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Sleepless nights, smoke and mirrors

Danny Kemp Monday 6 July 2015

"There are times in journalism when you are so busy, or so tired, that you barely notice a little bit of history passing in front of your eyes," writes AFP's Danny Kemp from Brussels.

"After five years of the Greek debt crisis, five years of talks, five years of stalling, the leaders of the eurozone had finally thrown Athens to the lions. They finally, really did it."

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AFP Photo / Angelos Tzortzinis

Clamouring for cash on the streets of Athens

Aris Messinis Thursday 2 July 2015

"We knew there would be ugly scenes, as Greece said it was opening its beleaguered banks for three days to allow elderly people to draw cash," writes the photographer Aris Messinis. "People shoving, yelling in anger at hapless bank employees. In six long years of crisis, we have seen images like this any number of times. It’s sad. But it’s the reality and your job is to record it."

"Images like these are very powerful, and make you think they are the whole story. In truth they are only part of it. But cool-headed behavior is hard to express with an image."

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AFP Photo / Philippe Desmazes

Embedded in Mali

Michel Moutot Tuesday 30 June 2015

"The thermometer in the foyer is stuck on 50 degrees Celsius. The highest it can go," writes AFP's Michel Moutot. "It’s not yet noon on the French army base at Timbuktu airport."

"Why did AFP ask to follow a French army unit into Mali's lawless north? Two reasons. Firstly, to report on the soldiers actions on the ground. Secondly to gain access, under the protection of the army, to one of a rising number of places in the world where reporters can no longer venture alone without risk of kidnapping or death."

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AFP Photo / Mehdi Fedouach

European hostages: mining the data

Marlowe Hood Friday 26 June 2015

"How many times have I heard this refrain since joining AFP nearly 20 years ago: ‘With millions of stories in our archives, we’re sitting on top of an information gold mine’," writes the journalist Marlowe Hood. "The European Hostage Project is a serious attempt to extract some of that buried treasure. A case study in data journalism, it uncovered patterns in the terrible traffic in hostages from Europe that up to now remained elusive if not invisible."

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