Meet Ali Akbar, the last newspaper hawker in Paris

"Ali Akbar knows everyone and everyone knows him: the last newspaper hawker in Paris, he 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. "(Eric) Zemmour has converted to Islam!" he shouts,"

"French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to soon make Akbar a knight in the national order of merit in recognition of his "dedicated service to France". "At first I didn't believe it. Friends must have asked him (Macron) or maybe he decided on his own. We often crossed paths when he was a student," said Akbar. "I believe it's related to my courage, because I've worked hard," he added."

"When he arrived in France at the age of 20, hoping to escape poverty and send back money to his family in Pakistan, he worked as a sailor, then a dishwasher in a restaurant in the northern city of Rouen. Then, in Paris he bumped into Georges Bernier, the humourist also known as Professeur Choron, who gave him the chance to sell his satirical newspapers and Charlie Hebdo ."

Ali Akbar is the last newspaper hawker in Paris, who zigzags daily between cafes shouting humorous headlines like "France is getting better!" and playful lines about public figures. Locals and tourists in Saint-Germain-des-Prés recognize him as an inseparable neighbourhood character and regular sight. President Emmanuel Macron plans to make him a knight in the national order of merit for his "dedicated service to France." Akbar emigrated from Pakistan at 20, worked as a sailor and dishwasher, later sold satirical papers after meeting Georges Bernier, and has experienced homelessness, attacks, and extreme poverty.

Read at The Local France