Since the Taliban swept back to power in Afghanistan in August, they have been enforcing their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. In spite of trying to rebrand as more moderate, the group has imposed a slew of restrictions that revoke the liberties that Afghan women have won through a history of struggle and activism, and unravel the gains made over the past two decades. Most secondary schools for girls were closed, and women were prohibited from working in most government jobs and many other areas. The Taliban beat and detained journalists; many media outlets closed or drastically scaled back their reporting, partly because many journalists had fled the country. The new Taliban cabinet included no women and no ministers from outside the Taliban’s own ranks. Last week the United nations asked donors for $4.4 billion in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan in 2022 to ensure the country’s future after a period of turmoil marked by the Taliban’s seizure of power. The U.N. says the appeal, which amounts to nearly a quarter of the country’s GDP, is the largest ever sought for a single country and is triple the figure it received in 2021 when the U.S.-backed government collapsed. Western sanctions aimed at the Taliban also prevented the passage of basic supplies of food and medicine, although this has since eased. Welcome to ‘COST OF PEACE: Taliban Style’
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press
January 10, 2022, HONG KONG, CHINA: A woman receiving Covid swabbing test at local Covid Testing Post. Hong Kong is tightening grip on Covid control as Omicron Variant is rapidly spreading in the City after recent case of collective infections among Hong Kong high officials at the private party.
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press
January 6, 2022, HONG KONG, CHINA: Customer having a snack inside the restaurant in Central. In light of worsening Omicron infections in the City, all restaurants and bar joints are only allowed to open until 6pm in the afternoon starting from tomorrow HK TIME.
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press
Story of the Week #821: TUESDAY January 11, 2022: ‘DEADLY CONSEQUENCES : The Rise of Fentanyl’ from ZUMA Press photographer Roberto E. Rosales of the Albuquerque Journal: Esperanza Cordova isn’t afraid of the blues. Then again, the 43-year-old isn’t afraid of much. She’s been using heroin since she was 15 and, once fentanyl showed up, overdosed ”plenty of times” on a mix of the two. In the past year, she’s seen more than a dozen people overdose and die. Not strangers, people she cared about. Too many to count. The recent surge in drug US overdose deaths: 100,306 dead from April 2020 to April 2021, marks the first time the toll topped six figures in a 12-month period, according to provisional data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Recent data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) points to one potential answer in illegally manufactured fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can be 50 times more potent than heroin. Fentanyl has changed the streets of Albuquerque, and swept across New Mexico in a perfect storm with authorities are seizing record amounts of the drug, while fighting a spike in the violent crime that has come along with it. Health officials meanwhile, count the rising dead from a record number of overdoses as the drug takes center stage in the opioid crisis. Welcome to ‘DEADLY CONSEQUENCES : The Rise of Fentanyl’
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press
Alongside a lingering global pandemic, the year 2021 was filled with climate disasters, some so intense they surprised even the scientists who study them. Extreme rainstorms turned to raging flash floods that swept through mountain towns in Europe, killing over 200 people. Across Asia, excessive rainfall inundated wide areas and flooded subway stations in China. Heat waves shattered records in the Pacific Northwest, Europe and the Arctic. Wildfires swept through communities in California, Canada, Greece and Australia. The area around Boulder was so unusually dry on Dec. 30, 2021, that a powerful wind storm sent grass fires racing through neighborhoods in Superior and Louisville, burning hundreds of homes in a matter of hours. Officials said the winds were so strong, there was little firefighters could do but evacuate homes and businesses in the fires’ paths. The fire damaged or destroyed between $819 million and $1.6 billion worth of homes, which would make it the 10th costliest fire in US history. Welcome to ‘URBAN Firestorm’
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press
Sit back and enjoy POM! “The Pictures of the Month” presented by Scott Mc Kiernan and ZUMA Press. ZUMA received a huge volume of over one million professional photographer’s images, all shot in the month of December. The ZUMA photographers covered the four corners of the world to bring pictures that need to be seen! POM shows the best work of these photojournalists, documenting the most important events of the past month.
