>> pro-moscow officials in four occupied areas of ukraine safe residents have voted to join russia, paving the way r annexation. deark and sweden are saying leaks into gas pipelines running from russia to europe are likely to be sabotaged. maryam: you are watching al jazeera. hurricane ian lashes western cuba with heavy rain and winds of 205 kilometers per hour.

in japan, they honor their assassinated prime minister. hello and welcome to the program. the war in ukraine looks set to enter a dangerous new phase as pro-moscow separatists declare 384 ukrainian regions, where they staged referendums on drawing russia. ukraine and the rest have dismissed the polls as a sham. russia is expected to use them as a pretext to annex those areas and portray any attempt to recapture them as an attack on russia itself. the boats were held in four areas, which are partly held by russian forces. they represent 15% of ukrainian territory. the numbers suggest an

overwhelming majority and all four territories are voting to join russia. tens of thousands have fled the fighting in those areas since the invasion began. our reporter from moscow. reporter: it is the final day of voting. for anyone doubting the outcome of the referendum, the writing is on the wall. >> we invite you to the referendum on join in the russian federation. please come in for voting. reporter: the moot was upbeat at this pulling station. for the pro-russian leaders here this day was meant to be. >> a historic event.

i am voting in favor of joining the russian federation. i am given my vote for a happy and bright future for our children, grandchildren, descendants. i will show you. reporter: the referendum means a large chunk of ukraine will become russian, at least in the kremlin's eyes. >> today, amid the special military operation, sitting people in all territories is top of the mind for our entire society. this is natural because it is

connected with traumatic events. reporter: in preparation, russia is sending an additional 300,000 reservists. >> how do you feel? >> wonderful. >> do you believe in victory? >> of course, everything will be fine. everything will be ok. we are in the moot for fighting. reporter: not everybody is happy. this woman argues with the russian official. >> i will speak out. i am right. we are the occupiers. ukraine has not been a part of the ussr for a long time. reporter: but the russian government remains determined. this is the defense minister visiting a training camp for recently mobilized troops. it is these men that president

putin is now relying on to win his war. maryam: many ukrainians have fled occupied regions in recent weeks. our reporter from the south of the country. reporter: it is always the same. townsend destroyed -- pounced destroyed. this is the cost ukraine is paying to regain control of land that was occupied by russia. the look on the faces of those who stayed tell the story. here there is no sign of referendum. but the russians are just five kilometers away and people there vote to decide if they should join the russian federation. the referendum is a sham according to the administration now in exile. >> we are getting information

from local people there. it is not a referendum, it is a movie, everything is done for the cameras. there was no preparation according to the law. they're coming to houses and forcing them with weapons. reporter: she will not show her face because some of her relatives are still in the russian held part of the country. she is worried about what will happen in the days to come. >> it is difficult for us to speak to people living in areas of russian occupied regions. it is impossible to reach those areas. we asked if he could call his mother and tell us what is happening there. about 200,000 people have been displaced by the war. she is one of them. >> my father died three years ago, but when soldiers came to

visit my mother, they were looking for her and my dad to vote. >> many others have fled regions where the referendum has taken place over the past five days. many of stayed in the russian control part for seven months. she said being forced to vote was the last straw. but for her sister, this is a bittersweet moment. >> it angers me. all your life you grow up with people, you work with them, and then all of a sudden they embrace the colors of russia and they are happy. reporter: while the international community has declared the referendum a legal, ukrainians. the vote will mean more war and more devastation before they regain control of their country. maryam: ukraine's president has addressed the un security council.

president zelenskyy sets the international community needs to take action against russia. >> the annexation of the captured territories, this is the most brutal violation of the united nations territory. this is an attempt to erase the norms of international law. it is a cynical attempt to force the male population in ukraine to mobilized into the russian army in order to send them to fight against their own. maryam: russia's ambassador to the united nations defended the referendum. >> it to us along long wait for the people of dundas. they can finally be rest assured they will not have the rights to speak russian taken away from them. maryam: nearly 200,000 russians have fled to neighboring countries since president putin

ordered a partial mobilization of reservists to fight in ukraine. many have gone to georgia. local officials have confirmed that moscow set up a recruitment office at a border crossing. fears are running high the kremlin close exit points to mina fighting age are deaths and heavy traffic has been reported. others have gone to kazakhstan and others have fled to finland. sweden and denmark are saying gas leaks in two major pipelines at the heart of a energy standoff between russia and europe were called by bless and were deliberate. the holes in the pipes were too large to be caused by an accident. but it is not clear who was behind it. the operator says there is unprecedented damage in the pipelines. nord stream normally shifts

directly to germany, but deliveries were suspended by russia because of a standoff over sanctions. denmark and sweden first reported the leaks near an island. they are expected to last at least one week. al jazeera reporter reports. reporter: gas bubbling up over an area in the baltic sea. three huge leaks detected at both nord stream 1 into his too much of a coincidence according to european leaders and energy experts. >> we see clearly this is an act of sabotage, an act which likely means a further step of escalation in the situation in ukraine. reporter: they recorded two before the leaks were detected. >> it is not an earthquake.

