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Sunday's vote in Crimea has been followed, as expected, by steps within that region of Ukraine to split and join the Russian Federation and promises from the U.S. and its European allies that they will impose economic and other sanctions on Russia and those Crimeans who have spearheaded the region's breakaway attempt.

As we reported, Crimean officials say more than 95 percent of those who voted in Sunday's referendum endorsed the idea of joining the Russian Federation.

There were, however, complaints about the vote and some signs of intimidation.

From Crimea, NPR's Gregory Warner tells our Newscast Desk that "many pro-Ukranian Crimeans boycotted the referendum, saying the ballot gave them no option to vote to maintain the status quo of Crimea as part of Ukraine."

He also reports that "activists complained of irregularities — including voting by children and some people voting multiple times. Also, Russian biker gangs and armed self-defense units patrolled polling stations."

From the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports that the interim government there has rejected the vote, saying it is illegal under their nation's constitution.

Now, as The Associated Press writes, "the U.S. and its allies in Europe are expected to announce sanctions against Russia, including visa bans and potential asset freezes."

President Obama and many Western leaders say Russia has illegally interfered in Ukraine by sending troops into that nation's Crimean region following the ouster last month of Ukraine's pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych. Obama reportedly told Russian President Vladimir Putin again on Sunday that the U.S. will never recognize Sunday's vote.

For his part, Putin says he is moving to protect the ethnic Russians in Crimea from reprisals by Ukrainian nationalists — though there has been little, if any, evidence of any such moves by Ukrainians.

Meanwhile, steps toward Crimea's split from Ukraine continue. Monday, the BBC reports, Crimea's parliament "formally declared independence from Ukraine and asked to join the Russian Federation."

And from Moscow, Russia's Interfax news agency reports that "the independence of Crimea will be recognized by Russia in an inter-state agreement, State Duma Chairman Sergei Naryshkin said." The parliament leader added that Russia will act "swiftly and responsibly" and that he sees no problem with the Crimean officials' request to become part of the federation.

How did the crisis reach this point? Here's a quick recap and some additional background:

As we've previously said, Crimea has been the focus of attention as the ripple effects of the protests that led to last month's ouster of Yanukovych have spread.

Summing up the history and importance of Crimea to Russia and Ukraine isn't possible in just a few sentences, of course. The Parallels blog, though, has published several posts that contain considerable context:

— Crimea: 3 Things To Know About Ukraine's Latest Hot Spot

— Crimea: A Gift To Ukraine Becomes A Political Flash Point

— Why Ukraine Is Such A Big Deal For Russia

We've recapped what set off months of protest in Kiev and ultimately led to Yanukovych's dismissal by his nation's parliament last month this way:

"The protests were sparked in part by the president's rejection of a pending trade treaty with the European Union and his embrace of more aid from Russia. Protesters were also drawn into the streets to demonstrate against government corruption."

There are more than 4 million American families living under the poverty line today that are led by a single mother. Katrina Gilbert is one of those moms.

Gilbert is a certified nursing assistant in Tennessee. To support her three children, she sometimes works seven days a week at a nursing home. But at $10 an hour, her paycheck doesn't go very far.

HBO followed her for a year for its upcoming documentary, Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert. The film airs Monday and will also be available online.

For Tell Me More's year-long series marking the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty, Gilbert spoke to host Michel Martin about the film and the challenges she faces in her day-to-day life.

It's hard to see crippling sanctions at a modern shopping mall in north Tehran — the shops are stocked, the cafes are full. The latest western electronics – even iPhones and iPads, are available for those who can afford it.

But talk to middle class Iranians and you hear dire stories. The say they suffered as prices on almost everything rose dramatically for two years. International sanctions fueled skyrocketing inflation, estimated at 45 percent. Practically, that means that necessities – bread, rice, soap – got more expensive every month.

In a small neighborhood shop, a baker fills a machine with dough that pops out loaves of hot bread. Sanctions changed the way Iranians shop, says a customer, who doesn't give her name. Whatever the price, she says, you still have to buy the basics.

"Some things are expensive, but they are necessary and needed," she says. "The unnecessary things we ignore."

Iran's economy has been badly damaged over the past two years. International sanctions froze oil assets and isolated Iranian banks, which shut off most official international trade. Iran's currency lost 80 percent of its value, says economist Saeed Laylaz.

"We are in a catastrophe, disaster situation at the moment," Laylaz says.

Since January, when a six-month nuclear deal took effect with the easing of some sanctions, there's a slight economic revival, he says.

"Inflation, from 45 percent to 27 percent almost," Laylaz says.

Parallels

'Waiting For Godot' Strikes A Chord In Tehran

The United States announced its intention on Friday of relinquishing its remaining control of the Internet.

In a statement, the U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration said it wants to relinquish its oversight of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

ICAAN is a kind of cooperative that includes a wide array of companies and people, as well as more than 100 governments. One of the key functions overseen by the U.S. is the assignment of domain names. (Think of .com or .org.)

"The timing is right to start the transition process," Lawrence E. Strickling, the assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information, said in a statement. "We look forward to ICANN convening stakeholders across the global Internet community to craft an appropriate transition plan."

NPR's Steve Henn tells our Newscast unit that the world community has been calling for this handover for a while. But the current revelations over spying by the National Security Agency has led to louder calls.

"The announcement by the Commerce Department Friday that it would relinquish its oversight role of ICANN was widely viewed as a response to that criticism," Steve reports. "Administration officials have said any new governance structure for ICANN should be transparent and free from any hint of government interference."

The Commerce Department adds that it was always the intention of the United States to hand over these responsibilities to the global community.

The Wall Street Journal adds:

"The impact of the change remains unclear, because the Commerce Department's day-to-day role in overseeing the contract with Icann is largely clerical. However, other nations have suggested the U.S. can still use its current authority to block certain websites for reasons like copyright infringement or having links to known terrorists. One goal of transitioning Icann to nongovernmental oversight would be to provide more transparency to all nations into how the Internet's root structure operates.

"Until 1998, the functions were managed by Jon Postel, a computer scientist at the University of Southern California, one of the early pioneers of the World Wide Web. Upon Postel's death in 1998, the Commerce Department issued a contract to Icann to take over those functions, making Icann the primary body in charge of setting policy for Internet domains and addresses."