Fighting wars and disease, smartphones on the frontlines

PARIS: At the sharp end of conflict in Syria, in a schoolchild’s bag in Kenya, whether fighting deadly diseases or studying forestry, the smartphone has become ubiquitous in just over a decade. 

This year, the number of users is expected to pass three billion, and AFP photographers have sampled how the phones have become a mainstay of lives around the world for people who cannot live without them.