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1. Fire crews in southern California are getting some help from calmer winds. The fires have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced thousands of people to evacuate¹. Some 34 square miles have been blackened since Thursday.

2. Two top Republican senators are saying they will oppose a Democratic plan to bail² out Detroit automakers, calling the US industry "a dinosaur³" whose "day of reckoning" is coming. Democratic leaders want to use 25 billion dollars of the 700-billion-dollar financial industry bailout to help General Motors, Ford⁴ and Chrysler.

3. Iraq's Cabinet has approved a security agreement that lets US forces stay there for another three years. A stamp of approval from parliament is considered likely.

4. And a dramatic video shows the aftermath of a bridge collapse⁵ in an Indian-controlled region of Kashmir. Four workers were killed, 19 others missing. The bridge was under construction.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. dinosaur: n.

If you refer to an organization as a dinosaur, you mean that it is large, inefficient⁶, and out of date.

2. reckoning: n.

a time when you are judged or punished for your actions, or when they have results that affect you