Student News 2012.01.10.doc

(Student News) -- January 10, 2012CARL AZUZ, HOST, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Hi, I`m Carl Azuz and this is CNN Student News. In a little while, we`re going to talk about a milestone for the U.S. debt. But first up today, we`re heading to the Middle East.Violence is a daily part of life in some regions of Syria. Protesters have been fighting with government forces there for months. The protesters want Syrian president Bashar al-Assad out of power. The government has cracked down on the protesters. There are reports that thousands of people have been killed.(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)AZUZ (voice-over): It`s been hard for CNN to confirm those reports because Syria wasn`t letting international journalists into the country. That changed yesterday. A CNN crew was allowed into Syria. It saw protests and rallies like these. Some of the rallies were against President al-Assad, but others were supporting him.Nic Robertson said what he witnessed was a country that is deeply divided.(END VIDEO CLIP)(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)NIC ROBERTSON, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Passions were very high. People were very angry. They were very afraid. A lot of people were coming and showing what they said were bullet wounds, birdshot wounds as well as some people showed us where they said they had been shot by forces loyal to the government.Yet, at the same time in the center of Damascus today, we`ve seen large pro-government rallies, people telling us that they love President Bashar al-Assad. What is happening here is this country is dividing. It`s polarizing. People are believing -- are believing opposite things.Some believe that the president is the right man for the country. There are others that don`t. They`re not talking to each other. And this is really leading to a much more divided country than it was even a few months ago.(END VIDEO CLIP)AZUZ: Iran says it is enriching uranium as part of its controversial nuclear program. Iran says its nuclear program is designed for peaceful purposes