this is bbc world news. i'm gareth barlow. our top stories: knocking. eyewitnesses say armed soldiers are going door—to—door in occupied parts of ukraine to collect votes for so—called referendums onjoining russia. storm fiona strikes canada's atlantic coastline. torrential rain and winds of up to 160km/h cause exstensive flooding and mudslides. in iran, increasingly violent anti—government protests have continued for an eigth day. millions of italians prepare to go to the polls, in an election that could usher in the nation's first female leader and a government led by a far—right prime minister. rapping. and, how one of the world's most streamed performers, bad bunny, has used his fame to draw attention to the issues facing his native puerto rico.

hello and welcome to bbc news. reports from ukraine say armed soldiers have been going door to door in occupied parts of the country to collect votes for self—styled referendums onjoining russia. russian state media says door—to—door voting is necessary for security reasons. these are the four areas where voting is being held. they include occupied parts of luhansk and donetsk in the east, and zaporizhzhia and kherson, in the south, and cover around 15% of ukraine's territory. the so—called referendums have been widely condemned. president biden described them as a sham and a false pretext to try to illegally annex parts of ukraine. our correspondent, james

waterhouse, reports from kyiv. russia's version of their so—called referendums — a free and fair democratic process where ukrainians in kherson decide whether they want tojoin russia. but, on the same spot today in the city centre, it's deserted. ukrainian officials have posted footage like this. apparently, ballots being taken door—to—door with the support of armed men. on this unverified cctv clip, a man is asked what apartment he's from. "i don't live here." "are you sure?" "yes," he says. he carries on down without looking over his shoulder. we've spoken to several people under russian occupation... outgoing dialling tone. hello. hi, bleep.

..including natalia — not her real name. nice to hear you, too. a producer has voiced her words. what are yourfriends and family thinking about this? do they want to go and vote? translation: all of my friends are against the referendum - because we're sure that the referendum will be rigged. we don't understand why we should answer the question that is written on the ballots. we don't want to be part of russia. driven by losses on the battlefield and growing criticisms back home, the kremlin wants to legitimise its presence in ukraine while threatening an escalation if ukraine keeps pushing back. this isn't about democracy. it's a move straight out of the russian playbook. the result will be what russia needs it to be, and ukraine is calling on the world to see right through it. james waterhouse,

bbc news, in kyiv. human rights groups say more than 700 people have been arrested at anti—war demonstrations across russia since reservists were called up to fight in ukraine. this video footage has emerged which appears to show a fight in the russian city of omsk between men drafted to the army and local police. the footage appears to show russian police trying to force the men onto buses, according to the reuters news agency journalist who shared the video. president putin has announced a call—up of around 300,000 russians who have done compulsory military service. the video, which has been attributed to the omsk civil association, has not been verified by the bbc. well, for the past five days, russian civilians have queued for hours to cross the border into neighbouring countries, and avoid the military call—up to fight in ukraine. long queues of cars have formed at a number of crossings. many are scared russia might close its borders, such as crossings into georgia, kazakhstan, finland and mongolia.

although the kremlin says reports of an exodus are exaggerated. the bbc has been speaking to one russian driver, who wished to remain anonymous, as he queued to get into georgia. i am a musician, i am a guitar player. i want to take all of my musician stuff with me so, in this case, i took my car and go to the border of georgia and russia. i was in vladikavkaz and i guess there will be around 10 or 15 hours in future for the border. i have two kilometres to border and it's stuck. i have some food and water with me in my car. there is a toilet and so on. as we know, all people that in border now, they can cross it, so it's not a problem for now. many people here just

don't want to go to war. i guess it's a main reason that we are here. we don't speak about the war in these queues. we speak about border, i guess, yes. i see car numbers with region numbers. we can see almost any of our region numbers in these cars. i guess nobody can make a full view of the situation in ukraine — at least from our side, from our country. our people don't know correct information about the situation in ukraine. also, what i can say about people that i am speaking with — our simple people they don't want to go to war. as me, i don't want to fight. i know many people from ukraine. it's my friends, it's part of my family. i don't want to fight, of course.

let's get some of the day's other news. north korea has fired a single, short—range ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast. the missile came down outside of japanese territorial waters. it's the first such test sincejune and comes after a us aircraft carrier arrived in south korea to take part in joint naval exercises. the us government has criticised as "catastrophic" the reintroduction in arizona of a 19th century law, which bans almost all abortions. the white house press secretary said the decision had set back women in the state by more than 100 years. ajudge in brazil has banned presidentjair bolsonaro from using public buildings to record party political broadcasts ahead of next sunday's general election. earlier this week, mr bolsonaro made a controversial live online address from the library of his official residence in brasilia, urging voters to support him in the poll.

