The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, has officially presented a Certificate of Yoruba Territory to Quilombola territory in Brazil, making the city the first outside Africa to receive the title.

The highly revered Yoruba king also on Tuesday addressed Brazil’s Federal House of Assembly where he officially inaugurated the first-ever National Orisa Day in the South American country.

A statement from Ooni’s Media Aide, Moses Olafare, said Ogunwusi addressed the Brazilian Parliament on the special session for Isese Practitioners marking the national day for Orisa religion in Brazil.

The Ooni said the royal visit was undertaking to bridge the gap between the Yoruba race and the rest of the world through cultural integration and globalizing Yoruba culture in the diaspora.

According to him, the Royal Father and his entourage from Nigeria arrived in the Brazilian city of Bahia on Sunday and met with President Lula da Silva in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, on on Monday.

The Ooni delivered the title in the Quingoma community, in Lauro de Freitas, in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador.

Residents of Quilombola celebrated the delivery of the title of Yoruba territory which would further strengthen and preserve the Yoruba history, culture and language in the community.

“The Quilombola was recognized for having received and welcomed Yoruba people, who were enslaved and forcibly removed from their base in Nigeria during the era of the slave trade in Africa.

“The recognition of Quilombola as Yoruba territory is another step in the fight for respect for African history; for the history of the Quilombola dates back to the 17th century.

“Currently, around 580 families live in the area covering approximately 1,200 hectares. Quingoma has been recognized as a Quilombola territory by the Palmares Foundation since 2013,” the statement said.

Ọ́ọ̀ni disclosed that the rich and robust history of the Brazilians and the Yoruba people have dated back time in memorial.

The royal father said that the steps taken would not only preserve the history via cultural preservation, but would also give Brazilians a sense of belonging which would help to foster improvement in strengthening the heritage of Yoruba globally.

Ponies in his submission said the event iwas a very personal one for him as he is passionate about preserving the Yorubas culture and its deep-rooted values.

“This event will lay precedence for the Yoruba language and its culture to be more acceptable globally. You can see the excitement on their faces.

“Their Babalawos are well grounded in the teachings of Ifa and can render the Odu-Ifa and its panegyrics like our Ifa priest do in Nigeria,” Ooni stated.

According to him, the Brazilians hold their gods like Sango, Ogun, Yemoja, and Obatala in high esteem and have designated days to celebrate these gods with colorful displays infused with plenty aesthetics.

“They also speak Yoruba which is one thing I love about them; It’s very essential to harmonize them and also show solidarity that we are part of them and they are part of us.

“This will foster good bilateral trade between Brazil and Nigeria and it will also put the Yoruba culture at an advantage,” he added.

Bukayo Saka looked visibly shocked as he was handed the England Player of the Year award on Friday.

The Arsenal star, who edged England captain and runner-up Harry Kane and third-place finisher Declan Rice to the gong, was recognised as England’s standout performer over the last 12 months by voters.

Daily Mail reports that Saka, 21, made nine international appearances this season for the Three Lions and chalked up three goals, putting in a man-of-the-match performance during England’s 4-0 victory against Andorra on his birthday last September.

After a year, the Gunners winger has been offered the perfect vote of confidence from fans as England get ready to take on Italy in the Nations League, Friday night.

Reacting, Saka said in disbelief, “No way! I did not expect this, honestly. I’m honoured.”

“I’m so happy, I can’t put into words how happy I am. It’s really nice to be awarded this trophy, and that’s all I can really say!

“Playing for England is so special, there are so many kids who want to play football for teams and it’s really difficult, so to then get picked to play for your country, it’s another level of honour and pride in yourself.

“So I’m just really happy every time I get to come here, pull on the shirt and play at Wembley in front of all the fans.

“It’s a beautiful feeling,” the Daily Mail quoted him.

[img]https://data.ibtimes.sg/en/full/61891/mahsa-amini.png?w=736[/img]

A 22-year-old Iranian woman has been declared brain dead just hours after reports spread that she was beaten and arrested by morality police in Tehran for not complying with the country's mandatory hijab rules.

According to reports published on social networks, Mahsa Amini had traveled from the western Iranian province of Kurdistan to Tehran to meet relatives when she was arrested on September 13.