that is very clear. we have data in the water, burden the swedish navy has training exercises and they let us know about the particulars of that. the data from yesterday are very similar. no doubt these are explosions occurring in the water. reporter: germany has not been receiving many gas from the pipelines in the last few weeks when russia stopped supply. nord stream 2 never started operations. germany decided to pull the plug just before russia invaded ukraine. the nord stream pipeline's have been at the heart of an ongoing dispute on how independent -- dependent europe has become on russian gas. it was russia, not germany, that

decided to pause the supply of nord stream 1 just a few weeks ago, but now it is clear that no russian gas will flow anytime soon. the leaks show once more how vulnerable europe's energy supply is and how vulnerable the gas pipes are to attacks. >> this is not difficult. it just requires a boat, some divers that need to handle explosive devices. depending on the water depth, may be some special diving equipment. or you can do it with submarines. reporter: with ukraine blaming russia for damage in the pipelines, others have been more careful regarding pointing the finger. maryam: residence in the russians to be laid flowers at the makeshift memorial for those

killed at one of the country's deadliest school shootings. a gunman opened fire on monday before shooting himself. he is a former pupil at the school. much more still to bring you on the program. protests in india after a teacher is accused of fatally beating a student. nasa slams a spacecraft into a distant asteroid. >> we may see the strongest storm ever to hit the city. all of the energy is being brought up against the typhoon. looking to make landfall as we

look toward wednesday. sustained winds more than 200 kilometers per hour. amounts worth of rain over the next 72 hours. a storm just to the east of japan's island. a few showers, but we will duck and dive this one. southern sections of china, up to 35 degrees. those outer bands of the typhoon will spread showers in hong kong on wednesday. perth up to 28, that is well above average. we also have high temperatures for new zealand's how f island. -- south island.

>> one of south america's toughest. we followed two men who seem to thrive on its challenges. a veteran truck driver who answers any called whatever the weather to provide for his growing family. and the cowboy who enjoys his life. risking at all, paraguay on al jazeera. maryam: welcome back.

pro-moscow separatists have declared victory in four ukrainian regions on joining russia. ukraine and the west have dismissed the pole as an illegal landgrab. denmark and sweden say gas leaks from two pipelines connecting europe and russia were caused by bless. sweden's prime minister says the information suggests the damage to the pipelines was likely to be a deliberate act. florida is braced for its most powerful storm in more than a century. hurricane ian is intensifying as it moves towards the united states. 2.5 million people are under evacuation orders, with the storm expected to make landfall on wednesday night. it has already blasted parts of the caribbean, included cuba.

our reporter had to the story. reporter: blowing through the cayman islands hurricane ian offers a taste of what is to come to the cuba and u.s. mainland. the island's center has given the all clear on -- as hurricane ian heads to the caribbean. winds reaching 155 kilometers per hour it made landfall in the west. as a risk of widespread damage in a country already suffering an economic crisis. in hurricane ian's path is florida. it is more than a century that a storm like this has threatened the tampa bay area. the problem here is the storm is approaching from the south and

pushed huge amounts of water into the shallow tampa bay, and then and businesses. many people decided to head out of town rather than endure the hurricane. people sitting tight stocked up before heading home to batten down the hatches. with hurricane ian approaching the u.s. mainland, the federal government has declared a public health emergency for florida that has a population of 21 million people. maryam: more than a hundred thousand people in central vietnam have been forced to evacuate as the typhoon approaches. people were ordered to take shelter in seyfert areas in areas. schools have been close and public events canceled. thousands of planes and trains postpone. people are still drowning in

pakistan's catastrophic floods despite the worst of the brutal monsoon season ending weeks ago. more than 1600 people have died since the middle of june. they include young girls reported to have drowned in a flooded canal. millions more are still living in the open after their homes were destroyed. the economic damages estimated at $30 billion. and yes are searching for a teacher accused of beating student to death over spelling mistake. the boy's father says he fell unconscious after the teacher being with the rod. he died in the hospital on monday. they sit at the lowest rung of india's caste system and they had been discriminated against for centuries. reporter: there is growing anger

against casteism and caste violence in india. violent protests broke out in northern india over the boy's death. the family says the boy was beaten by his teacher a few weeks ago from making a spelling error. the family has called this a cast based hate crime. this family is from the lowest caste from the hindu caste system. this community is often treated as untouchables. the police have filed the complaint against the teacher who they say is absconding. this comes as hate crimes like this have become more common and have been in the news more often. according to government data, about five cast based hate crime's take place every hour in the country.

