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The 2022 Winter Games may be the strangest Olympics ever. As omicron continues to shake up the world, nowhere is Covid disruption more evident than in Beijing, as organizers do all they can to make sure the two-week event runs smoothly. To prevent teams bringing Covid into China the entire event will take place within a tightly monitored loop or bubble. Foreign spectators are barred from the games, while journalists will be separated from competitors by plastic shields. The strangeness isn’t just regarding Covid-19. The U.S. announced its officials would boycott the Games, due to concerns about ‘crimes against humanity’ and human rights abuses, and was followed by Australia, the U.K. and Canada, in the first such protest of a host country since the Cold War. China simply stated that officials hadn’t been invited anyway and claims the U.S. ”will pay” for its demonstration. The Winter Olympics take place from 4 February to 20 February with around 3,000 athletes competing in 109 different events. The Winter Paralympics run from 4 March to 13 March, with 736 competitors across 78 events. Welcome to ‘China’s CONTROVERSY GAMES’

Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press

January 5, 2022, Chiayi, Chiayi, Taiwan: F-16V jet fighters are seen taxing on the runway at the Air Force base, as the Taiwanese military conducts a drill for preparedness enhancement ahead of the Chinese New Year, amid rising threats from China. Taiwan has been facing intensifying threats from Beijing including a record breaking number of PLA warplanes flying into its ADIZ, while the US has been approving more arms sales to Taipei. (Credit Image: © Daniel Ceng Shou-Yi/ZUMA Press Wire)

Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press

Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press

Cover Credit © Ha’Atafu Beach Resort/Xinhua via ZUMA Press

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

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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