>> this is dw news live from berlin. the west condemns russian plans to hold referendums on annexing occupied ukrainian territories. pro-russian separatists said they will bring forward fou days of voting. ukraine will carry on the burning their lands. the head of the united nations warns of the world is in great peril as leaders gather in new

york for the first time since the pandemic. plus, freed over the murder of his high school girlfriend. the focus of a popular true crime podcast. u.s. judge orders his beliefs as new evidence comes to light more than 20 years later. and hurricane fiona blasts the caribbean. hurricane federico -- puerto rico is dealing with wins over 100 miles per hour. most of the island is out -- without of -- without power or water. the west has condemned plans by separatists and for occupied ukrainian territories to bring forward referendums on becoming part of russia. the self-proclaimed people's's

in eastern ukraine as well as her son in the south are set to begin four days of voting on friday. the u.s. and nato have condemned this. what has has the votes are an affront to the principles that underpin the international system. >> my friends, the donbass is returning home. with that leader of the people's republic announced a vote on joining russia. authorities bring self-declared people's republic as well as the occupied parts of the deprivation regions have announced similar poles to begin on friday. some residents welcome the move. when speaking to journalists with separatist minds. >> we also ported, all of us. i think it will all be fine.

the victory will be ours. we are so happy this is happening. when the operation started back in february, we were screaming hooray. that is what we were saying today. >> ukraine's foreign minister was quick to condemn the hastily organized vote as a sham referendum, sayingkraine would keep liberating s territy. ukrainians who have fled russian occupied areas poured scorn on the plans. >> by no means can i cl it a referendum. and what the russian federation wants to do with those territories, i believe it is illegal and pointless. it is a fake exercise. >> the votes come as ukraine continues to press as counteroffensive in the east.

it has retaken thousands of square kilometers within just weeks. all -- >> i at ukrainian member of parliament what her reaction was what she heard this announcement . >> it is no surprise that russia keeps stating these fake referendums. that is their playbook. it is the sum of the referendum that they tried to stage in crimea in 2014. they keep going down tt route and using that same old template. obviously, just like the crimean referendum, these will be as legitimate. >> the ukrainian officials interpret this as a sign that russia is scenting defeat. why do you think russia is doing this now? >> we can see it in the extremely successful

counteroffensive in the northeastern of ukraine. russia is realizing it can no longer sustain occupied territories. i am sure they are rushing to have these referendums conducted on the occupied territories. the last i the general election day for russia. they failed to deliver that day as well. they are rushing to secure any positions they have.

>> do you think they will go through with the referendums this time around? >> it is difficult to say. i am sure they are progressing. i know that putin keeps postponing his address to the nation so i am sure that decision is still being made and ey are waiting at the options, how successfuthat would be. and their constant occasions, when the russian people have absolutely no idea what is happening in the occupied territories and the propaganda they have been exposed to.

people didn't know whether kyiv was under ukrainian control. >> what would a referendum and the outcome of a referendum mean for the situation on the ground for the people who would go from russian control territory? >> i think it is not going to change much realistically. if anything, that is aimed at the internal russian audience for the consumer. it is not going to change ything internationally. many foreign leaders said it would be a sham referendum. no one will really believe any outcomes of it. legally and legitimately, it will not change anything. ukraine is intended to get all of its entire -- to get all of

its territories back. >> thank you so much for your assessment tonight. >> the turkish president has called on russia and ukraine to compromise on a dignified way out of the war. he also said that he will work toward protecting ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity. >> i got together with president boudin and we had very extensive discussions with him and he is showing me that he is willing to end this as soon as possible. that was my impression because the way things are going right now are quiet problematic. >> i asked the correspondent dorian jones in istanbul about what they meant about taking a dignified way out of ukraine and what that might look like. >> president erdogan has given ve little detail about what

this diplomatic lution to this conflict will be other than saying he has had a long talk with president putin last week. putin wanted an end to th conflict as soon as possible. preston erdogan said he is positioning himself as president erdogan said he is positioning himself to. -- president erdogan said he is positioning himself to. we have this talk of a russian occupied ukraine that would secede to russia. this is contradicting what president erdogan has been saying. >> erdogan has been acting as a mediator between russian -- russia and you -- russia and ukraine.

