:00:00. > :00:00.In 20 minutes, the rest of the day's news. But now it is time to
:00:00. > :00:07.catch up with the news has seen across the United States.
:00:08. > :00:15.Welcome to ABC World News. Tonight, big change in American rite of
:00:16. > :00:22.passage. The test so many take hoping to get into college. They
:00:23. > :00:29.fare? The urgent talks to push Vladimir
:00:30. > :00:36.Putin back from the edge. Incredible video of a cough or have
:00:37. > :00:43.children heading into the site and the strangers who got them out. -- a
:00:44. > :00:51.car full of children. Good evening. It is a rite of
:00:52. > :01:01.passage and today we learned it is getting an extreme makeover. The
:01:02. > :01:08.SATs, the test millions of hike schoolchildren take. -- high school
:01:09. > :01:15.children. But are they fare? We look at the big news.
:01:16. > :01:20.It is the test taken by millions of Americans every generation of eight
:01:21. > :01:28.years. Now changing to become more modern. Skilled vocabulary words
:01:29. > :01:35.that only ever seem to come up in multiple-choice test questions,
:01:36. > :01:40.gone. Words like these. That means, not easily excited. Replaced by
:01:41. > :01:47.words people actually use in college classrooms and on the job. It will
:01:48. > :01:53.instead focus on the words students will use over and over again. The
:01:54. > :01:58.changes take effect in 2016. They are meant to level the playing
:01:59. > :02:06.field. Some courses can run as high as $20,000. Now tutoring videos are
:02:07. > :02:14.available for free. We need to cement the advantages to find out
:02:15. > :02:20.the secrets. If there are no more secrets, it is hard to pay for them.
:02:21. > :02:28.Other changes make it more like its biggest rival, the ACT. His 80
:02:29. > :02:31.leading passage is now often seen obscure. Replaced with significant
:02:32. > :02:39.moments like the declaration of Independence. Anxious high school
:02:40. > :02:45.should not just celebrate yet. Algebraic formulas are not going
:02:46. > :02:52.anywhere. The top prize for the SATs will once again be 1600.
:02:53. > :03:03.But if these changes are about fairness, why not mediate them?
:03:04. > :03:08.Essentially this is to give teachers and students time to prepare. A lot
:03:09. > :03:13.of the changes could make this already difficult test even tougher.
:03:14. > :03:19.The call is for children of all economic backgrounds, thank you. We
:03:20. > :03:25.turn to the crisis in Ukraine. The superpowers are talking. But the
:03:26. > :03:35.danger of a Russian invasion is still living. -- looming.
:03:36. > :03:38.Flashpoints in a crisis. After Putin's forces took over part of
:03:39. > :03:44.Ukraine, today thousands of demonstrators show to the world
:03:45. > :03:50.their support for Russia. Storming past Wright police to take over a
:03:51. > :03:57.government building. To the south, a similar scene. A mob of armed men
:03:58. > :04:03.threatening a UN envoy. With the crowd bearing Russian flags,
:04:04. > :04:11.charging behind them. America trying to find a way to end this dangerous
:04:12. > :04:18.stand-off. One hope is the talks in Paris and getting the Ukrainian and
:04:19. > :04:23.Russian foreign ministers to meet. We did not anticipate that we were
:04:24. > :04:29.going to resolve that this afternoon. The bigger goal is to
:04:30. > :04:35.convince Putin that is at once into Crimea was bad enough, but advancing
:04:36. > :04:41.further would bring the right of the world. But after a day of
:04:42. > :04:50.diplomacy, all Russia agreed to was to talk further. I would rather be
:04:51. > :04:53.where we are today than yesterday. The Russians in earnest about
:04:54. > :05:00.talking or is there a some kind of cover? What we are on is it
:05:01. > :05:06.diplomatic treadmill. We keep talking, they keep talking. The US
:05:07. > :05:12.is carefully watching any Russian movements. There have been
:05:13. > :05:16.provocative movements over the past couple of days. The Russian troops
:05:17. > :05:22.to remain in Crimea. They did have military exercises just across the
:05:23. > :05:34.border. I do not think there is a lot of trust. No additional troop
:05:35. > :05:40.movements? Not at this point they are just not leaving Crimea. Thank
:05:41. > :05:51.you so much again. From Ukraine we had to Egypt to show you the images
:05:52. > :05:58.of journalist in cages. They are on -- trial of working with a terrorist
:05:59. > :06:06.group. -- journalist. -- --journalists. A big headline, the
:06:07. > :06:12.heat is on the gun debate in America. We learnt Facebook and
:06:13. > :06:17.Instagram will crack down on illegal guns sold online. Some of them are
:06:18. > :06:24.weapons bought by children. Al correspondent shows us what is
:06:25. > :06:31.behind the decision. -- Our. You are looking at the sale of an
:06:32. > :06:37.AK-47 in a parking lot in Arizona. He came in power after our reporter
:06:38. > :06:44.saw it for sale on the intranet. No background check, no questions
:06:45. > :06:47.asked. Critics say social media sites are becoming virtual gun
:06:48. > :06:52.stores, giving easy access to juveniles and criminals. The
:06:53. > :06:59.intranet dwarfs the gun shows in America as a source of firearms. It
:07:00. > :07:03.is difficult to police. Check out Instagram, Gunns to choose from.