india has stringent laws against crimes like these. a few years ago some of these laws were even strengthened, by activists say enforcement remains weak. we have also seen members of this community mobilized and assert the rights increasingly over the last few years, but their efforts have often been met with more discrimination and more violence. maryam: security forces in iran have clashed with demonstrators and dozens of cities as protests continue over the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody. a rights group says at least 75 people have been killed. the u.n. high commissioner says dozens have also been arrested. protests started a week ago after the 22 your eye -- 22-year-old died after being arrested for not wearing her headscarf properly.

japan has honored their prime minister with the funeral in tokyo. shinzo abe was assassinated in july. thousands protested against the funeral. public opinion has been split. our reporter from tokyo. his report contains flash photography. reporter: the remains of shinzo abe were carried into the venue by his widow, accompanied by the current prime minister. his decision was to go ahead with this controversial state funeral. more than 4000 guests including many dignitaries and world leaders heard him lead tribute to his friend and mentor. >> rest while after all you have done for our nation and think you most sincerely. make an arrest in eternal peace. reporter: he served as prime

minister twice, coming to power a second time as japan was recovering from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. >> that was really the spirit that the prime minister brought to japanese politics. reporter: he was credited with making japan more assertive internationally, but his critics accused him of moving the country away from its traditional path of pacifism and many people have been protesting against this event. they have been angered by the cost and revelation since the assassination about links with the unification church have also hurt his reputation and abet of the current government. thousands still turned out to pay their respects. >> he has always stood up for his leaps even when many were

against him. >> i like him very much. i am so happy to see how many people have turned out. reporter: long lines waiting patiently to lay flowers as their own tribute. his legacy will certainly be a controversial one, but he seemed determined to change japan's position in the world and he will be remembered as one of his country's most significant political figures. maryam: nasa's moon rocket has been moved back to its hanger as hurricane ian approaches the florida coast. the artemis one launch was postponed for safety reasons. nasa did manage one other successful mission in the last 24 hours. it could be vital for our planet's future. reporter: 11 million kilometers from earth, the spacecraft hurtled closer and closer to the

rocky asteroid that was its target and then bullseye. scientists and engineers at mission control chair as the spacecraft's matches -- smashes into a far-off asteroid called dimorphos. >> we are showing that planetary defense is a global endeavor and it is very possible to save our planet. reporter: nasa's double asteroid redirection test or dark it was launched in november last year. its entire mission is to ram into dimorphos. the result is hoped a gentle nudge push and the asteroid on a new path. over many years the change in

trajectory will grow larger. while dimorphos itself is not in course to collide with earth, space rocks hit the planet all the time. the big ones can change the course of life on earth. 65 million years ago, huge object crashed near the yucatan peninsula, causing global devastation. scientists believe the impact is directly linked to the extinction of the dinosaurs. getting rid of t-rex was a good thing for us mammals, but another collision of the same magnitude will not be. it could destroy us all. so the international consortium behind dart hopes to defend the earth from potential catastrophe by combining observations to identify asteroid threats decades ahead of time along with the ability to knock them off their collision course. >> there are no known asteroid threats, but maybe we will have

technology to prevent them. reporter: the information gleaned from the test will hopefully help prevent humanity from suffering the same fate as from suffering the same fate as the di ♪♪ ♪♪ -in a small town above palermo

stands one of sicily's great art treasures -- the cathedral of monreale. ♪♪ in the 11th century, when the muslim arabs were tossed out by the christian normans, the normans made sicilian civilization grander yet, building monumental norman churches. this massive church, so richly ornamented, shows the glory of that age. ♪♪ ancient columns and capitals, gifted by the pope to bolster his southern border of christendom, were shipped here all the way from rome. ♪♪ the church was built to show off the power of the norman king, william ii, shown here boldly standing while being crowned by christ. the interior is famous for its exquisite 12th-century mosaics. each panel tells a story from the bible. there's adam and eve being tempted by the serpent,

angels climbing jacob's ladder, and noah building his ark and filling it with animals. ♪♪ it was designed to function as a bible storybook. for centuries, early christians debated whether or not images were appropriate in church. to solve this controversy, called the iconoclastic controversy, a pope called a convention -- the council of nicaea in the 8th century. the result -- images are okay if they teach the christian message. here at the cathedral of monreale, the art is laid out precisely as the council prescribed.

(sophie fouron) we're right in the middle of the atlantic. and out of nowhere are these nine volcanic islands. the azores were and still are a point of transit for sailors and fishermen. there's a strong sense of hospitality here, and generosity. everywhere you go, people offer food or drink. it's very charming. in the azores, there are more cows than there are humans.