Eyewitnesses at the scene told journalists that Amini appeared to have been beaten inside the morality police van while being taken to the detention center, though she was conscious. A few hours after her arrest, her family was informed that Amini had been hospitalized.

The media center of the Tehran Police Department denied the eyewitness claims of beating Amini, saying she was transferred to one of the police departments in Tehran for "justification and education" about the hijab when she "suddenly suffered a heart problem."

Kiarash Amini, Mahsa's brother, said in an interview with the Iranwire news website that doctors told him they had diagnosed Mahsa as having had either a heart attack or a stroke, "and that while her heart was still beating, her brain is no longer conscious."

Puran Nazimi, a human rights activist, challenged Iranian authorities to release security camera footage to prove they didn't beat Amini.

Iranian Women Violently Punished for Not Following Hijab Rules

Authorities in Iran are increasingly cracking down on women deemed to be in violation of wearing the hijab, which is mandatory in public in Iran. In recent weeks, women judged not to be in compliance have been barred from entering government offices, banks, or riding on public transportation.

The notorious Guidance Patrols, or morality police, have become increasingly active and violent. Videos have emerged on social media appearing to show officers detaining women, forcing them into vans, and whisking them away. Earlier this month, it was reported that the Iranian government intends to use facial recognition to enforce the hijab law.

In July, authorities arrested a 28-year-old Sepideh Rashno after a video circulated on social media of her being berated for improper dress by a fellow passenger. Hrana, a human rights group, claimed Rashno was beaten after the arrest and forced to apologise on television to the passenger who harassed her.

The hijab -- the head covering worn by Muslim women -- became compulsory in public for Iranian women and girls over the age of 9 after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Many Iranian women have flouted the rule over the years and pushed the boundaries of what officials say is acceptable clothing.

A former legislator from India’s ruling party has been caught on boasting on camera about getting at least five Muslims killed in the western Indian state of Rajasthan.

“We have killed five of them so far, be it in Lalwandi, be it Behror … I have given a free hand to the workers, kill those ****** behind cow slaughter,” Gyan Dev Ahuja, a politician belonging to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is seen saying in a video now viral in India.

“We will get you acquitted, we will get you out on bail too,” he said, purportedly referring to the mob lynchings and killings related to alleged cow slaughter in his area.

Indian media reports earlier this week said Ahuja has been charged with promoting religious hatred and enmity, and was interrogated by police in Rajasthan on Monday.

Between 2013 and 2018, Ahuja was a legislator from Ramgarh in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, which saw a series of mob lynchings and killings of Muslims by Hindu mobs.

On Monday, Indian news website The Quint reported that at least three such deaths happened in Alwar in 2017 and 2018 over allegations of slaughtering cows, which Hindus consider holy.

“Pehlu Khan was lynched in public view in April 2017. Umar Khan was shot dead in November 2017, a murder that two (cow vigilantes) owned up to. And Rakbar Khan was killed in July 2018,” said the report.

“They all took place in Rajasthan’s Alwar,” it said.

India’s Muslims have been facing hate speech and attacks since Modi came to power in 2014.

Russia's Defense Minister has denied the country has been isolated, listing Chad, Uganda and other nations among its allies.

"These constant loud statements about the isolation of Russia," Sergei Shoigu said in an interview, according to Interfax. "This is generally quite difficult to achieve, and, speaking of our country, it is almost impossible because it's the largest nuclear power, the largest country in terms of area and territory."

Suggestions that Russia's war in Ukraine would affect the number of companies and delegations attending the Army 2022 International Military and Technical Forum in Moscow were unfounded, he said.

"I'll tell you that friends remained friends," Shoigu said. "They were not affected by this powerful pressure from all sides."

Shoigu delivered the remarks at the conference attended by military officials from Africa, Asia and Latin America, which ended today.

"It is very gratifying that prominent military leaders of our friendly states—Burundi, the Republic of Guinea, Cameroon, Mali, Sudan, Uganda, Chad, Ethiopia and the Republic of South Africa—are present in this hall today," Shoigu said, according to a report on August 16 in Ukrainian Russian-language newspaper Delovaya Stolitsa.

"We appreciate your support and intend to increase cooperation on mutually beneficial projects."

Shoigu also dismissed allegations that Russia could potentially use nuclear or chemical weapons in the conflict in Ukraine.