:07:04. > :07:09.Handguns and assault rifles are a touch or click away. -- guns. A
:07:10. > :07:26.series of steps have been in place to make sure sellers obey the law.
:07:27. > :07:33.The head of the end are a affiliate warned the policy could be used to
:07:34. > :07:46.silence and enthusiasts on social media. -- gun. But others said it
:07:47. > :07:49.might save lives. For instance when a 15-year-old Kentucky boy report
:07:50. > :07:56.this gun through Facebook and took it to school.
:07:57. > :08:01.Out of Washington, the White House announces its official, if you like
:08:02. > :08:06.your healthcare plan, you can keep it for another two years even if it
:08:07. > :08:12.does not meet the new requirements under Obama care. The deadline had
:08:13. > :08:18.already been extended by a year, now to two years. Next, strangers
:08:19. > :08:21.intervening in time, a scene with everyone holding their breath as a
:08:22. > :08:26.mother with three children in her minivan drove into the ocean into
:08:27. > :08:30.the crashing waves. The children were waiting for help.
:08:31. > :08:36.Correspondence shows us how some passing strangers saved the day. --
:08:37. > :08:42.Our correspondent. They weren't going to let it happen.
:08:43. > :08:46.A car headed for the ocean. It began like this, a good Samaritan driving
:08:47. > :08:51.down the beach sees the minivan and his children screaming. Believe your
:08:52. > :08:56.eyes, that is a child waiting out the window. This man in the green
:08:57. > :09:03.jacket comes out of his car, his wife recording it all with the young
:09:04. > :09:08.boy waiting. One kid in the back seat was screaming, saving help us,
:09:09. > :09:12.my mum is trying to kill us. This other person runs into the water as
:09:13. > :09:18.the car falls into the sea. By the time I ran over a noticed the boy
:09:19. > :09:22.was trying to snatch at the wheel. He said the mother kept driving.
:09:23. > :09:29.When I spoke to her, her eyes were wide. He uses the power windows to
:09:30. > :09:34.get the windows down and his arms around two of the children, the surf
:09:35. > :09:39.up to his chest. He told us he wished he had three hands because he
:09:40. > :09:42.saw a baby in the back. Lifeguards struggled to open the front door.
:09:43. > :09:47.That is the mother trying to stop them. What the struggle, then the
:09:48. > :09:51.mother walks away and seconds later they get the baby out through the
:09:52. > :09:57.back of the minivan and one of the lifeguards inside barely got out in
:09:58. > :10:02.time. Seconds later, look closely, a wave nearly pushes the car out to
:10:03. > :10:07.see. If it was minutes longer the outcome would have been different.
:10:08. > :10:12.Police identified the mother as Ebony Wilkerson from South Carolina,
:10:13. > :10:15.and police say she was pregnant. Family called earlier in the day
:10:16. > :10:19.warning she had mental issues. Police say they reached out to her
:10:20. > :10:25.but she had done nothing wrong and few hours later she ended up in the
:10:26. > :10:29.beach. Her children, three, nine and ten are in state custody and are
:10:30. > :10:40.alive because a few men decided to get involved.
