I'm Carl Azuz. Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. U.S. Congress is backing session and debating the issue of Syria. President Obama has scheduled to make a speech to the American public tonight. Yesterday, Russian officials proposed that Syria hand over control of its chemical weapons to the international community, although U.S. officials said that idea isn't like that it'll resolve the issue.

How did we get here? It started back in March of 2011. Some Syrians began protesting against their government. They want a change, and they called for President Bashar al-Assad whom you just saw to leave power. Syrian government responded to the protest with force, eventually the protests and the violence erupted into a civil war as rebel forces armed themselves and fought back. The rebels aren't just one group, some are former members of the Syrian military, some are civilians. And some are connected to the al Qaeda terrorist organization. Since the fighting started, the United Nations estimates that more than 100,000 Syrians have been killed and more than 2 million have left their country to escape the war.

A major development in Syria's civil war happened last month outside Damascus where an alleged chemical weapons attack killed more than 1400 people. These weapons have been banned by international organizations and treaties. The Syrian government and the rebel forces each blame the other for using the chemical weapons, but President Obama says there is no doubt that the Syrian government used the chemical weapons. He wants to launch a military strike against Syria as punishment, but he decided he would ask Congress for approval. That's the debate that's happening in Washington right now.

Today, we are catching up on Malala Yousafzai. She's from a part of Pakistan where girls don't always have access to education. Malala was attacked by the Taliban, Afghanistan's former rulers after she insisted on going to school and encouraging other girls to go to. Malala got medical treatment in the United Kingdom. She lives there now, and she's continuing her fight for education rights. Last week, she helped open a new library in England. She gave a speech there saying pens and books are the weapons that defeat terrorism. A few days later, Malala was in the Netherlands. She was there to be honored as the winner of this year's International Children's Peace Price. Malala is often associated with girls education rights, but she says that rights should extend to everyone.

My goal is the education of all children around the world. Whether white or black, whether Muslims or Christians, whether boys or girls.

It' not hard to see why many people consider Malala inspirational. CNN is asking teens ages 13 to 18 what specifically has Malala done to inspire you. Students who were 13 and over, if you tell us in the 300 to 500 word essay, you could win a chance to meet Malala Yousafzai and attend her interview with CNN's Christian Amanpour in New York. For complete rules, check out the link at cnnstudentnews.com.