more than half a million people in eastern canada are without power as the region continues to be battered by a huge storm. these pictures show the town of channel port aux basques. storm fiona brought winds of nearly i60km/h, tearing down powerlines and trees. authorities have issued severe weather warnings and the prime minister, justin trudeau, has promised to send help to the affected regions. hurricane fiona is currently having a terrible impact across atlantic canada and eastern quebec. we're seeing devastating images coming out of port aux basques. pei has experienced storm damage like they've never seen. cape breton is being hit hard, too, as is quebec. there've been evacuation orders issued. hundreds of thousands of people are without power. there are reports of roads washed out and homes destroyed. we've all seen the images.

this is a very powerful and dangerous storm. earlier, i asked ancel langille, who's senior operations manager for the red cross, how the organisation is coping with the aftermath of hurricane fiona. we're doing ok. organisationally, we have mobilised our personnel to support people that are displaced because of the storm, because of damage to their homes. there have been several apartment buildings within this province that have been damaged, therefore people can't stay there. in the province of newfoundland and labrador, especially in port aux basques, our teams are preparing to set up shelters to receive people that now have no place to stay and to support their short, medium and long—term means for what will be a very long time of recovery. what idea of the numbers affected do you have at this stage? there's still hundreds of thousands of people without powerjust in nova scotia. it's still over 300,000. just over 80,000 in prince

edward island and just over 33,000 in new brunswick. the power outage numbers in newfoundland and labrador are not as high but the structural and infrastructure damage there is much greater. justin trudeau said that he will give whatever resources are required. from your perspective, what do you need? well, i would say that the first priority will be for power crews to be able to get to the lines and get to the poles to restore power, so i would suspect — in my experience would tell me — that crews would come in to help with the tree clearing and debris clearing to allow power crews to do theirjob. once power is restored, then there will be a better assessment of damage to people's homes and if they can return, and when. and for those who have been affected by the storms, what is your advice to them? either in areas where the weather has maybe passed or in areas where it is still ongoing, what should people do? so, in newfoundland on the west

coast, it is still very stormy there, the winds are still over 100km/h, so our advice to those people is if safe, stay in your home. don't go outside until the weather passes. for the rest of us in the maritimes, it was a stunningly beautiful sunset here in nova scotia. however, it still really isn't really safer people to be out because of the downed powerlines and trees and the outages and powerlines not working. so the best advice is for people to hunker down at home, get out the battery—powered lights and play a board game, read a book. be with your family, be with your friends and be safe. we have heard on bbc news from people saying that they have never experienced weather like this. they're 70 or 80 years old and this is a first — a hurricane in this part of the world. what can be done, then, to prepare? because weather systems, climates are changing. there's going to be a lot of soul—searching, i think, amongst individuals and governments around preparedness for the next fiona

or whatever storm may approach. i would expect that provinces and governments would look at their shorelines and how to protect those better. how we can improve on protecting climate, and individuals will take their own look inside and around their properties to see how they can be a bit better prepared the next time. keep trees trimmed back, things like that. this is bbc news. the headlines: eyewitnesses say armed soldiers are going door to door in occupied parts of ukraine to collect votes for so—called "referendums" onjoining russia. storm fiona has struck canada's atlantic coastline. torrential rain and winds of up to i60km/h have caused extensive flooding and mudslides. there are reports from several cities in iran of more clashes between anti—government protestors and the police, including in the capital, tehran. police say they've arrested more than 700 protesters at anti—government demonstrations and officials

say 35 people have been killed. leana hosea has this report. cheering and applause. protesters push back and overwhelm a fire engine that was being used to disperse demonstrations in this town north of tehran. siren wails. it's one of many protests that have ignited in dozens of cities across iran following the death of a young woman in police custody. in another town, protesters are defacing the image of the supreme leader ali khamenei from the walls of the university. yelling. in the capital, demonstrators lit fires, reportedly to act as a barrier against the security forces and to alleviate the effects of tear gas. dozens of protesters have been killed, and this woman told us what happened to her husband

at one demonstration. translation: we went out to protest for our rights - and this is what they did to my husband. what you see on my husband's body are bruises from baton strikes and kicks from the members of the security forces. afterwards, we went to all the pharmacies, but they refused to help us. even the doctors in hospitals didn't dare help us. but a doctor secretly visited my husband at home. i hope we win. i hope iran becomes free. the protests were triggered by the death in custody of a young iranian kurdish woman, mahsa amini, who'd been detained for not wearing the hijab properly. the police say she suffered from sudden heart failure, but they had reportedly beaten her. herfather says she had no prior health problems. earlier, it was reported that areas of the majority kurdish city oshnavieh, near the border with iraq, had been taken over by demonstrators.