"From a military viewpoint, there is no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine to achieve our goals," Shoigu said. "The main mission of the Russian nuclear forces is providing a deterrent against a nuclear attack."

At the opening of the conference on August 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia and its allies in Latin America, Asia and Africa have "historically firm, friendly and truly trustworthy relations."

Putin said Russia continues to provide "cutting-edge weapons—from small arms to armored vehicles and artillery, combat aviation and drones," according to an English translation.

Those weapons, he said, are "decades ahead of their foreign counterparts."

"We are talking about high-precision weapons and robotics, combat systems based on new physical principles," Putin said. "Many of them are years, perhaps even decades ahead of their foreign counterparts, and significantly superior in terms of tactical and technical characteristics."

He also accused the U.S. of trying to encourage extended hostilities in Ukraine.

"They need conflicts to retain their hegemony," Putin said. "That's why they have turned the Ukrainian people into cannon fodder. The situation in Ukraine shows that the United States is trying to drag the conflict out, and it acts in exactly the same way trying to fuel conflicts in Asia, Africa and Latin America."

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese troops will travel to Russia to take part in joint military exercises led by the host and including India, Belarus, Mongolia, Tajikistan and other countries, China's defence ministry said on Wednesday.

China's participation in the joint exercises was "unrelated to the current international and regional situation", the ministry said in a statement.

Last month, Moscow announced plans to hold "Vostok" (East) exercises from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, even as it wages a costly war in Ukraine. It said at the time that some foreign forces would participate, without naming them.

Its last such exercises took place in 2018, when China took part for the first time.

China's defence ministry said its participation in the exercises was part of an ongoing bilateral annual cooperation agreement with Russia.

"The aim is to deepen practical and friendly cooperation with the armies of participating countries, enhance the level of strategic collaboration among the participating parties, and strengthen the ability to respond to various security threats," the statement said.

Under Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Beijing and Moscow have grown increasingly close.

Shortly before Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Beijing and Moscow announced a "no limits" partnership, although U.S. officials say they have not seen China evade U.S.-led sanctions on Russia or provide it with military equipment.

Russia's eastern military district includes part of Siberia and has its headquarters in Khabarovsk, near the Chinese border.

Around 4,000 Scots are estimated to have been accused of the crime, which was in law until 1736, with around 85% of those convicted being women.

Thousands of Scots convicted of witchcraft could be posthumously pardoned if a new bill proposed by an MSP becomes law.

Natalie Don, the SNP MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, has launched a consultation on a member's bill to "right the historic wrong of witchcraft convictions" and give legal pardons to those convicted almost 300 years ago.

It comes after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon apologised on International Women's Day in March to those convicted, vilified or executed under the Witchcraft 1563 Act.

Around 4,000 Scots are estimated to have been accused of the crime, which was in law until 1736, with around 85% of those convicted being women.

Campaigners have been fighting to secure a legal pardon for around 200 years for the approximately 2,500 people convicted of breaking the law.
Witches coven: Scotland's most infamous necromancers

Janet Douglas, Lady Glamis Accused of witchcraft by her brother King James V, as part of a vendetta against his family, she was arrested on trumped up charges. People close to her were tortured to extract "evidence" and on 17 July 1537 Janet was burned alive on Castle Hill, Edinburgh, with her young son forced to watch.

Helen Duncan (1897-1956) The last Scot to be tried under the 1735 Witchcraft Act, Duncan was notorious as a schoolgirl for her dark premonitions. Later she claimed she could summon spirits by emitting ectoplasm from her mouth, but was exposed and convicted as a fraud. In 1941 Duncan held a seance in which a dead sailor told her HMS Barham had been sunk. Because this information had not been released to the public Duncan was arrested and imprisoned, for falsely claiming to procure spirits.

The Bo'ness Witches In 1679 Annabel Thomson, Margaret Pringle, Margaret Hamilton, William Craw, Bessie Yickar and another Margaret Hamilton were detained in the tollbooth at Borrowstounness on charges of witchcraft. It was alleged that they had all renounced their baptisms and eaten, drunk, danced and fornicated with the devil on numerous occasions. They were all found guilty and strangled at the stake.

Janet Horne Accused of being a witch in 1727, Janet Horne was the last person in the British Isles to be executed for witchcraft. When Horne and her daughter were arrested in Dornoch, after being accused of being witches by their neighbours, she was showing signs of senility. After a hasty trial they were both found guilty. Whilst her daughter managed to escape, the old woman was stripped, smeared with tar, paraded through the town on a barrel and burned alive.

