Four occupied Ukraine areas plan referendum vote to join Russia

Donetsk and Luhansk in the eastern Donbas region would stage votes on Sept. 23 and 27. [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [View in your browser]( [Top of The World]( --------------------------------------------------------------- What The World is following Four occupied Ukraine areas plan referendum vote to join Russia [Local residents collect wood for heating from a destroyed school where Russian forces were based, in the recently retaken area of Izium, Ukraine, on Sept. 19, 2022] Credit: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Ukraine With the Ukraine war nearing its seven-month mark, four areas under Moscow’s military control [announced plans](to vote on becoming integral parts of Russia as early as this week. Donetsk and Luhansk in the eastern Donbas region, recognized as independent republics by President Vladimir Putin three days before the war started, would stage votes on Sept. 23 and 27. Officials in Kherson and Russia-occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia made similar announcements. The statements came as Ukrainian forces are sucessfully battling the Russian army, forcing it to retreat from the northern Kharkiv region. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 after a referendum vote widely condemned by the international community as a sham. UNGA UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres [opened up the General Assembly’s]( annual high-level meeting in New York with a grim speech, saying that countries around the world are “gridlocked in colossal global dysfunction,” while citing the war in Ukraine and the climate emergency, among other topics. “Our world is in peril — and paralyzed,” he said before stressing cooperation and dialogue as the only path forward. World leaders will have a chance to speak on a global stage about critical issues impacting their nation and the planet. In a special exemption, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy [will prerecord]( his speech since he is required to carry national defense and security duties amid the Russian invasion. Mexico Property damage, flooding and at least one death was reported after a [7.6 magnitude earthquaque]( hit Mexico’s central Pacific Coast on Monday. The quake, with an epicenter just over 22 miles from the city of Aquila, near the border between Colima and Michoacan states, came an hour past a nationwide earthquaque evacuation simulation marking the anniversaries of 1985 and 2017 tremors. --------------------------------------------------------------- From The World [Kyiv residents try to get back to normal life amid lingering signs of war]( [Alyona Shumakova, the director of the Crossfit Banda Obolon gym in northern Kyiv, Ukraine, said that they reopened because many members reached out saying they needed to work out as a distraction from the war.] Credit: Daniel Ofman/The World When Russia first invaded Ukraine, the capital, Kyiv, was under threat. One of Russia’s goals was to force regime change in the heart of the country. That didn’t happen. But the residents of Kyiv are still processing the early days of the war, trying to [begin to get back to something like normal](daily life. [People shouldn’t put their guard down when it comes to COVID, Fauci says]( [Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, waves hello to the committee at the start of a House Committee on Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies hearing.]( Credit: Jacquelyn Martin/AP/File Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease specialist, [joined The World's host Marco Werman]( to assess the current status of the COVID-19 pandemic and reflects briefly on five decades of service in public health. --------------------------------------------------------------- Bright Spot Over the weekend, new [tango champions]( were crowned in Argentina. The first competition held in Buenos Aires since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic involved 560 couples from 30 countries. Tens of thousands also attended the music and dance shows. For both categories, stage, which includes acrobatic moves, and couples, Argentine dancers swept the first place. Credit: Reuters/Twitter In case you missed it on The World --------------------------------------------------------------- Don't forget to subscribe to The World's Latest Edition podcast using your favorite podcast player: [RadioPublic](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Stitcher](, [Soundcloud](, [RSS]( [The World logo]( [The World on Facebook]( [The World's Twitter account]( [Donate]( | [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [Edit your subscription]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [View in your browser]( Top of the World is written weekday mornings by the team at [The World](. [The World]( is produced by [PRX]( and [GBH](.