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President Nayib Bukele, the self-proclaimed "world’s coolest dictator", has made El Salvador the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as its official currency.
In March, 2022, Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak went to document Bukele's "Bitcoin nation" despite El Salvador's policy to keep its crypto operation closed to journalists.
While there, Dworzak looked for evidence of Bukele's "Bitcoin Nation" when, in April, violence broke out between street gangs. Since then, Bukele has kept the nation in a State of Emergency, which has resulted in the incarceration of more than 40,000 people,

"Bitcoin Nation" - El Salvador

On June 24th, 2022 the US Supreme Court overturned the 50-year-old Roe vs Wade decision which had provided abortion rights across the country. This decision from the conservative-majority court will result in the loss of abortion rights for millions of American women.
Immediately following the announcement, demonstrators took to the streets in cities across the country.

The Overturn of Roe vs Wade

On June 24th, 2022 the US Supreme Court overturned the 50-year-old Roe vs Wade decision which had provided abortion rights across the country. This decision from the conservative-majority court will result in the loss of abortion rights for millions of American women.
Magnum Photographers have been documenting the national conversations around abortion for decades.

Abortion in America

Martin Parr photographed the colours and characters at Glastonbury, which this year celebrated its 50th anniversary. The festival welcomed more than 200,000 people including music legends such as Paul McCartney, who at 80 years-old, played for 3 hours straight.

Glastonbury Festival 2022

The Russo-Ukrainian War is an ongoing conflict between Russia and pro-Russia forces on one side and Ukraine on the other.

Ukrainian President Vicktor Yanukovych’s cabinet abandoned an agreement on closer trade ties in the EU, favoring closer cooperation with Russia. What began as small protests escalated to the Revolution of Dignity, also known as the Maidan Revolution, a violent protest with at least 88 deaths. Following the Euromaidan protests and removal of Yanukovych, partnered with pro-Russia unrest in Ukraine, Russian annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea.

Demonstrations in the Donbas area of Ukraine escalated into a war between the Ukrainian Government and Russian-backed separatist forces. Russian military vehicles crossed the border in several locations of Donetsk Oblast, which is believed to be responsible for the defeat of Ukrainian forces in early September of 2014. In November, Ukrainian military reported intensive movement of Russian combat troops into separatist-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is ongoing. Irregular episodes of fighting continue to occur. In October 2021, Russia reignited concerns of a potential invasion after moving troops and military equipment to the shared border with Ukraine.

Russo-Ukrainian Conflict

Henri Cartier-Bresson

French paleontologist Yves Coppens has died at age 87. He was known for being the co-discoverer of the Australopithecus named Lucy, in 1974 in Ethiopia. The scientist had also been the director of the National Museum of Natural History and holder of the chair of paleontology and prehistory at the Collège de France.

Yves Coppens: 1934-2022

On January 6th, 2021 a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building in an attempt to disrupt a joint session of Congress which had met to formalize Joe Biden's election as President.

As part of his continuing attempt to discredit the 2020 election with false claims that it had been "stolen" from him, Trump organized a "Save America" rally on the National Mall scheduled to coincide with Congressional proceedings to formally count electoral votes. During this rally, Trump and other speakers riled up the crowd of thousands by criticizing the election, the media and members of Congress, and urged his supporters to march down to the Capitol to demonstrate their disapproval of the election.

By 12:30PM a crowd of Trump supporters, including had began to assemble in front of the Capitol and at 1:00, the mob, which included members of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers - who were prepared and equipped for violent confrontation - attacked thinly-manned police barricades. Shortly after, the Capitol Police requested the support of the DC Metro Police and law enforcement on the ground asked for permission to declare an emergency and call in National Guard troops. At 2:00, rioters broke into the Capitol and began roaming and vandalizing its halls and offices as Vice President Pence was rushed away and members of Congress barricaded themselves in the House and Senate Chambers and nearby offices. It would take three hours for the police to retake the Capitol and five more to completely clear the building and its immediate grounds of rioters. At 8:00 Congress reassembled to complete the electoral college count.