Isobel Gowdie In 1662 Isobel Gowdie, a housewife from Lochloy, Nairn, was executed after freely confessing - without being tortured, which was usual for the time - to being part of a coven of 13 that feasted with the Queen of the Fairies and also had the ability to transform into animals. She also claimed to have killed a man with elf-arrows and to have been raped and beaten by the Devil. Gowdie's testimony is considered to be the most exceptional ever given by a witchcraft suspect in Britain.

The Witches from Macbeth "Double, double toil and trouble; / Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." Shakespeare's witches predict Macbeth's rise to king and his eventual downfall. They were probably based on a chronicle of Britain written in 1587, in which Macbeth and Banquo encounter 'three women in strange and wild apparel', believed to be Weird Sisters, 'goddesses of destiny'.

Ms Don said: "The recent formal apology from the first minister on International Women's Day was welcomed by campaigners in Scotland and recognised around the world as a statement of intent.

"It was a powerful and incredibly important first step in righting the historic wrong of 'witchcraft' accusations, arrests, and executions.

"My member's bill will hopefully be the next step towards that and, if passed, it will make clear that the people convicted of witchcraft all those years ago should never have faced the injustice of being labelled as criminals.

"By issuing official pardons for all those convicted of witchcraft, we will be sending a strong message to the wide world - some parts of which, women still face prosecution for being accused of witchcraft - that Scotland recognises what happened to these people as a deplorable miscarriage of justice.

"It is also about influencing the gendered and patriarchal attitudes which, unfortunately, still exists in our society today - and making it clear that Scotland does not tolerate discrimination in any way."

The Witches of Scotland campaign group said: "We are absolutely delighted to see Natalie Don's bill reach this stage and are hopeful that this will bring about some posthumous justice to the thousands of people who were executed by the state during the witch hunts.

"This will also signal to other countries around the world where accusations of witchcraft are a very real and current issue that this is not acceptable in the modern day."

Tunisian President Kais Saied confirmed Tuesday that a draft constitution to be put to a referendum on July 25 will not enshrine Islam as the “religion of the state.”

“The next constitution of Tunisia won’t mention a state with Islam as its religion, but of belonging to an umma (community) which has Islam as its religion,” he told journalists at Tunis airport.

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“The umma and the state are two different things.”

Saied took delivery of the draft text on Monday, a key step in his drive to overhaul the Tunisian state after he sacked the government and seized far-reaching powers last July in moves opponents called a coup.

Sadeq Belaid, the legal expert who headed the drafting committee, had told AFP in an interview earlier this month that he would remove all reference to Islam from the new document in a challenge to Islamist parties.

His comments, partly referring to Saied’s nemesis Ennahdha, an Islamist-inspired party which has dominated Tunisian politics since 2011, sparked a heated national debate.

The first article of Tunisia’s 2014 constitution - and its 1959 predecessor - defined the North African country as “a free, independent and sovereign state. Islam is its religion and Arabic is its language.”

The 2014 document was the product of a hard-won compromise between Ennahdha and its secular rivals three years after the revolt that overthrew former leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The new text, produced through a “national dialogue” excluding opposition forces and boycotted by the powerful UGTT trades union confederation, is meant to be approved by Saied by the end of June before being put to voters next month.

That is a year after the former constitutional law professor sacked the government, later consolidating his power grab by dissolving parliament and seizing control of the judiciary.

His moves have been welcomed by some Tunisians tired of the corrupt and often chaotic post-revolutionary system.

Saied has long called for a presidential system that avoids the frequent deadlock seen under the mixed parliamentary-presidential system.

Asked about that issue on Tuesday, he said: “Whether the system is presidential or parliamentary is not the question.”

“What counts is that the people has sovereignty. There’s the legislative function, the executive function and the judicial function, and separation between them.”

