A series of appointments: Global news management and international appointments

Dalila Zein has been appointed as AFP’s managing director, replacing Fabrice Lacroix. She will take up her post by October 1.

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.

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, 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.

During a Board Meeting held on April 10, 2017, AFP directors approved the accounts for the 2017 financial year. They report a higher operating margin (€15.9M) and operating income (€3.6M) than for 2016, and than initially forecast for 2017. The net group result stood at - €4.8M, although this includes an exceptional provision of €5.8M without which 2017 would have been positive.