MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Thousands of angry Somalis rioted Monday over rising food prices and the collapse of the nation's currency, culminating in clashes with government troops and armed shopkeepers that killed at least five protesters, witnesses and officials said.

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans have asked environmental regulators to use their power to halt the country's plans to expand ethanol production amid rising food prices.

CAIRO, Egypt -- Saddam Hussein feared catching AIDS or other diseases during his U.S.-supervised captivity, a leading Arab newspaper said Monday in publishing excerpts of his prison writings.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Voter excitement, always up before a presidential election, is pushing registration through the roof so far this year -- with more than 3.5 million people rushing to join in the historic balloting, according to an Associated Press survey that offers the first national snapshot.

OCEAN VIEW, Hawaii -- For eight years, Tony and Sam Bayaoa have grown thousands of bright red, yellow and pink protea flowers on their farm. Then in March, Kilauea volcano opened a new vent and began spewing double the usual amount of toxic gas.

YANGON, Myanmar -- The death toll from a devastating cyclone in Myanmar could reach more than 10,000 in the low-lying area where the storm wreaked the most havoc, the country's foreign minister warned Monday.

NEW YORK -- Oil futures surged to a new record over $120 a barrel Monday, raising concerns about higher prices for gasoline and goods and services throughout the economy. Retail gas prices fell more than a cent over the weekend, but oil's advance increased the likelihood that pump prices would resume their climb.

OLPE, Germany -- A 44-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of killing her own babies after her grown children found the bodies of three infants stashed in the family's freezer while looking for a frozen pizza, police said Monday.

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Resolute rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama straddled North Carolina and Indiana on Monday on the eve of a pair of crucial primaries in the unceasing contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

EL PASO, Texas -- Josefa Gonzalez Loya has sneaked across the Mexican border at least 128 times in the past eight years. And each time, the Border Patrol has been nice enough to give her a lift home.

Iraq backs off allegations on Iran

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Authorities are investigating the deaths of six sea lions on the Columbia River. At least some of them appear to have been shot.