation that causes Alzheimer’s disease in early middle age; and Greg Kahn of The Naples (Fla.) Daily News for his pictures that show the mixed impact of the recession in Florida — loss of jobs and homes for some but profit for others.

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ARTS

Fiction: “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” by Jennifer Egan (Alfred A. Knopf), an inventive investigation of growing up and growing old in the digital age, displaying a big-hearted curiosity about cultural change at warp speed. Finalists: “The Privileges,” by Jonathan Dee (Random House), a contemporary, wide ranging tale about an elite Manhattan family, moral bankruptcy and the long reach of wealth; and “The Surrendered,” by Chang-Rae Lee (Riverhead Books), a haunting and often heartbreaking epic whose characters explore the deep reverberations of love, devotion and war.

Drama: “Clybourne Park,” by Bruce Norris, a powerful work whose memorable characters speak in witty and perceptive ways to America’s sometimes toxic struggle with race and class consciousness. Finalists: “Detroit,” by Lisa D’Amour, a contemporary tragicomic play that depicts a slice of desperate life in a declining inner-ring suburb where hope is in foreclosure; and “A Free Man of Color,” by John Guare, an audacious play spread across a large historical canvas, dealing with serious subjects while retaining a playful intellectual buoyancy.

History: “The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery,” by Eric Foner (W.W. Norton & Co.), a well-orchestrated examination of Lincoln’s changing views of slavery, bringing unforeseeable twists and a fresh sense of improbability to a familiar story. Finalists: “Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South,” by Stephanie McCurry (Harvard University Press), an insightful work analyzing the experience of disenfranchised white women and black slaves who were left when Confederate soldiers headed for the battlefield; and “Eden on the Charles: The Making of Boston,” by Michael Rawson (Harvard University Press), an impressive selection of case studies that reveal how Boston helped shape the remarkable growth of American cities in the 19th century.

Biography: “Washington: A Life,” by Ron Chernow (The Penguin Press), a sweeping, authoritative portrait of an iconic leader learning to master his private feelings in order to fulfill his public duties. Finalists: “The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century,” by Alan Brinkley (Alfred A. Knopf), a fresh, fair-minded assessment of a complicated man who transformed the news business and showed busy Americans new ways to see the world; and “Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon,” by Michael O’Brien (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), a graceful account of a remarkable journey by Louisa Catherine Adams, the wife of a future president, who traveled with a young son across a Europe still reeling from warfare.

Poetry: “The Best of It: New and Selected Poems,” by Kay Ryan (Grove Press), a body of work spanning 45 years, witty, rebellious and yet tender, a treasure trove of an iconoclastic and joyful mind. Finalists: “The Common Man,” by Maurice Manning (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), a rich, often poignant collection of poems rooted in a rural Kentucky experiencing change in its culture and landscape; and “Break the Glass,” by Jean Valentine (Copper Canyon Press), a collection of imaginative poems in which small details can accrue great power and a reader is never sure where any poem might lead.

General nonfiction: “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer,” by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Scribner), an elegant inquiry, at once clinical and personal, into the long history of an insidious disease that, despite treatment breakthroughs, still bedevils medical science. Finalists: “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brain,” by Nicholas Carr (W.W. Norton & Co.), a thought-provoking exploration of the Internet’s physical and cultural consequences, rendering highly technical material intelligible to the general reader; and “Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History,” by S.C. Gwynne (Scribner), a memorable examination of the longest and most brutal of all the wars between European settlers and a single Indian tribe.

Music: Zhou Long for “Madame White Snake,” premiered Feb. 26, 2010, by the Boston Opera at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, a deeply expressive opera that draws on a Chinese folk tale to blend the musical traditions of the East and the West. Libretto by Cerise Lim Jacobs (Oxford University Press). Finalists: Fred Lerdahl for “Arches,” premiered Nov. 19, 2010, at Miller Theatre, Columbia University, a consistently original concerto that sustains an extraordinary level of sensuous invention as it evolves from one moment to the next; and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon for “Comala,” recording released in June 2010 by Bridge Records, an ambitious cantata that translates into music an influential work of Latin American literature, giving voice to two cultures that intersect within the term “America.”