his he just someone that putin is willing to talk to or does putialso listen to him? >> his relationship with putin is undoubtedly close. i think putin doesn't value his relationship with him particularly because of the fact that turkey is not enforcing western sanctions against russia. that is why he believed in all of this. he does not want to really want. he knows he has to make concessis at sompoint.

putin knows he has to give something to erdog and the ongoing relationship. does that mean he will end the confct? what we inspect i some sort of prisoner exchange which erdogan is working to facilitate. >> thank you, dorian. the head of the united nations has warned that the world is gridlocked by a string of crises. countries are not willing to tackle problem in ukraine and climate change. they want of a global winter of discontent. as the leaders gather in person for the first time in three

years, they say the world is falling short on tackling poverty. >> we need action across the board. we are in rough seas. global discontent is on the horizon. inequalities are exploding. our planet is burning. people are hurting with the most vulnerable suffering the most. >> our washington bureau chief will listen to the you in general secretary address and has this analysis. >> i think the sentence we heard has been suffering the most. this has been the key of the speech. he talked about ukraine which brought the world to the rank of the nuclear war but he did not leave it there. he talked a lot about climate

change. it hit so many countries. especially many african countries. he talked about people dying of starvation. he talked about women and girls suffering the most. he really painted an even darker picture than he normally does since the beginning of the united nations general assembly but he still does not give up hope. this is probably the second take away. he said we all keep staying together and fighting the evil. we still had the chance to change this world to a better place. >> a bit of hope there as well. >> a year ago, no one would have expected a full-scale war on the european continent. how big of a role is the ukrainian government playing at the general assembly? >> a big role.

this is also one of the main topics here. it is not left there. it is in the discussion as well. this is all about what can be done to help those that are suffering the most. >> this is the biggest diplomatic week of the year. a lot of talking on the big stage. can we expect any substantial outcome about the many crises the world is facing at the moment? >> many people say u.n. is a toothless tiger and it is only about goodwill speeches. i think this is fair to a certain extent but what really matters are all of these bilateral talks around the

official meeting. the german chancellor olaf scholz just met with turkish president erdogan. all of this regarding the questions about how to move on. the new prime minister of great britain met for the first time for a longer sit down and she will meet president biden tomorrow to talk about possible trade agreements. there is a lot more going on than just right in the building behind me. >> thank you so much. now to some other stories making adlines around the world today. you has announced its first -- uganda has announced its first death from ebola in years. the world health organization

says several suspected patients are receiving care. a top u.n. official has called for an independent probe into the death of an iranian woman who was arrested by the morality police. this 22-year-old's death has sparked a nationwide protest. she fell into a coma after being arrested for not covering her hair. the u.s. judge has thrown out a controversial murder conviction. he was found guilty in the year of 2000 of strangling his high school girlfriend but a popular crime podcast raised doubts over whether he really was the killer. prosecutors now say new evidence has come to light that bolsters science defense. >> released after more than two decades in prison but whether he is guilty or innocent is not clear. prosecutors say they no longer have confidence in his

conviction for the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend. the state attorney says they have not yet asserted their engines. a judge has ordered he be placed in home detention. >> nearly a year long exhaustive investigation revealing the substantive facts of this case where several -- where several problematic issues came through. >> the lawyer says they are shocked by the decision. >> they want the truth to come out. if the truth is that someone else killed their sister or daughter, they want to know that more than anybody. they were shut out of the legal process. it was inexcusable. >> the podcast made the case famous in its debut season in 2014. syria was a breakout hit. it helped to popularize audio

