21/02/2014 ABC World News with Diane Sawyer

More details online. Time now for a look at the news as

seen across the United States a couple of hours ago, in ABC World

News with Diane Sawyer. Tonight, powder keg on fire. Deadly

violence in Ukraine again. The injured carried through the streets.

Billets flying through windows. Will America be forced to take action

tonight? Wild weather. 17 states watching the

latest storms, floods and when it is. We are battling potholes half

the size of cars. This man couldn't get a face at

Facebook. Now Facebook has paid him so much money he is a billionaire.

Sweet revenge. Sacred land good. Is your dog really

thinking and feeling the same thing you are?

Could even. A country in flames. America and Russia looking across a

device. The Cold War is a deadly tug of war. These are Ukrainian people

caught in the people. At least 70 have been killed and counting. April

between protesters who want Western freedom and police enforcing the

alliance with Russia. Tonight, Obama and his team have to decide whether

to take action. Our correspondent has more.

Kiev is very tense. Trouble is spreading across the country. Nobody

knows what will happen next. The battle lines have been drawn. They

involve the future of more than just one country.

It is a bloody battlefield. Everywhere we went, evidence of the

horror. People are willing to die for their rights and freedom they

crave. The freedoms Americans enjoy. The basic law. We are fighting for

this today. At midnight, a truce was announced. A glimmer of hope. By

1980, all hopes were dashed by the sounds of this. -- 9:30am. The sound

of guns. From our hotel window, we could see the deadly snipers on both

sides. Bullets flew into our hotel window. I was on the side of the

room on my laptop. Glass shattered everywhere. I hit the floor. Bullet

holes were in the war. The hotel lobby transformed into a field

hospital. Medics are fighting to save lives. I surprised at the level

of violence? Yes. I do not know. If something terrible. Ukraine is at a

crossroads. Once part of the Soviet Union, today, the frontline between

Pitt and's Russia in the East and America in the West. Demonstrators

want the freedom of the West. The day's victims were carried through

crowds of weeping mourners. They chanted, heroes. Lots of emissions

and tears in this crowd. The protesters stop for a moment of

silence to remember those who were killed. Tonight, despite the

bloodshed, galvanising symbols. A Ukrainian skier in Sochi says she

will not compete as a people die. The White House is bringing a

package of sanctions in response to the violence. The all target

specific individuals. -- that will. Next, breaking news. Explosives

possibly concealed in shoes and cosmetics on aeroplanes. Our

correspondent has more. We learned that Al-Qaeda in Yemen, a

Terry Griffiths hell-bent on attacking US homeland, was behind

yesterday's the warning about shoe bombs targeting commercial

aeroplanes. The US government discovered a secret plan by the

group to recruit Americans and Europeans to go to Syria to get

terrorist training and returned to attack the West. Officials are

concerned. Al-Qaeda in Yemen has been committed to attacking US

homeland. It is the group behind two underwear bomb plots, targeting

commercial aeroplanes over US cities. Many foreign fighters from

50 countries gravitated toward Syria. In response to the

recruitment campaign, the West is developing a plan to track the

recruits and block potential threats.

At home, the assault from the weather again. Tornadoes are patting

down. Two in Illinois this afternoon. There are warnings in

many states. Battling the ice and racing for another polar vortex. Our

correspondent has more. Whether whiplash. In the north,

blinding snow and ice. In the south, tornadoes. With all of the thawing,

blood Blues flood fears. They are using dynamite to break the ice. The

other problem, potholes. In Chicago, potholes like landmines. They have

to warn drivers with these orange cones. Today, because of the rain,

they cannot work. In Cleveland, forget the potholes. In New York

City, a pothole record. Everytime a pothole is fuelled, they are

protecting people's likes and property. This woman, a pothole

casualties. What did it sound like? An explosion. It was frightening. It

has been non-stop. Changing tyres from cars but hit potholes. From one

look on the map, Mother Nature is not done yet. We are looking at a

direct discharge of Arctic air over the weekend. For those looking for

an early spring, that is not going to happen next week. Many of us can

only hope. We have a progress report on the flu season. This year 's flu

vaccine is more effective than in past years, reducing the number of

doctor visits by 61%. Older Americans and driving. A new report

from the nation 's top safety expert shows a dramatic drop in the number

of accidents involving drivers over 70 years old. They are down 42%. The

reason? All the Americans are healthier and cars are safer.