Two months after the Russian ruble fell below a U.S. penny, the transcontinental country’s fiat currency is the best performing currency worldwide. American economists are baffled by the “unusual situation” because a country facing stiff sanctions typically sees its fiat currency decline in value, but Russia’s ruble has done the exact opposite.
Russia’s Ruble Outshines the Euro and Dollar — Transcontinental Country’s Fiat Currency Shows Resiliency

On February 28, 2022, Bitcoin.com News reported on the Russian ruble sinking to record lows, and citizens started to withdraw lots of cash causing what many reports called a “bank run.” At the time, Russia was hit with strict financial sanctions from countries opposed to the war in Ukraine. Furthermore, the United States, the European Commission, and Western allies imposed restrictions on the Bank of Russia’s international reserves.

However, during the second week of April 2022, Bitcoin.com News reported on the country’s central bank slashing rates and pegging the ruble to gold. At the time, Russia’s central bank pegged the price of RUB to 5,000 rubles for a gram of gold. Russia also made it so “unfriendly” countries are forced to pay for gas with the ruble. Numerous international buyers are complying with the rule and paying for petro products in rubles. The country’s central bank also slashed Russia’s benchmark bank rate as well.



That week in April, the Russian ruble rebounded to pre-war levels and the fiat currency has shown resilience ever since then. In recent times, various headlines from Western-based media outlets have shown that the Russian ruble is the world’s best-performing fiat currency today. Speaking with CBS, Jeffrey Frankel, a professor of capital formation and growth at the Harvard Kennedy School remarked that “it’s an unusual situation” in regard to the ruble rise. The ruble has recorded record highs against the eurozone’s euro and the U.S. dollar.

In the same report, Tatiana Orlova, the lead emerging markets economist at Oxford Economics, said that the increase in commodity prices has been attributed to the ruble’s resiliency. “Commodity prices are currently sky-high, and even though there is a drop in the volume of Russian exports due to embargoes and sanctioning, the increase in commodity prices more than compensates for these drops,” Orlova explained. Orlova further detailed to CBS that there’s been a huge discrepancy between exports and imports in Russia. The Oxford economist added:

"We have this coincidence that, as imports have collapsed, exports are soaring."

Orlova also discussed the capital controls Russia’s central bank implemented and how foreign holders of stocks and bonds cannot reap dividends internationally. “That used to be quite a significant source of outflows for currency from Russia — now that channel is closed,” the Oxford economist concluded.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the Biden administration is struggling with hot inflation and the president has a hard time discussing the issue, according to a report from the New York Times’ contributors Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Jeanna Smialek. Biden is claiming that “America is in a stronger economic position today than just about any other country in the world.” Biden continues to blame the Russian president Vladimir Putin for the U.S. gas hikes and calls it the “Putin Price Hike.”

Jeff Bezos saw his wealth slashed by $20 billion on Friday, cutting him to No. 3 among the world’s richest, after Amazon’s stock tanked following a downbeat earnings report.

As of Friday, Bezos’ net worth was valued at $150 billion — down from $170.5 billion a day earlier, according to Forbes.

Now, Bezos is in third place among the world’s richest, behind No. 2 Bernard Arnault, the French luxury tycoon whose current net worth is estimated at $157.7 billion,.

The world’s richest man, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is on the verge of acquiring Twitter for $44 billion, has a net worth of $246 billion, Forbes says.

The Amazon founder’s wealth has taken a massive hit since it hit a peak of $210 billion last year, making him the world’s richest person at the time. That’s despite his 2019 divorce from MacKenzie Scott, his college sweetheart, who took 25% of his Amazon stock in a settlement.

Scott’s net worth also got slashed by Friday’s Amazon rout, dropping $6 billion to $36.8 billion, according to Forbes.

Since its peak, Bezos’s net worth has taken a discount of $57 billion, according to Bloomberg News. Indeed, before Friday’s carnage, Bezos’ wealth had already tanked more than 23% year to date as Amazon’s stock has taken a hit from the post-pandemic slowdown in online spending as well as increased labor costs and soaring rates of inflation.

Bezos currently owns 55.5 million shares of the company, equal to an 11.1% stake, according to company filings.

Bezos’ outsize wealth recently made headlines when Dutch officials reportedly weighed plans to dismantle a section of a 140-year-old bridge to make way for the his $500 million superyacht, which is under construction near Rotterdam. Preservationists said they will bombard the luxury cruiser with rotten eggs if the city follows through.

Bezos also lately has been living the high life with gal pal Lauren Sanchez. Most recently, the couple were spotted double-dating with Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson, according to Page Six.

