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My last trip with Trump

Sebastian Smith Wednesday 20 January 2021

Washington DC - President Donald Trump -- he'd be President Trump for only another 180 minutes -- climbed the front steps of Air Force One. This icy cold January 20, the beautiful, glistening plane was taking him to Florida – and on a trip like no other.

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  • AFP / Gabriel Bouys
  • AFP / Gabriel Bouys
  • AFP / Pierre-philippe Marcou
  • AFP / Gabriel Bouys
  • AFP / Benjamin Cremel

A happy interlude in Madrid

Alvaro Villalobos Friday 15 January 2021

It started like an ill-timed Christmas story, on January 7, the day after the Feast of Epiphany, usually a big celebration in Spain, writes Alvaro Villalobos, a journalist in AFP's Madrid bureau. For several hours, Madrid experienced a historic snowstorm and stood suspended in a dream of collective joy and revelry.

 

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  • AFP / Glyn Kirk
  • AFP / Laurence Griffiths
  • AFP / Martin Bureau
  • AFP / Martin Bureau
  • AFP / Peter Powell
  • AFP / Miguel Medina

‘Behind closed doors’: the new normal in sport

Fanny Carrier Tuesday 12 January 2021

As the players emerge from the tunnel for their final warmup before kickoff, the absence of young mascots strikes you - and there no handshakes with the opposition. The referee blows his whistle... and a deathly silence envelops the stadium. That is the reality of covering live sport in the age of coronavirus, as AFP's sports correspondent in western France, Fanny Carrier, explains.

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  • AFP / Olivier Douliery
  • AFP / Roberto Schmidt
  • AFP / Alex Edelman
  • AFP / Roberto Schmidt
  • GETTY IMAGES / AFP / Drew Angerer
  • GETTY IMAGES / AFP Drew Angerer
  • AFP / Olivier Douliery
  • AFP / Saul Loeb
  • AFP / Saul Loeb
  • AFP / Saul Loeb
  • AFP / Olivier Douliery

When democracy stumbles

Saul Loeb, Agnès Bun, Roberto Schmidt, Olivier Douliery Saturday 9 January 2021

Washington - It was always going to be a big day in Washington. Both houses of Congress were to meet to certify President-elect Joe Biden's November victory - a normally ceremonial event which had taken on outsized significance in light of Donald Trump's unprecedented refusal to concede defeat. Ultimately, the day would go down in history for the storming of the US Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, its jaw-dropping scenes captured at close quarters by AFP's 17-strong team of reporters, photographers and videojournalists on the ground.

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  • AFP / Aris Messinis
  • AFP/ Aris Messinis
  • AFP / Aris Messinis
  • AFP / Aris Messinis

‘Our’ Iraqi refugee family’s odyssey to freedom

Serene Assir Thursday 17 December 2020

"It’s not every day that I get to write a story with a happy ending worthy of a 21st century fairytale", writes Serene Assir.  Having survived a bomb attack in their native Baghdad, Ahmad and Alia, decided five years ago to risk it all to give their son a life in peace and security. After a long, excruciating wait, they have been granted asylum.

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