Budget cuts — With federal budget cuts beginning to take effect, House Speaker John Boehner on Sunday reinforced his opposition to any deal to reverse the cuts that includes new revenues. But he and senior White House officials left open a narrow path that could restore at least some of the money.
Queen Elizabeth — Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II was hospitalized Sunday with an apparent stomach infection that has ailed her for days, a rare instance of ill health sidelining the long-reigning monarch. Elizabeth will have to cancel a visit to Rome and other engagements as she recovers, and outside experts said she may have to be rehydrated intravenously.
Voting rights — The vice president and black leaders commemorating a famous civil rights march Sunday in Selma, Ala., and said efforts to diminish the impact of African-Americans’ votes haven’t stopped in the years since the 1965 Voting Rights Act added millions to Southern voter rolls.
Florida sinkhole — Crews on Sunday razed more than half of the Tampa-area home perched over a huge sinkhole that swallowed a man three days ago, managing to salvage some keepsakes for family members who lived there. Jeremy Bush, 35, tried to save his brother, Jeff, when the earth opened up and swallowed him Thursday night.
Health insurance — The Obama administration says it will require health insurance companies to report all price increases to the government so officials can monitor the impact of the new health care law and insurers’ compliance with it. Federal health officials said they need the additional data to monitor trends in premiums as major provisions of the law take effect and more people buy insurance.
Kenya election — A pre-dawn attack on police in Kenya early today killed several officers hours before Kenyans began casting votes in a nationwide election being held five years after more than 1,000 people died in election-related violence. Police in the coastal city of Mombasa reported a 2 a.m. attack by a gang of dozens.
Pakistani bombing — A Pakistani surgeon says the death toll from a massive car bombing in the southern port city of Karachi has jumped from 37 to 45 as more victims died overnight. Dr. Jalil Qadir says that 146 people were also wounded in the Sunday evening explosion. At least 32 of them are still in serious condition.
Malaysian tension — Seven people were reported killed and four hostages taken as fighting continued Sunday in the Malaysian state of Sabah over a claim to the area by a religious group from the southern Philippines. The Malaysian government said the police and military presence in the area was doubled, while the religious group said an undetermined number of supporters from the southern Philippines had entered the area to reinforce those supporting the claim.
Syria conflict — Almost two years after the start of an uprising that has become a bloody civil war, President Bashar Assad of Syria on Sunday accused Britain of seeking to “militarize" the conflict, prompting a taunt from a senior British official that Assad’s remarks ranked among “the most delusional" of modern times.
Fatal crash — A young man and his pregnant wife were on the way to the hospital in New York early Sunday when the cab in which they were riding was struck by another vehicle, killing them both. Their child, a baby boy, was delivered after his mother’s death and survived, the police said.
— From wire reports