We close out 2021 with tornadoes in December, wildfires with 100 plus mph winds, and Omicron becoming the dominant Covid-19 variant. These stories and more as the December 2021 Pictures Of the Month for @ZUMAPress is now published. Happy New Year Everyone! PLEASE SHARE! #photojournalism http://www.thepicturesofthemonth.com
ZUMA’s talented award-winning picture editing staff of Jessica Cotsonas, Julie Rogers, Mark Avery, Ruaridh Stewart, Scott Mc Kiernan, Shalan Stewart, and the POM Editor-in-Chief Jim Colton made this ZUMA show possible. Enjoy and pass the word to others.
Photographers:
Adam Davy • Aditya Saputra • Alexander Demianchuk • Alvaro Blanco • Andrea Staccioli • Andrew Harnik • Andrew Matthews • Andrew Milligan • Ashraf Amra • Aslam Iqbal • Bashar Taleb • Ben Birchall • Bernd Wuestneck • Billy Bennight • Bob Daemmrich • Carl Glenn Payne • Carsten Koall • Chaiwat Subprasom • Chong Voon Chung • Chris Tuite • Christian Gooden • Danil Aikin • Darryl Dyck • Debarchan Chatterjee • Debby Wong • Dinendra Haria • Dmitry Feoktistov • Dominic Lipinski • Dominick Del Vecchio • Eddie Moore • Enric Fontcuberta • Federico Gambarini • Fuad Nizam • Gavriil Grigorov • Grigory Sysoyev • Hao Qunying • Hu Chao • Jabin Botsford • Kieran Cleeves • Kirill Kukhmar • Marcel Engelbrech • Mario Buehner • Martyn Wheatley • Matthias Oesterle • Mayank Makhija • Md Rafayat Haque Khan • Muammar Awad • Mustasinur Rahman Alvi • Nancy Kaszerman • Nidal Eshtayeh • Ondrej Hajek • Owen Humphreys • Patrick Steiner • Paul Edwards • Pawel Wilczynski • Peerapon Boonyakiat • Peter Kovalev • Rana Sajid Hussain • Richard Tsong-Taatarii • Ringo Chiu • Robin Loznak • Ron Sachs • Salim • Scott Kinser • Sebastian Kahnert • Sergei Bobylev • Sergei Karpukhin • Sergei Savostyanov • Shang Hao • Silas Walker • Soeren Stache • Suvra Kanti Das • Tao Ming • Thomas Warnack • Tom Williams • Uwe Anspach • Valery Sharifulin • Victoria Jones • Vitaly Zalessky • Yui Mok
Newspapers, Picture Agencies + Wire Services:
APA Images • Albuquerque Journal • CNP • CQ Roll Call • CSM • CTK • Cyfrasport • dpa • EFE • Eurokinissi • FEMA • GEPA • i-Images • ImageSPACE • Imago • Lexington Herald-Leader • Newspix • NurPhoto • Oakland County Sherrif’s Office • PA Wire • Pacific Press • Panoramic • SIPA Asia • SOPA Images • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • TASS • The Canadian Press • Vatican Media • Xinhua • ZUMA Press Wire
Music: ‘El Guardià Dels Somnis by Roger Subirana Mata
zReportage.com Story of the Week #819: TUESDAY December 28, 2021: ‘ROAD to Nowhere’ from ZUMA Press award winning photographer Richard Tsong-Taatarii: Several thousand Haitian migrants are clustered outside a stadium in southern Mexico that has been re-purposed into a migration office, urging authorities to let them pass freely through Mexico. Two caravans of migrants largely from Haiti and Central America have departed from the southern city of Tapachula in recent weeks, many taking off on foot for the long journey in hopes of reaching the U.S.- Mexico border. The rise in the number of Haitians trying to make their way through Mexico has been spurred by economic malaise, an earthquake and political turmoil following the assassination of Haitian President Moise in July. UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration said: ‘Today, there are over 258 million migrants around the world living outside their country of birth. This figure is expected to grow for a number of reasons including population growth, increasing connectivity, trade, rising inequality, demographic imbalances and climate change,’ statement. Welcome to ‘ROAD to Nowhere’
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press
December 23, 2021, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain: VINICIUS JR. (20) of Real Madrid gesticulating during the La Liga Santander match between Athletic Club and Real Madrid at San Mames stadium
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press
ZUMAland.com 