authorities say they have regained control of the town. they accuse kurdish separatists of stirring up unrest in iran and say they have launched a cross—border artillery attack on militant bases in the kurdish region of northern iraq. iran has rarely seen widespread protest like this over a civil rights issue, but what started as a movement against mandatory hijabs and for equality between the sexes has escalated to calls for regime change, and women are leading the way. leana hosea, bbc news. i've been speaking to hadi nili from bbc persian. i asked him what the current situation was like in iran. the protests a re the protests are still going on in different cities, including tehran, the capital, and this is this part of the full show of force by the iran regime security apparatus. we've seen that on video, taken of citizens sent to media like bbc

persia, showing forces shooting directly at the crowd. and in some instances, beating protesters with their hands —— bare hands in very fatal ways and despite all of this, and also, very limited access or we can say no access to internet at the night—time as an effort to curb the protests by the government. we can still see the protests are going on in tehran and other cities — tens of cities, we can say, and there are still chants against the top leader himself, ali khamenei, which is quite rare because you are not allowed to call him only by his name, you have to call him by his official

name — the supreme leader of the revolition— but people are chanting and asking for his death. we can see that there are significant numbers and criticism against the ayatollah. is there any support for this protests? protestors are seeing support from some prominent figures, cultural and also some soccer players, football players, celebrities, we can say, that are voicing support for the protests, or at least are calling for some dialogue between the people and government which could be seen as something not much near all not much consent, given the way the protesters are being shot at. one of the most significant and prominent figures who voiced support for the protests was the two—time oscar award—winner film—maker asghar farhadi, and he posted on instagram a two—minute clip

calling for solidarity — calling for solidarity for intellectuals across the world. i invite all artists, intellectuals from all around —— artists, filmmakers, civil rights — —— artists, filmmakers, civil rights activists from all around the world, from all countries. anyone who believes that human dignity and freedom to stand in solidarity with the powerful and brave women and men of iran. this is their responsibility, a human responsibility. we saw significant protests in 2019 in iran. how does this compare three years on? we can see a more diverse demographic in these protests, more of a presence of women up in the front. there are videos of women going on top of the police cars and chanting against the regime, against the leader, against the police.

this is not something we have seen in iran that much. we can see the presence of teenagers or very young people who are not necessarily organised or identifying themselves with specific leaders or ideologies, but they are basically mostly calling for more room and freedoms to have that the islamic government in iran usually denies, or at least does not validate. we can see the example of mahsa amini, the 22—year—old woman who died under custody after being detained for not adhering to the strict dress code, the hijab, as an example to these young iranians, calling for more freedoms and they are voicing their opposition that this cannot happen under this regime.

thank you so much for your comments. the first picture of the new burial stone marking the queen's final resting place has been released by buckingham palace. the ledger stone has been set into the floor of the george vi memorial chapel at windsor castle, where she was buried alongside her late husband prince philip on monday. members of the public will be able to visit the chapel in person from thursday. voting begins shortly in italy in an election that could usher in a new far—right prime minister. giorgia meloni leads a right—wing coalition that has topped the opinion polls in recent weeks. if it wins, she's likely to be asked to form a government. so, how has the election come about and what will be the implications beyond italy? here's our rome correspondent mark lowen with this guide to the election. there are some things italians agree on and other things —— there are some things

that italians agree on — they've got the best coffee and food — and other things they don't, politics being one of them. like the upcoming election. it was sparked injuly when the prime minister mario draghi lost the support of his coalition partners. so—called �*super mario' had stabilised this politically volatile country amidst the covid pandemic and the war in ukraine. giorgia meloni's far—right brothers of italy has led the polls. she wants tax cuts, a naval blockade of libya to stop migrant boats, and is hard—line on lgbt rights. her party has neo—fascist roots but she vehemently rejects the label. she is in coalition with the ultranationalist league of matteo salvini and the ex—prime minister silvio berlusconi, known as much for his bunga bunga sex parties as his centre—right politics. fighting them is enrico letta, pro—europe and pro—civil rights but he failed to form a broad centre—left coalition. he fell out with the once anti—establishment five star movement that came top last

time, but has plummeted. it's hoping its social welfare policies will save it now. so, how will the poll affect the war in ukraine? mario draghi has been a big supporter of kyiv and while giorgia meloni backs that, her coalition partners have had close ties with vladimir putin and salvini has even suggested dropping sanctions on moscow due to the energy crisis. so, this election matters, both here with italy perhaps about to elect its first woman prime minister and first far—right leader since mussolini, and abroad with implications for its relationship with europe. but this country has had almost 70 governments since the second world war, so we mightjust be back here again next year. that was the bbc�*s mark lowen. nasa has called off another scheduled launch of its historic uncrewed mission to the moon which was due to take place on tuesday — that's because of tropical storm ian, which could become a hurricane as it approaches florida. it's the third delay in a month