:10:41. > :10:44.We moved next to the surprise testimony of the trial of Oscar
:10:45. > :10:50.Pistorius. On trial for shooting his girlfriend in South Africa. Today,
:10:51. > :10:54.another athlete introduced a twist in the case. Correspondence is in
:10:55. > :11:00.the court room tonight. -- our correspondent. He is a professional
:11:01. > :11:06.boxer and friend of Oscar Pistorius and is now a witness in his nerve at
:11:07. > :11:09.trial. A month before her killing, they were together with friends at
:11:10. > :11:17.this restaurant. One passed a gun to Oscar Pistorius and then.
:11:18. > :11:21.Amid the chaos, he asked his friend Darren Fresco, who passed the
:11:22. > :11:36.pistol, to take the blame. This is the -- denied by the
:11:37. > :11:41.athlete. While it could help prove firearms charges he faces and could
:11:42. > :11:44.hurt credibility, it does not prove he murdered his girlfriend. Crucial
:11:45. > :11:53.to proving that is the sequence of events on the night he allegedly
:11:54. > :11:56.killed his wife his girlfriend. It matters, because it is alleged the
:11:57. > :12:02.couple were arguing before the shooting. This is the view of the
:12:03. > :12:06.trial that Oscar Pistorius has. A hind him is his family and before
:12:07. > :12:14.him his defence team and the judge who will decide on his fate. He
:12:15. > :12:21.denies all the charges. On this ash Wednesday, Pope Francis
:12:22. > :12:26.makes headlines with an interview. He reaffirmed Church opposition to
:12:27. > :12:30.contraception and gay marriage but said different situations of
:12:31. > :12:37.cohabitation must be evaluated. This was interpreted as the church being
:12:38. > :12:41.open to civil unions. The Pope said when he was young, a girl once said
:12:42. > :12:46.his head and heart spinning but he went to confession and it ended. He
:12:47. > :14:09.also warned against portraying him as a superman.
:14:10. > :14:15.Are indexed begins with the reality check, you might think you have the
:14:16. > :14:18.worst con yet but the results are in. The top ten most gridlocked
:14:19. > :14:39.cities in America. Commuters spend 64 hours stuck in
:14:40. > :14:46.traffic each week. That is longer than a lot of work weeks. With three
:14:47. > :14:52.Californian cities in the top ten, else into the is with the West Coast
:14:53. > :14:56.tonight. A curve ball for the extreme athletes in the gruelling
:14:57. > :15:03.race across Alaska. This year it is not so frozen. Unseasonably warm
:15:04. > :15:07.weather. A lot of sunshine has melted the snow and maybe trails
:15:08. > :15:12.dangerous. It is 30 degrees out there but it is a minefield with the
:15:13. > :15:16.roughest trail they have ever seen. The sled hitting tree stumps and
:15:17. > :15:22.dogs with battle wounds. They make their way to night. And finally, we
:15:23. > :15:28.have songs that remind us of special times in our lives. It led one
:15:29. > :15:32.social worker toward a new mission, to awaken memories in Alzheimer's
:15:33. > :15:42.patients with used iPods and songs from their youth. The man who is
:15:43. > :15:53.America Strong. 93-year-old Richard loves big band.
:15:54. > :16:00.The first thing after breakfast it makes my day. His playlist is
:16:01. > :16:03.awakening his past and researchers think music touches so many areas of
:16:04. > :16:07.the brain that it makes connections and might have the power to stir
:16:08. > :16:12.memories and understanding that is otherwise lost. After three hours
:16:13. > :16:19.each week someone will score 50% better than their previous exam.
:16:20. > :16:28.This social worker, who thought what if we take old iPods and took them
:16:29. > :16:31.to others. This wife says the barbershop music rings back glimpses
:16:32. > :16:39.of the man she married. Sometimes we get to see him in that. His goal is
:16:40. > :16:49.to collect 1 million music layers. Do you still dans? Sure. Edna loves
:16:50. > :17:09.Andy Williams. A nice world 's. It is the simple pleasures of life near
:17:10. > :17:23.the end of life. -- wlatz. -- waltz. Thank you for watching. Good night.
:17:24. > :17:32.Rein in the forecast today but the weather situation is quieter kneeing
:17:33. > :17:34.as we move into the weekend. Things are looking promising. For here and
:17:35. > :17:36.now we have this weather front producing more in the way of cloud.
:17:37. > :17:37.--