The first U.S. cabinet-level official to visit Cairo since the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Clinton said the transition that is happening now is as important as the peaceful protests that toppled the entrenched leadership.

Americans were inspired by the revolution, Clinton said, adding that Egyptians should make good on it by building an inclusive society that is more open, more prosperous and more free.

“To the people of Egypt, let me say: this moment of history belongs to you,” Clinton said following talks with Egypt’s new foreign minister, Nabil al-Araby. “This is your achievement and you broke barriers and overcame obstacles to pursue the dream of democracy.”

Clinton applauded an announcement Tuesday of further dismantling of the state security apparatus and said Egypt now needs to prepare for free, fair elections to produce “leaders that will be able to respond to (your) aspirations.”

Subway is entirely franchisee-owned. That has been part of its success, Pace said. Its smaller-format stores cost less to open and operate than other chain restaurants. The company’s emphasis on cost-control, marketing and advertising has also helped grow the brand.

Subway, like many restaurant chains, is making a major push in international markets.

McDonald’s, however, remains the industry’s revenue champion. The company, which is also heavily franchise-oriented by still has company stores, reported $24 billion in revenue for its last fiscal year.

Subway generated roughly $15.2 billion, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. Subway, which is based Milford, Conn., is owned by privately held Doctor’s Associates Inc. and does not publicly disclose its financial figures.

McDonald’s, based in Oak Brook, Ill., said in a statement it is still growing but it has made a “concerted effort over the past couple of years on getting better rather than getting bigger.”

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

Libya is at risk of collapsing into a “protracted civil war” amid increasingly violent clashes between government forces and those opposed to leader Moammar Gadhafi, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Tuesday.

“In the years ahead, Libya could become a peaceful democracy, or it could face protracted civil war,” she told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “The stakes are high.”

She told Congress that the U.S. must lead an international response to the crisis, including expanding already tough financial and travel sanctions against Gadhafi, his family and confidants and possibly imposing a no-fly zone over Libya. “The United States continues to look at every single lever it can use against the Gadhafi regime,” she said.

She spoke as Gadhafi and forces still loyal to him sought to protect their remaining strongholds in and around the capital of Tripoli and take back rebel-held areas in the east. She said U.S. officials were aware that defecting military officers were attempting to organize fighters to defend areas they hold and “even try to take Tripoli away from Col. Gadhafi.”

But while Clinton said that protective military air cover in Libya is a possibility, she and the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East said it would be challenging and there would be drawbacks. “There are arguments that would favor it, questions that would be raised about it, but it is under active consideration,” Clinton said.

Testifying before a separate panel, Marine Gen. James Mattis, head of U.S. Central Command, said the military would have to take out Libyan air defenses in order to establish a no-fly zone there.

He said a no-fly zone above the African nation would deter any attempt by Gadhafi to launch bombing raids on his own citizens as they mass for anti-government protests. But Mattis said it would require military action to establish the no-fly zone, something he acknowledged would be difficult.

International partners the United States would need for such patrols are divided about the idea, and while the U.S. would probably be the main participant in any such network, no U.S. official has publicly endorsed it.

Aside from logistical concerns, Clinton said outside military intervention might also compromise Gadhafi’s opponents who do not want to be seen as serving outside forces.

“We are also very conscious of the desire by the Libyan opposition forces that they be seen as doing this by themselves on behalf of the Libyan people, that there not be outside intervention by any external force, because they want this to have been their accomplishment,” Clinton told the house Foreign Affairs Committee. “We respect that.”

Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee that ships have been dispatched through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea, to be ready for any assistance or other actions President Barack Obama should order.

He added that it is too early to say how the uprisings will turn out.

“We don’t want to see this change slide into a new form of authoritarianism,” Mattis said. “So while there is both opportunity and danger, it requires unrelenting engagement by our nation. The central challenge for us, I believe, is how to make common cause with our friends throughout the region.”

Sen. John McCain, R-Az., said the unrest rocking countries across the Middle East provides an unprecedented opportunity to support the people there in shaping a new order that is more consistent with U.S. interests and values.

Clinton’s comments came in testimony at a hearing about the State Department and foreign operations budget, which congressional Republicans want to slash, and she said Libya was an example of why that funding should not be cut. Donna Cassata contributed to this report.