Amazon shares fell 14% on Friday after the Seattle-based e-commerce giant reported disappointing earnings for the first quarter of 2022.

While in-store sales rose, March is the first month to show decline in online sales since the pandemic began, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks spending made over the Mastercard payments network and survey estimates for other payments made with cash and checks.

Amazon said it earned $7.38 per share — which is short of analysts’ expectations that it would hit $8.36 per share, according to CNBC. The firm also reported $116.44 billion in revenue, which beat forecasts. Analysts expected $116.3 billion.

Amazon Web Services, the cloud-computing division, also outperformed analysts’ expectations, bringing in $18.44 billion in revenue versus the $18.27 billion that was forecasted.

But Amazon’s advertising division fell short of Wall Street’s estimates, generating $7.88 billion versus forecasts of $8.17 billion.

Amazon also reported losses of $7.6 billion from its investment in electric car start-up Rivian, which shed half its value in the quarter. Rivian’s losses for the quarter totaled $3.8 billion.

Amazon’s revenue jumped 7% in the first quarter — a far cry from the 44% increase in revenue from the same period a year ago. It was the slowest growth rate for the company since the dot-com bust in 2001. Last quarter, Amazon also reported single-digit revenue growth.

The numbers don’t bode well for Amazon in the next quarter, as its revenue projections range between 3% and 7%.

Amazon expects total revenue this quarter to range from $116 billion to $121 billion — short of the $125.5 billion average analyst estimate, according to CNBC.

“The pandemic and subsequent war in Ukraine have brought unusual growth and challenges,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement.

Jassy assumed the reins of the company after Bezos stepped down as CEO last year.

In his first year as chief executive, Jassy took home $212 million in total compensation. Of that sum, just $175,000 was his base salary. The rest is derived from stock options and other awards.

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues with heavy attacks on Kharkiv and Mariupol, many diplomats at the UN's Human Rights Council let their actions show Russia what they think.

According to a Deloitte Canada report, since Canada has legalized recreational cannabis in 2018, the industry has contributed $43.5 Billion To Canada's National GDP.

The industry has generated $11 billion in sales nationwide and made $29 billion in capital expenditure. Furthermore, the adult-use recreational cannabis industry has created 98,000 jobs and put $15.1 billion into government coffer.

The report shows that the industry adds around $1.09 to Canada's GDP for every dollar for revenue and capital expenditure. The cannabis sector sustains around four jobs for every million dollars in revenue.

However, not much has changed about diversity within the industry. Before legalization, almost all federally licensed cannabis producers were managed by White men. Deloitte surveyed 700 directors and executives from more than 200 firms. The findings show that 72% were White men, 14% were men belonging to minority groups, 12% were White women, and 2% were women belonging to minority groups, including South Asian, East Asian, Indigenous, Arab, Hispanic, and Black individuals.

Such findings are in line with a 2020 study conducted by the University of Toronto and the Center on Drug Policy Evaluation which found that cannabis industry leaders are primarily White (84%) and men (86%), despite the fact that minority groups have been disproportionately negatively impacted by cannabis prohibition in Canada, the United States, and elsewhere.

The authors of Deloitte's report have recommended that governments and cannabis companies alike must take action to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion across the sector, building on and expanding existing efforts to enable more racialized Canadians and women to participate in the industry's success.

However, Deloitte's analysis shows that there are still opportunities for the Canadian cannabis industry to make a more significant social contribution and address its considerable environmental footprint.

Overall, the report concludes that from an economic perspective, it seems clear the cannabis industry has been a "great success, with more to come as it continues to grow."

MJBizDaily reported a study by ATB Capital Markets that shows that cannabis sales in Canada could reach $3.8 billion in 2022, which would be 19% more than 2021's estimated figure.

When Canada legalized cannabis for recreational use, the offer was minimal. For instance, Ontario, with a population of about 14 million people, allowed only 25 dispensaries initially. Furthermore, consumers complained about the difficulties of accessing legal cannabis due to high prices. Successively, it came the excess supply. Canadian producers grew tons on cannabis that exceeded the demand and tons of unpackaged products for different reasons, including low-quality production, production for testing only, and clogged sales channels.

The industry also struggled with fragmentation, price competition, and store saturation.

