Agence France-Presse (AFP) has rolled out a new high performance real time delivery system to further boost the quality of its services to clients.

The Agency has teamed up with around 20 french media groups and an independent research firm to jointly assess the number of people in gatherings in order to reflect events as accurately as possible.

Eleven international news agencies have launched a joint Facebook page to interact with news consumers across the globe during the United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen.

Getty Images, the leading provider of digital media, and Agence France-Presse, the global press agency, today announced an extension of their global relationship, to provide customers in Italy with a comprehensive news photography service, which will leverage the complementary strengths and experiences of the two partners in the Italian market. The goal of the agreement is to increase the breadth, depth, reach and quality of services provided to their customers in Italy.

An AFP journalist who is among the few independent reporters still working in war-torn Mogadishu received Tuesday a key press award for his work, along with three other correspondents. "By recognizing me, you are also recognizing the courage of the small band of working journalists still in Somalia," Mustafa Haji Abdinur said at the ceremony for the Committee to Protect Journalists' (CPJ) International Press Freedom Awards.

Two Kenyans and a Moroccan are the winners of the Picture This: Caring for the Earth photo contest organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with <a rel="external" href="http://fondation.afp.com/english/">The AFP Foundation </a>and the Olympus Corporation.

AFP is preparing full multimedia coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics, being held February 12-28 in Vancouver, Canada. AFP will provide extensive coverage with more than 70 journalists, video reporters, photographers and technicians on the ground in Canada.

AFP hosted the twice-a-year meeting of<a href="http://www.minds-international.com/"> Minds International Association</a> in Paris from October 8-9. <a href="http://www.minds-international.com/">Minds International</a> is a network of research and development centres for 17 European and North American news agencies (including the Associated Press) which promotes the sharing of best practices, business models, new technology, platforms, products and services.

We are coming to the end of a year of multiple crises. We had the financial crisis, of course, which disrupted the global economy, halted growth and pushed up unemployment. But 2009 was also the year that threw into question the entire economic model of the media, notably the written press.