zReportage.com Story of the Week #812: TUESDAY November 2, 2021: ‘Being Taiwan’ by ZUMA Press award winning photographer Daniel Ceng Shou-Yi who covers the ongoing story in Taiwan under the shadow of China: The increase in Chinese military activity in Taiwan over the last few months has caused global concern. The island of Taiwan, about a hundred miles off China’s southeastern coast, has its own democratically elected government, its own flag, its own military. Yet most of the world, including the U.S., won’t recognize it as an independent country for fear of upsetting China, which insists it owns Taiwan. Caught in the middle are the island’s citizens. Today, Taiwan has all the attributes of a robust independent state, and most Taiwanese want it to stay that way. But Chinese President Xi Jinping appears eager to annex the island, as Mao Zedong’s regime did to Tibet in the early 1950s, in the name of ‘reunification.’ A Chinese invasion of Taiwan would constitute the biggest threat to world peace in a generation. There is disagreement and confusion about what Taiwan is. China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province which it has vowed to retake, by force if necessary. But Taiwan argues that it is a sovereign state. Given the huge divide between these two positions, most other countries seem happy to accept the current ambiguity, whereby Taiwan has virtually all of the characteristics of an independent state, even if its legal status remains unclear. Welcome to: ‘Being Taiwan’
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press
June 14, 2021, Austin, Texas, USA: City of Austin (TX) police supervise while city workers clean out a large homeless protest camp on the north side of City Hall mid-morning. Police arrested multiple homeless who refused to cooperate after several weeks of warnings and offers of assistance.
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press
October 5, 2021, Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA: KYLE RITTENHOUSE, 18, waiting for start of his motion hearing in Kenosha (Wisconsin) Circuit Court, Tuesday. Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Schroeder weighed several motions, in an effort to establish the final ground rules for the November 1, 2021 criminal trial. Judge refused to dismiss a weapons charge. Rittenhouse, then 17, during an August 2020 BLM protest in Kenosha, shot two men fatally during the unrest that followed the shooting of J. Blake by a Kenosha police officer. Rittenhouse’s attorneys asked for dismissal of a charge that he possessed his AR-style semiautomatic rifle illegally, because he was a minor. Rittenhouse faces 7 charges including one count each of 1st Degree Intentional Homicide, Reckless Homicide, and Attempted Intentional Homicide.
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press
Melting ice caps and wildfires remind us that climate change is real and Captain Kirk went to space…for real. These stories and more as the October 2021 Pictures Of the Month for @ZUMAPress is now published. Rest In Peace Jack Kurtz. #photojournalism 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.
Alessio Marini • Anas Alkharboutli • Andrew Milligan • Anton Novoderezhkin • Avishek Das • Basilio Sepe • Boris Roessler • Brian Cahn • Chaiwat Subprasom • Damien Poullenot • Daniel Ceng Shou-Yi • Danny Lawson • David Davies • David Stockman • Dirk Shadd • Erick Madrid • Evan Bootman • Georgio Viera • Habibur Rahman • Hendrik Schmidt • Howard Jones • Idrees Abbas • Irene Amiet • Ivandro Inetti • Jack Kurtz • Jane Barlow • Javed Dar • Jens Buttner • Jesus Merida • Joe Giddens • John J. Kim • John Mersits • Jon Olav Nesvold • Ju Huanzong • Julian Stratenschulte • K.C. Alfred • Karl-Josef Hildenbrand • M. Scott Moon • Mark Thomas • Marwan Naaman • Matias Basualdo • Matteo Nardone • Matthias Bein • Michael Brochstein • Mike Egerton • Mike Eliason • Mustasinur Rahman Alvi • Olivier Corsan • Peter Byrne • Peter Kneffel • Ricardo Rubio • Robin Loznak • Ron Lyon • Ronald Kotinsky • Sarah Wouters • Sebastian Kahnert • Sergei Savostyanov • Skanda Gautam • Slavek Ruta • Stephen Lock • Vladimir Smirnov • Xisco Navarro Pardo
Newspapers, Picture Agencies + Wire Services:
ANSA • APA Images • Abaca • Balkis Press • Belga • Bildbyran • Blue Origin • CSM • Contacto • dpa • EFE • Europa Press • Hollandse-Hoogte • i-Images • LPS • Maxppp • mediadrumworld.com • NurPhoto • PA Wire • Pacific Press • Red Bull Media • SBC Fire • SOPA Images • TASS • TNS • Tampa Bay Times • Vatican Media • WSL • Xinhua • Xpb • ZUMA Press Wire
zReportage.com Story of the Week #811: TUESDAY October 26, 2021: ‘GUATEMALA Bleeds’ by ZUMA Press award winning photographer David Tesinsky who rode along with Guatemala’s Policia Nacional Civil: Guatemala’s criminal organizations are among the most sophisticated and dangerous in Central America. Some of them have been in operation for decades. They include former members of the military, intelligence agencies and active members of the police. Poverty and violent crime continue to plague Guatemala over twenty years after its last left-wing guerrillas laid down their arms. An average of 101 murders per week were reported in 2018. 95% of murders remain unsolved and the ultra-violent maras (gangs) manage drug trafficking, prostitution and racketeering. The police who try and control the gangs are woefully under-equipped. Sometimes, they even have to buy their own ammunition. More than half the population lives on less than per day. After spiking in 2009, crime rates had fallen due partly to a UN-sponsored investigative commission. But the government has terminated that body’s mandate early in response to a series of corruption probes, imperiling the fight against criminal impunity. Meanwhile thousands of Guatemalans risk being robbed or assaulted every day. Welcome to: ‘GUATEMALA Bleeds’
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press
February 8, 2020, Pathum Thani, Thailand: Thousands of Buddhist devotees and monks gathered at the massive Wat Phra Dhammakaya Cetiya to take part in annual celebrations to mark the Maha Bucha holiday.
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press
September 14, 2021, Tainan, Taipei, Taiwan: Taiwanese soldiers are seen organizing grenade launchers and machine guns during an operation as part of the 37th edition of the Han Kuang military exercise. Training including risks assessment and monitoring of enemies have been conducted in the face of the intensifying threats from China, with the US offering arms sale to the self-ruled island.
Scott Mc Kiernan, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, ZUMA Press