Meet Ali Akbar, the last newspaper hawker in Paris

Pakistani born 73-year-old newspaper hawker Ali Akbar sells newspaper copies in the street of the Latin Quarter in Paris on September 16, 2025. – Photo: Guillaume BAPTISTE / AFP

Ali Akbar knows everyone and everyone knows him. The last newspaper hawker in Paris zigzags each day from cafe to cafe, shouting humorous headlines in the heart of the French capital.

"France is getting better!" he cries, just one of the headlines he invents to sell his wares round the upmarket streets of Saint-German-des-Pres.