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1. Flood fears in the Midwest are now moving downriver. The Illinois Army National Guard is helping¹ with sandbagging duties in Quincy. And about 100 miles downriver, evacuations are underway in Grafton. A total of five deaths have been linked to the floods here.

2. Al Gore² says he's backing Barack Obama. And he says he'll do whatever he can to help the Illinois senator get to the White House. Gore says Obama has united a movement over the past year and a half.

3. A Missouri woman has pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles federal court to charges in a MySpace hoax³. Fifty-nine-year-old Lori Drew allegedly helped create a MySpace account that purported⁵ to be for a 16-year-old boy. The account was used to send cruel messages to 13-year-old Megan Meier. Meier hanged herself at home in 2006.

4. Police in McAllen seized six Bengal tiger cubs⁶ they say may have been offered for sale. Authorities believe the tigers were going to be smuggled⁷ into Mexico. Officials say four of the tigers could fetch up to $5,000 each. They've been temporarily placed in a zoo about 60 miles away.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. purport⁴ to:

If you say that someone or something purports⁸ to do or be a particular thing, you mean that they claim to do or be that thing, although you may not always believe that claim.

2. fetch: v.

If something fetches a particular sum of money, it is sold for that amount.