AMIDST DIFFICULT ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, A SUSTAINED INTERNATIONAL CRISIS AND STRUCTURAL DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY THE FRENCH PRESS, AFP – ON THE OCCASION OF ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING HELD ON 25 SEPTEMBER – CONFIRMED A TRIPLE OBJECTIVE:

EMMANUEL HOOG HAS DECIDED TO APPOINT MR. CHRISTOPHE WALTER-PETIT, CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER, TO REPRESENT AFP TO NEWS MEDIA COALITION (NMC).

THE JURY OF THE 19TH PRIX BAYEUX-CALVADOS AWARDS FOR WAR CORRESPONDENTS HAS REWARDED ARIS MESSINIS, PHOTOREPORTER AT AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE.

AFP’S GERMAN SERVICE, BASED IN BERLIN, IS STRENGTHENING ITS COVERAGE OF THE MIDDLE EAST BY SENDING A CORRESPONDENT TO JERUSALEM. HE WILL JOIN A 19-PERSON BUREAU THAT WORKS IN FRENCH, ENGLISH AND ARABIC, PRODUCING TEXT, PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEO.

Safia, 40, holds an advanced DESS degree in information systems engineering from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris 6) and spent seven years as CIO at the Institut national de l'audiovisuel along with ten years in management positions at the institute. She was hired as a researcher and web pioneer specialising in the web, media and audiovisual fields to experiment in new web technologies and on-line video. Safia D’Ziri has accompanied the company in its digital transformation with a thorough overhaul of the organisation and governance of its information systems.

Africa Check - a brand new fact-checking website devised by the AFP Foundation and run in partnership with the journalism department of the University of the Witwatersrand- will be launched in South Africa on Wednesday 31 October.

AFP, which already has a fact-checking contract with Facebook in France, is expanding the collaboration to Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, and will announce agreements for a further three countries in the near future. The Agency will produce fact-checking articles that will be made freely available via blogs that will go online in June.

AFP is deploying a 140-strong team to cover the sporting event of the year, the FIFA World Cup. It will provide real-time text, photo, video, infographics and videographics coverage of the tournament, which takes place in Russia from June 14 to July 15.

AFP is expanding a fact-checking contract with Facebook to Canada, Indonesia and the Philippines in an extension of its existing collaboration in France, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. The Agency will produce fact-checking articles that will be made freely available via blogs. Some of these will be moved on AFP's wires.

International press agency AFP partners with Brazilian sports group Lance! to distribute its photo and video production outside Brazil. The agreement was signed on November 21, with effect from the first quarter of 2013.