storytelling and it was followed by a wave of true crime podcasts . the podcast raised doubts over his conviction. prosecutors say there are two other possible suspects who were never disclosed to the defense team. they also listed an unreliable witness and detective among their concerns over the original trial. investigators say they also have evidence, they are awaiting the results of dna analysis to decide whether or not they will seek a new trial for sayyid or if they will throughout the case against him altogether. >> the podcast came out in 2013 but they did not release him until now. we asked scott roxburgh why it took so long to revive the evidence that was brought to life. >> this type of reassessment of a murder case virtually ver

happens in the united ates justice system. the fact that it has happed is quit astounding. the fact tt it took so long has to do with this -- the very slow wheels of justice in the united states. it took a long time for the court of public opinion to build up pressure against the conviction of sayyid, to force the prosecution in this case to re-examine its evidence and come to this conclusion that there might actually be some problems with it, leading to make the decision to release him temporarily at least. this is an incredibly rare. i don't think it should be surprising. without this podcast, he would still be in jail today. his case was made public and the problems with his conviction were made public and shown to an incredibly large audience. people forget this was the super

-- first super hit podcast. it had tens of millions of downloads back at a time where virtually no one was listening to podcasts. it popularized a genre a popularized the true crime genre in podcasts. it also led to a whole new movement in the true crime genre. >> hurricane field is wreaking havoc across the caribbean. wind have left much of puerto rico without clean water. >> this bridge was installed at the cost of some $3 million. beyond widespread damage to

infrastructure, overflowing rumors have forced people from their homes. authorities have opened more than 100 shelters across the island. those who haven't fled their homes have had to travel long distances to get essential supplies. >> we are looking for gasoline, water, ice. we were hoping it would not be so big. it was bigger than expected. we have to make do with what we have. >> did that about 3000 people dead. check out this blackout.

many areas of puerto rico are once again in darkness. the governor has warned that if you take days to get the power back on. >> in many areas that have never seen flooding, there has been an unprecedented accumulation of water. in many areas, it was greater than what we saw during hurricane maria. >> more than 1500 people have been killed by flooding in pakistan. there could be worse to come. waterborne diseases are spiraling. food supplies are also threatened -- threatening to feed livestock. >> now farmers are struggling to

keep them alive. this is one of the areas worst affected by the floods. he managed to save his animals but the water spoiled their feed. >> this grass has become rotten because of the floods. the animals will go hungry and eventually die. >> with their own cattle feed ruined, farmers have had to buy it in. >> we are struggling to buy feed for animals. now we have to pay 100, even up to 200 rupees per kilo. >> the government has promised to help at airdrop and supplies by helicopter has proved difficult.

this is one of the last remaining medical centers in the area. it is completely overcrowded. as damaged by the floods has increased the risk of disease. >> color has increased. hepatitis a and typhoid have also increased. along with that, more cases are being reported of insect borne diseases like malaria and dengue. >> the waters may have receded here but the impact of the time to come. cries of and representative is

challenging qatar's ambassador to germany's open gay rights. they're concerned about how lgbtq fans will be welcomed at the tournament in qatar. mosexuality is illegal there and can be punished with the deatpenalty. >> i am a man and i love men. i do. please don'be shocked. i have sex with other men. this is normal. please get used to it or stay out of football. the most important rule in football is football is for everyone. it does not matter if you are lezz being, gay, it is for everyone, the boys, the girls and for everyone in between. clancy is absolutely right. earlier, we spoke with the man we just saw in that video.

>> i am a football fan that also happens to be gay. the situation in qatar is not related to the gay-rights. there are many reasons to be very angry. i have the opportunity to speak there and i spoke about the love of things in our view. i had the opportunity to speak to ambassador. >> the polish football star has received a ukraine captain and

promised to take it with him to the workup in qatar. they were given the yellow and blue armband by the former ukraine ternational. this has been a strong reporter since russia and they did -- russia invaded.

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>> liberte, egalite, actualite. mark: welcome to "live from paris," world news from france 24. annexation of -- vladimir putin is staging is takeover of four regions in ukraine. ukraine the dominant issue at the united nations general assembly. french president a manual -- emmanuel macron