CNN 2012-08-23

 First up today, we are heading over to Asia, specifically to the East China Sea. You can see it coming up here on this map in just a moment, on one side of it, there is China, on the other side, Japan. There is a chain of islands in the East China Sea. China calls these islands Diaoyu, Japan calls them Senkaku.

 
 
 
No one lives on the islands, they are uninhabited. But when someone lands on one of them, like this group of Japanese did on Sunday, it can lead to serious anger. For example, this was the reaction in China after the Japanese landing. Angry protesters gathered in cities around China. They turned over Japanese cars and they burned Japanese flags. The explanation for the anger is that China and Japan each say that the islands belong to them. The reason that matters, is because whichever country owns the islands, gets exclusive rights to the oil, minerals and fishing in the water around the islands. This dispute is going on for decades, and the Japanese landing on Sunday wasn`t the first from either country. In fact, a group of Chinese landed on that same island last week.
 
 
 
We are going to stay in Japan for our next story. Last year, an earthquake and tsunami 1 caused a disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Two months later, researchers started looking at how the nuclear disaster might impact the environment around it. One thing they found, mutants. And not people, we are talking about butterflies. Some of them had abnormal legs or antennae 2. Others had dents 3 in their eyes. There were also changes in some of the butterflies` wings and color patterns. The scientists determined 4 that the radiation from the nuclear plant disaster caused genetic 5 damage to the insects. One researcher said humans shouldn`t have to worry about this kind of mutation 6, because people are more resistant 7 to radiation.
 
 
 
Time for the "Shoutout." What city is hosting this year`s Republican National Convention? If you think you know it, then shout it out! Is it Charlotte, North Carolina, Tampa, Florida, St. Paul, Minnesota or Denver, Colorado? You`ve got three seconds. Go. Tampa is hosting this year`s Republican Convention, which starts next Monday. That`s your answer and that`s your shoutout.
 
 
 
 
 
That convention doesn`t start until next week. But a group of Republicans is in Tampa right now and what they are working on could guide the political party for the next four years. The group is called the platform committee. It comes up with the party`s official position on a wide range of political issues. Things like government spending, immigration, taxes. Coming up with the platform is an important job and a tough one. Within one party, there could be different opinions on an issue. If the committee comes up with a platform that most party members agree with, it can create unity 8. If the platform has some controversial positions, it can lead to debate among the party members. One of the first things that happens at a national convention is that the convention delegates vote on whether to adopt the platform. So that platform can set the tone for the entire event. We have a lot more coverage 9 on the conventions, the Republicans next week and the Democrats 10 the week after. So keep an eye out for that on CNN STUDENT NEWS.
 
 
 
A significant and positive time for Augusta National Golf Club. Now, that`s how the club`s president, Billy Payne described the decision that changed Augusta`s membership policy. For the first time since it opened 80 years ago, women will be allowed into the private club. These are the first two women who will become members of Augusta National. On the left, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; on the right, South Carolina businesswoman Darla Moore. Augusta is home to the Masters, one of golf`s biggest tournaments. There were times in the past decade or so, when that tournament was nearly overshadowed by the controversy 11 surrounding the private club`s former men-only membership policy.