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Hi. I'm Carl Azuz. And welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS.
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What is left of a sort of ceasefire in Syria is in danger of falling apart completely.
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The cessation of hostilities is an international agreement.
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It was implemented in late February and initially reduced some but not all of the violence in the country.
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But five years in the Syria's civil war, fighting rages on, and international health officials
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say the Syrian city of Aleppo is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster.
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Rights groups say 50 people were killed on Wednesday
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when a reported airstrike hit a pediatric hospital in Aleppo.
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One of the people killed was among the last few pediatricians in Aleppo.
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The United States indicated the blame rests with the Syrian government.
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Syria says its planes did not carry out the assault.
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Russia says its jets didn't launch the strike and the U.S. says its forces weren't in the area.
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Why are so many different militaries denying involvement?
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On the ground in Syria.
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The civil war in Syria has become incredibly complicated over the past four years
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and that's because there are so many different groups fighting on the ground for very different reasons.
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But essentially, you have four main contingents.
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Firstly, you have the Syrian army, which is loyal to the regime of Bashar al Assad.
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Then, you have ISIS, which is now in control of large swaths of territory in the east of the country.
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In the northwest, you have various Islamist groups and also some moderate groups
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who are fighting primarily against the regime, but also against ISIS.
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And then here in the northeast, you have mainly Kurdish fighters with the YPG who are fighting against ISIS.
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Now, all of these different factions have different international backers.
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So, the regime is supported heavily by Russia and by Iran.
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The Islamists in the northwest of the country are supported by Saudi and Qatar,
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and the U.S. has also given limited support to some of the moderate groups in the northwest,
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but also to the YPG here in the northeast.
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The Russians have dramatically increased their involvement in this conflict,
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launching hundreds of airstrikes on various rebel groups that are fighting against the regime
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and also supplying the Syrian army with sophisticated weapons.
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The U.S. has responded by dropping 50 tons of ammunition to various groups in this region
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that are fighting against ISIS, and Saudi Arabia has also accelerated the flow of anti-tank missiles
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that it is supplying to its Islamist allies in the northwest of the country.
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All of which has really raised the specter that Syria has ultimately become a proxy war.
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And with all the different factions focusing now on gaining a decisive military advantage,
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very few are willing to come to the negotiating table.
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Up next, diving deep.
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From April 20th to July 10th, NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
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is on a mission to explore the Marianas Trench in the western North Pacific Ocean.
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Part of that is the Challenger Deep.
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At 36,000 feet under, it is the deepest known point in the sea. It's deeper than Mount Everest is tall.
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No sunlight is visible.
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The water is frigid, the pressure extreme.
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NOAA is exploring the area because so little is known about it. What's the habitat like?
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How can it benefit scientific research? These are some of the answers they're seeking,
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along with some that relate to the life that's down there.
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Deep water jellyfish.
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Scientists aboard the Okeanos Explorer captured stunning video of an unknown jellyfish species.
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The NOAA research vessel is studying the deep water environment
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in and around Marianas Marine Trench National Monument.
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The scientists identified the jellyfish as belonging to the Genus Crossota, but did not identify the species.
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The ship's ROV encountered the jellyfish around 12,000 feet below the surface at the Enigma Seamount.
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The crew has captured video of a variety of different creatures in its first four days
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of exploring the Mariana region -- including this sixgill shark.
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The U.S. has a national bird, the bald eagle.
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A national tree, the oak.
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A national anthem, a National Mall. Lawmakers in Congress are pushing for a national mammal,
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and they want that to be the bison, aka, the buffalo. A bipartisan bill passed the House this week.
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If it's passed by the Senate and then signed by President Obama,
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it will be official.
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Supporters from politicians to wildlife conservation society praised the animal's history,
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strength and inextricable connection to the American west.
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There's a complicated history of the North American bison.
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There used to be millions of them in the plains. But during America's westward expansion,
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hunting took their numbers down to around a thousand.
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Former U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt led conservation efforts to preserve the mammal.
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And now today, there are an estimated half million bison in the U.S. and you can find them in every state.
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We spend a lot of time focused on time, and I don't just mean the clock, I mean the word.
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Time is the most commonly used noun in the English language.
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Others in the top 10 include day, year, and life -- also measures of time.
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So, from time to time, if you feel you don't have the time or don't want to take the time,
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to time out time in a timely manner, it could be just because we spend so much time talking about it.
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Now, that's random!
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OK, our next story. There was a global outpouring of sympathy earlier this week,
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when the musician Prince was found dead. Investigators don't know for sure yet why he died.
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They did find he had prescription opioid medication in his possession and in his home.
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Prince's music, his record label, his estate, they're estimated to be worth around $300 million,
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and his sister filed legal documents that said he didn't have a will.
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That brings in a lot of questions. Prince was divorced. He had no surviving children.
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His parents have died.
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If he never put it in writing where he wanted the money to go, what happens next?
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A will is just a legal document that says who gets your money and your property when you died.
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What happens if you die without a will?
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Who gets what when we go?
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If someone dies without leaving a legal will, it means they died intestate,
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and that can mean they're leaving their fortune up to chance.
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Each state is different but generally the law of intestacy determines
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who are your heirs and who gets your money and your possessions.
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Let me draw you a picture of what that means.
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If somebody dies, usually their spouse inherits everything.
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But if they have no living spouse, then everything usually goes to their children.
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But if they have no living children, then everything goes up to their parents.
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If they have no parents living, then everything may go to the sibling.
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And if you truly are somebody with no heirs whatsoever,
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then there's even a chance it may all go to the government.
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To make your requests for "Roll Call",
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head to CNNStudentNews.com and click the banner that says "Roll Call".
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You can comment at the bottom of that page.
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Duchesne High School knows about this. Hello to the Eagles of Duchesne, Utah.
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Next, we're visiting Steven, South Dakota. Great to have the Chieftains watching from Crow Creek Tribal School.
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And from the city of Hsinchu on the island of Taiwan,
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welcome to the International Bilingual School at Hsinchu Science Park.
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Do you know who's better at playing foosball than college students?
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A computer.
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A team of engineering students at Brigham Young University
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built a machine that controls the blue players here.
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Whenever the ball gets near one of the players, the computer is programmed to kick it,
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and it reacts much faster than people do. In this game, though not every game, the machine won 4-1.
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Overall, the professor says it's as good as a human.
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So, how could someone possibly refoos the challenge?
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You'd be foos-lish not to foos your skills with an arti-foos-cially intelligent machine
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and if you make a foos step and loss and feel foos-trated or in-foos-riated,
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there's no need for a foos fight. After all, it's just a game.
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I'm Carl Azuz and Fridays are awesome! Have a foos-nomenal weekend.