And today's edition of CNN STUDENT NEWS beginsin Syria.
A civil war has been ranging there for nearly two anda half years.
This is President Bashar al-Assad.
He's been Syria's president since 2000.
His family has been in power since 1970.
In 2011, protesters started calling for a change.
The Syrian government responded withforce, and eventually rebel forces started fighting back.
The United Nations estimates that more than 100,000 Syrians have been killed in the war.
Each side has accused the other of using chemical weapons.
Rebels are making new claims this week about the Syrian government using these weapons.
Syrian officials deny that.
A group from the United Nations is in Syria right now trying to determine if either side is usingchemical weapons.
U.N. officials say if they are being used, it would be a violation of international law.
From the Middle East we moved to Japan, with their new concerns surrounding the Fukushimanuclear power plant.
It's the site of one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.
Yesterday, the Japanese government was getting ready to classify a toxic water leak atFukushima as a serious incident.
The plant's owner, TEPCO has been trying to manage contaminated water at Fukushima since2011.
That's when a massive earthquake struck off the coast of Japan.
It triggered a tsunami, a giant ocean wave that hit Fukushima.
Three reactors went into meltdown.
Regarding the current concerns, TEPCO says it's moved radioactive water from a leaky tank toa better one.
The nuclear engineer described this leak as extremely radioactive water.
He said it could pose a significant health risk to workers trying to clean it up.
But TEPCO says, the workers have protective clothing that will prevent exposure to radiation.