There are over 800 companies licensed to sell or process cannabis in Canada. According to some industry analysts, the offer surplus contributed to the oversupply of cannabis in the market. While that figure may also demonstrate a successful transition from the illegal to the legal market, some experts see the industry's current state as unsustainable and leading to heavy consolidation.

BNN Bloomberg reports over 2,000 legal cannabis stores across the country that have helped erode the significant presence of the illicit market, which is now operating online.

Interestingly, the biggest Canadian companies' market share is declining, while smaller companies are gaining, despite merger and acquisition (M&A) deals and record sales in 2021.

MJBizDaily also reported a Hifyre analysis that shows that the top five licensed producers represented less than 40% of the Canadian market in August 2021, while producers accounted for more than half of all retail sales the previous year. Similarly, the top nine cannabis producers accounted for almost 80% of the market in 2020, but that fell to a combined 62% in 2021, making the market fragmented and highly competitive.

The move follows the recognition of separatist territories in eastern Ukraine as "independent." International leaders have strongly criticized the decision and vowed new sanctions. Follow DW for the latest.



Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his Defense Ministry to send Russian troops into eastern Ukraine's two breakaway regions, according to a decree published early on Tuesday after he said Moscow would recognize their independence.

The Kremlin said Putin ordered the Russian forces to "maintain peace" in eastern Ukraine.

The decree did not specify when any such deployment would take place. However, the move raises tensions, as Western leaders have warned Moscow could use a skirmish in the restive region as an excuse for a Russian attack.

Earlier Monday, Putin signed the decree stating Moscow recognizes the "independence" of the breakaway Ukrainian territories of Luhansk and Donetsk, parts of which are held by pro-Russia separatists.



How has US responded so far?

US President Joe Biden said he "condemned" President Putin's decision to recognize the "independence" of separatist regions in eastern Ukraine during a call with Ukrainian President
Volodymr Zelenskiy, the White House said.

The White House said that Biden has spoken with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron on how they will continue to coordinate their response.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that there must be a "swift and firm" response to Putin's recognition of the two breakaway republics.

Blinken said that the decision represents a complete rejection of Russia's commitments under the

Minsk agreements and contradicts Russia's "commitment to diplomacy." He added that states have an obligation not to recognize a new state created through the threat or use of force.

EU leaders vow sanctions

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel also condemned Putin's decision, saying it is a "blatant violation of international law as well as of the Minsk agreements."

"The union will react with sanctions against those involved in this illegal act," a statement from the two leaders said. "The union reiterates its unwavering support to Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders."
NATO condemns recognition by Putin

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg condemned of the move, saying "this further undermines Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, erodes efforts towards a resolution of the conflict, and violates the Minsk Agreements, to which Russia is a party," he added.

"Moscow continues to fuel the conflict in eastern Ukraine by providing financial and military support to the separatists. It is also trying to stage a pretext to invade Ukraine once again."

U.S. troops in Ukraine are pulling out as U.S. officials are growing increasingly concerned of an impending Russian invasion.

160 Florida National Guard soldiers, the only known U.S. troops in the country, are being repositioned elsewhere in Europe, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement released Saturday morning.

Those troops, assigned to the 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, were a part of a previously planned training mission with Ukrainian forces, mostly operating far from the country's border where Russian President Vladimir Putin has amassed some 130,000 troops. U.S. troops from different units have been rotating to train Ukraine's military since 2015, with the Florida soldiers arriving in November as Russian forces were amassing.



Biden has pledged that U.S. troops will not fight in Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO. But the news comes as thousands of U.S. soldiers, alongside troops from other European powers including the United Kingdom and France, mobilize to bolster NATO's eastern flank.

The Biden administration continues to escalate its warning about the likelihood of war.

A senior State Department official told reporters Saturday that it is "past time" for Americans to leave Ukraine, saying routine embassy services, such as help with passports, in Kyiv will be suspended on Sunday as key personnel evacuate.

"It appears increasingly likely this situation is heading toward active conflict...there are limits of what we can do in a war zone," the senior State Department official told reporters.

On Friday, President Joe Biden ordered an additional 3,000 paratroopers from Fort Bragg, North Carolina to Poland. Those forces, along with the original 1,700 mobilized earlier this month, are expected to be in place within a few days. Roughly 1,000 U.S. troops with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, a Stryker squadron based out of Germany, are in the midst of deploying to Romania.