The pandemic and the 2020 Detroit auto show that wasn’t

It was the fashion event of the season, if not the decade! Fashion journalists, buyers, celebrities and influencers from around the world descended on the French capital to see Paris's oldest bridge, le Pont Neuf, decked out in resplendent gold. The occasion was Pharrell Williams's first ever collection as head of menswear at Louis Vuitton. Another big celebrity draw elsewhere in Paris was the indefatigable Yohji Yamamoto, who's just a few months away from his 80th birthday. FRANCE 24 got a glimpse of the action.

Fresh figures have shown the extent of the European Union's efforts to reduce its energy dependency on Russia, with Moscow accounting for just 3 percent of the bloc's oil imports in the first quarter of this year, compared to 26 percent during the same period in 2022. The EU has also moved away from Russian natural gas, relying more heavily on Norway, the UK and Algeria. This comes as the decline in Moscow's export revenues weakens its currency.

For her fall show, Dior designer Maria Grazia Chiuri reined in the volumes often associated with haute couture fashion and sent out a line-up of slender dresses and capes in neutral tones and touches of gold and silver.

German car manufacturers and suppliers have been financing the development of new e-car models with profits from the combustion engine business. But this is being cut back more and more. And many fear for their jobs.

Sotheby's in London presents 'Freddie Mercury: A World of his Own,' an exhibition and auction of the rock star's kaleidoscopic personal collection.

The Fremantle Highway that burned for a week in the North Sea while carrying thousands of cars has been towed to Eemshaven. Is the Dutch port suitable for salvaging the ship?

Pressure mounts on Niger's military junta to re-install the democratic government. The US says there is still time for a diplomatic exit to the crisis, as ECOWAS threatens military intervention to restore President Bazoum to power. Meanwhile, France slashes millions in aid to Burkina Faso in response to its support for Niger's junta. And lastly, Senegal's most prominent opposition leader is hospitalised, following a hunger strike in prison. Ousmane Sonko began refusing food late last month in protest at what he says are politically motivated charges.

The International Motor Show, IAA, is set to begin in Munich next week. Rebranded as a mobility show, the IAA will see a strong effort by Chinese automakers to make a splash in Europe's nascent electric vehicle market.

With more than 41 percent of exhibitors at the Munich IAA mobility show headquartered in Asia, analysts say European carmakers will need to prove their ability to compete with China in the electric vehicle age.

Germany's International Motor Show has opened in Munich with Chinese EV makers out in force, revving their new electric models on the turf of German carmakers. Some say the market will never be the same after the event.

China has ramped up a months-long online disinformation campaign in response to Japan releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima power plant into the ocean. A video appearing to show the nefarious impact of the discharged water is going viral. But it is fake and has been debunked by AFP fact-checking, as Emerald Maxwell explains.

A video purporting to show the French Ambassador to Niger being booed as he is forced to leave the Embassy has been widely shared since Thursday, at a time of heightened tensions between coup leaders in Niger and France. This video, however, has nothing to do with that. It actually shows another coup-hit African country, as Emerald Maxwell explains.