Intensive investigations into the inability for law enforcement to properly defend Capitol grounds, and the identification and prosecution of rioters began immediately. On January 11th, US Representatives introduced an article of impeachment against Trump who they accused of inciting insurrection, but the trial resulted in his acquittal on February 13th.

With an enormous security presence in place on January 21st, Joe Biden was inaugurated the 46th President of the United States on the steps of the Capitol. Rejecting tradition, the outgoing President refused to attend and the former administration was instead represented by Vice President Pence.

One police officer and four rioters died from injuries received on January 6th. The incident was the first time that the Capitol had been so brazenly attacked since the British Army seized Washington, DC during the War of 1812.

Storming of the US Capitol

Portuguese painter Paula Rego has died at the age of 87. Born in Lisbon in 1935 and later settled in London, she was considered to be one of Portugal’s most important artists.
As a painter, she produces large pastel polyptychs with exceptional flair. Her strongly figurative work reinvents fairy tales and myths, folklore and legends and represents characters and animals from the cruel tales of 19th-century literature, at once both realistic and imaginary, autobiographical and political.

In 2018, Magnum photographer Chris Steele-Perkins photographed Rego's atelier in London.

Paula Rego: 1935-2022

The Russian invasion, which began in February 2022, has left large swaths of Ukraine in ruins, millions of people displaced, thousands dead, and many more injured.
In March and April, Paolo Pellegrin traveled through Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv, and along the Polish border, and photographed the displaced populace and the destruction caused by the Russian campaign.

War-Torn Ukraine

Larry Towell, who has been documenting events in Ukraine since the 2014 Maidan Revolution, returned in March 2022 and spent 19 days documenting the current conflict - from Lviv in the west, to the former battlegrounds of Kyiv and the north, to the long established front lines in the east.
Russia has left Ukraine in ruins. After withdrawing from the north, the stark effects of their campaign were visible across the region: towns and infrastructure decimated, civilians killed, and stores and homes looted.
Mass graves were discovered which contained the victims of Russian war crimes. Civilians who were present and survived, have provided some details regarding the deaths of their family members and neighbors.
Towell reports on the notorious scene in Bucha:
“The city of Bucha on the outskirts of Kiev was occupied by Russian soldiers for the month of April. An estimated 340 civilians were massacred by execution and summary execution. War crimes including the rape of girls as young as fourteen were reported by residents. Apart from death, abuse took many forms.
Ukraine has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate in order to determine whether Russia can be charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Russian authorities in the meantime, have claimed that Ukraine has faked the footage and photographs.
On April 9, 10 and 11, Larry Towell walked and drove the streets of Bucha where he found local volunteers exhuming individual graves, although some contained as many as three persons. Most victims had been buried by neighbors or family members, including husbands burying wives, wives burying husbands, children burying parents, parents burying their children--- mostly in their own backyards.
At the time these images were made, there was no electricity in Bucha and no refrigeration in the morgues.”

Ukraine War: The Human Toll

A selection of images from the Magnum Archive pertaining to the subject of firearms in the United States.

Guns in America

Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee marks 70 years since she first took the throne, making her the longest serving British monarch and longest-serving female head of state in history. Queen Elizabeth II succeeded the throne on February 6th, 1952, and was coronated on June 2nd, 1953.

Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee...

In early April 2022, Russian forces partially withdrew from several Ukrainian cities to concentrate on the Donbas front. This withdrawal allowed gradual access to cities that had been under siege for over a month. Relieved cities such as Irpin, Borodyanka, Kharkiv, Novolesivka, Makariv, and Huliapol reveal harrowing scenes that testify to the violence and horror caused by fighting in this area. The mayor of Chernihiv, a city widely destroyed by heavy attacks, estimates that it will take at least four years to rebuild the infrastructure.