for the test flight, which suffered a fuel leak and other technical glitches at the end of august. the international recording artist bad bunny has released a new music video from his latest album. the clip isn'tjust a video to accompany his hit reggaeton track, it's also a viral documentary about the issues facing the artist's native puerto rico. released just hours before hurricane fiona struck, it's already racked up millions of views. ben derico has the story. # puerto rico. this is bad bunny, one of the world's most popular musicians. on spotify alone, he has over 44 billion streams. he's just released his latest music video for his song el apagon, but it's not your usual video clip. kacho lopez is the video's director. it was an idea — it was a bad bunny idea. they called and said, "how do we turn a music video "into a documentary?"

not your usual ask, but he and his team found a way. after three minutes of music, the video transitions into a 20—minute report about some of the island's most pressing issues, like blackouts, corruption and american influence. you know, it's kind of like a trojan horse in that it uses bad bunny's popularity and his platform to get people that were not looking for a documentary about these issues and having them just come to have fun, come to get entertained by the music and, all of a sudden, wait — what is he talking about? the documentary is fronted by bianca graulau, a journalist in puerto rico who has gained followers on platforms like tiktok and instagram for her investigative reporting. as the documentary says, "aqui vive gente" — people live here. this is notjust your playground, this is notjust a tourism destination, there are people who have been living here for generations and they're struggling to have a good life.

it's been five years since hurricane maria decimated infrastructure across puerto rico. since then, blackouts have become common and, to make things worse, since hurricane fiona passed through, thousands are still without power. so, i think it's that balance that shows the real puerto rico — a place that's beautiful, a place that's rich and amazing, but also a place that has problems. the video has over six million views and it's given an amazing platform to a documentary that wouldn't usually get anywhere near as many. but will viewers keep watching when bad bunny isn't asking them to? puerto rico and the world will have wait to find out. ben derico, bbc news, san francisco. plenty more stories on our website. you can also find me online. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @garethbarlow. thanks so much for watching bbc

news. hello. it's set to get colder for all of us over the next few days, although that said, lowest temperatures likely to be sunday morning. with light winds, we could see a touch of frost in some rural parts to begin the day, a few mist and fog patches, too. they will quickly clear and for most, a chilly start to sunday but a lovely, sunny one. isolated shower, too, over norfolk and suffolk, the channel islands, and as cloud builds in the north and the west through the days, a few showers will crop up here and there. most, though, will be dry. the exception as the winds strengthen will be the north—west of scotland — a band of heavy rain quickly sweeping across these areas by the end of the afternoon. temperatures for all down on what we've seen through recent days, aided and abetted by that strengthening wind. now, those winds will go north—westerly as we go into sunday evening. that band of rain through the evening, scotland, northern ireland, pushes through quite quickly, then clear skies and showers and then, that rain spreads its way southwards across much of england and wales, too, into monday morning. now, it's actually going to be very cold on monday morning

but it probably won't feel as chillyjust because of the strength of the wind, and that wind will be a key feature because as we go into monday and, indeed, tuesday, it's coming down from the north and north—west, feeding with it air that's come all the way from the arctic. now, you've got to remember it's september, so in the sunnier moments, it probably won't feel too bad out there but when you're in the showers — and there should be plenty around on monday — it will feel distinctly chilly. those showers spreading southwards and eastwards across the country quite rapidly, so ever—changing skies. early rain on the south coast clears to allow a sunnier day but around the coasts, it's where we'll see some of the strongest of the winds, gusting 40, maybe 50 mph, and that will make it feel colder than these temperatures suggest. and just note on the thermometers — only around nine degrees in aberdeen, so it will feel even colder than that. a chilly day to come on tuesday as well. a slight shift in wind direction means some eastern areas of england will have a much brighter day. showers in the north and the west, maybe some longer spells of rain sliding through ireland, clipping south—west wales and in towards cornwall. temperatures here maybe up to around 15 or 16 degrees

but only around 10 to 1a degrees for many on tuesday. a chilly night will follow. rain towards that south—west corner will clear and winds will fall lighter, then, for wednesday and thursday as the area of low pressure gradually pulls away. but it's still going to be on the chilly side — temperatures only in the teens and there will be some further rain at times, too, before the winds strengthen later on friday. see you later.

this is bbc news. to draft additional forces to fight in ukraine. hurricane fiona has ripped through canada's eastern seaboard after making landfall in nova scotia. torrential rain and winds of up to 160km/h caused exstensive flooding and mudslides. numerous coastal homes have been swept into the sea. violent anti—government protests have continued in iran. police have arrested more than 700 people and at least 35 people have been killed.