Somebody in California one of the Powerball jackpot. $425 million to

be exact. We do not go to the winner is that we know that there is only

one winning ticket. It was sold in a convenience store in Northern

California ten miles north of San Jose. Next night, the kind of thing

that happens in your dream. Somebody refuses to hire you but later comes

looking for you with $19 billion. A story about fate and a great last

laugh. Meet America's newest billionaires. They once applied to

work for Facebook and got rejected. So they started their own business,

and put everything on the line. Tonight it is Facebook who is

pursuing them, agreeing to buy their company Whatsapp for $19 billion.

The reason that Facebook is paying so much is that it is really huge.

It will go to 1 billion users quickly. It is an app that allows

users to text across the globe without being hit by huge phone

bills. 450 million people using it and 1 million are signing up per

day. It is an American dream country for the founder. He was born in the

Ukraine and came to America when 16. But he would teach himself computers

and he was good. After not getting the Facebook job, she and Brian

Acton port their life savings into Whatsapp. They caught the eye of

Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg decided that he wanted to buy the

app two years ago and was rejected. On Valentine's Day, a change of

heart. He came over to dinner and interrupted Mark Zuckerberg is

Valentine's Day and they signed the deal. Koum signed the deal at the

very social services office where he used to collect food stamps. He is

$16 billion richer and has not forgotten where he came from. Up

next, sleepless in America. A nation of insomniacs turning to pills. We

are back in two minutes. Jury selection began today in the

trial of Carrie Kennedy. She was charged with driving while impaired.

She had a sleeping medication in her system. The number of Americans

turning to sleeping pills is skyrocketing. They are already among

the most popular prescription drugs. The use of sleep medication only

continues to rise. The new report says that the use of the most common

brands has tripled in just over a decade. More than 9 million

Americans are now popping a pill at night to get to sleep. Who are they?

Primarily women and those 70 and older who are more likely to suffer

from insomnia. Women suffer twice as often as men and menopause is often

cited as the reason. With increased usage comes concern about the

possibility of misuse and side-effects. For women it can be

issued because they could be taking too much. For the elderly it can be

an issue because the elderly tend to be more sensitive to the medication

and they also take other medications. You are adding another

one to compound the problem. This is the most prescribed sleeping pill.

Of the 39 million prescriptions, 63% were for women. Women are also said

to account for 274% increase in ER visits. More than half of those

involved have mixed the drug with alcohol or other drugs which can

boost the side-effects. The FDA recently recommended lower doses for

women. It takes them longer to get rid of the drug from their system.

Kerry Kennedy, says that she was sleep driving the morning of the

crash in July 2012 after she mistakenly took sleeping pills. She

says she does not remember anything. Our instant index begins

with a passing to note. Sergeant Walter Elder lures died today at the

age of 92. He was the last medal of honour recipient to have stormed

Omaha Beach in World War II. Even when he was wounded in the back he

kept fighting. He carried one of his men to safety and returned to

combat. A hero, leaving a long legacy imagine this. The car of your

dreams is stolen. Heartbreak and then 30 years later the phone

rings. The police have found the car and just before the cast itself to

Australia and a new owner. Skip Wilson was reunited with the hotrod

of his dreams which he bought for $375. Other loving owners added new

brakes, tyres, a new engine, leather interior, the works. Skip said that

every time he saw this kind of car on the road he wondered if it was

his. Good Samaritans coming to the rescue of a real-life Bambi. It

started with an SOS on Facebook about a dear stranded on a lake.

This father and son headed out with some rope, a camera, and a lot of

love. The dear splayed out on the ice is. They pulled her to shore.

They then went back for her sister and pushed both of them to a reunion

on land. Father and son stayed until the deal was strong enough to head

off. For all of the pet lovers who insisted that their dog understands

emotionally what they're saying feeling. The new city shows you may

be right. Ask any dog owner and they will tell

you that their best friend seems to understand them in a way nobody else

could. New, thousands of dogs entertaining and comforting us.

Check out these dog owners pretending to cry. Now watch as

their dogs run over and try to cheer them up. Tonight scientists say

there is a reason why humans and dogs get along so well. Dogs might

understand when we are happy and sad because they hear in motion in our

voices. This is the same way that humans do. When I am happy my dog

knows when am happy. Researchers in Hungary figured it out. They trained

dogs like Myer here to lie completely still in an MRI machine

for up to eight minutes. Then they conducted the first comparison

between the brains of humans and dogs, putting headphones on both

while exposing them to the same sounds. Crying, laughter. The same

area is active in humans are also active in dogs. They have a

sensitivity to some of the same things that we do including somebody

who is experiencing strong emotion. It marks them out as different from

other animals. Scientists think that it might be because we have grown up

together. Dogs and humans have been buddies for over 30,000 years. Maybe

that is why we get each other. Thank you for watching. We are always here

on our website. I will see you here tomorrow to close out the week.