Returning to Ukraine for the second time since the beginning of the war, Moises Saman traveled around several devastated cities to document the destruction and impact on everyday lives. Most of the elderly community and most vulnerable population had been unable to flee the war and thus remained trapped in war zones during the Russian attacks. Many still after the withdrawal of Russian forces, no longer have a roof over their head or access to basic needs.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), around 900,000 elderly people are estimated to need aid and protection near Ukraine’s front lines, and around 30% of the population most affected by the conflict are older people.

Ukraine: The Effects of War

Ukrainian women employed by the American-based company Delivering Dreams International Surrogacy Agency are working under the worst circumstances. The women were asked to leave their families and move to Lviv, due to the high-quality obstetric care. Owner and founder Susan Kersch-Kibler is making life-impacting decisions based on imperfect information during the Russo-Ukrainian War. The war has revealed the questionable ethics of international surrogacy, such as the power dynamic that occurs when a woman signs over her physical self for nine months. The biological parents insisted Kersch-Kibler remove the surrogates from Ukraine and have them live in Poland, but many of the women resisted. Due to concerns about human trafficking and country-specific delivery laws, Kersh-Kibler cannot force the women to move to another country. However, on March 11, 2022, Russia bombed Lviv and it was no longer a safe place for the surrogates to live, so the women were moved to Krakow.

Ukrainian Surrogate Mothers Fleeing...

On May 9, 2022, as fighting continued in eastern Ukraine, Vladimir Putin reviewed his troops in Moscow during Victory Day, the annual celebration of the USSR's triumph over Nazi Germany. Typically, spectators carry photographs of family members who had been killed in action during WWII but this year, many displayed images of Russian soldiers who have died during the current conflict.
Analysts had feared that Putin would use this national military holiday as an opportunity to further escalate the Russian campaign against Ukraine by formally declaring war, but no such announcement was made.

Victory Day Parade in Moscow

Alexei Navalny, lawyer, Russian opposition leader, and anti-corruption activist, is the leader of the Russia of the Future party and founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
Navalny made the decision to return to Russia in January 2021, knowing that he would be detained for breaking his parole. He had not reported to Russia's Federal Prison Service while hospitalized after being poisoned with Novichok nerve agent by which Putin is allegedly responsible.

Navalny’s team is in Vilnius, Lithuania, filming investigations that are broadcast into Russia. Audiences in the millions tune in. Lithuania, a member of NATO and the EU, hosts Russian exiles and fugitives. January 13th is celebrated in Lithuania as Freedom Defenders Day. On the night of January 12th and 13th, 1991, the Soviet army tried to force Lithuania to surrender its independence by seizing the TV tower. Lithuanian protesters formed a human shield to peacefully protect it, 14 of them dying and 700 injured.

Alexei Navalny's Headquarters in...

Kevin Garnett is considered one of the greatest power-forwards in basketball. “Anything is Possible” documents Garnett’s legacy career from being the first high schooler drafted into the NBA up through his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in early 2021.

Kevin Garnett

Much of life in Congo revolves around the River. Many passengers board with goods gathered from the forest. Wild animals from the jungles are being sold in markets such as porcupines, monkeys, crocodiles, turtles and many more.

Many pastors go to the Congo River to preach Pentecostal Christianity. Millions of Congolese are members of the Kimbanguist church, and Pentecostal church has increased in popularity in Africa since the era of decolonization in the 1950s and 1960s. Baleinières are how many people get upstream, and journeys can last weeks, giving pastors a long-term captivated audience. Laws banning traveling at night and requiring life jackets are rarely enforced, motivating pastors to evangelize the dangerous trips.

Life in the Congo River Basin

Burkina Faso, West Africia favored mud over concrete as a building material for thousands of years. The walls of the Grand Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso are more than six feet thick to protect worshippers from the heat. Mud brick has a high thermal mass, meaning it holds onto the heat of the day and then releases it when it cools down at night. But the intense rain caused by climate change challenges mud-brick buildings. Mud-brick is favorable because it protects from the heat and contributes less to climate change than concrete. However, the buildings are dangerous to live in as rain threatens more homes.

Mud-Brick Buildings Burkina Faso...

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