The phone of France's finance minister Bruno Le Maire is currently being investigated to determine whether it has been infected by a spyware known as Pegasus, Reuters reported. "We are in an investigation phase, and that includes my own device," Bruno Le Maire told France Inter radio on Friday. He refused to elaborate on the investigation.

Israel is taking seriously allegations that spyware developed by an Israeli company was used against public figures worldwide, Defence Minister Benny Gantz told his French counterpart during a visit to Paris on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Israeli defence chief Benny Gantz met French Defence Minister Florence Parly in part to share initial findings from an Israeli government assessment of exports to France by NSO Group, which sells the Pegasus spyware.

Fully vaccinated travelers from the United States and much of Europe will be able to enter Britain without quarantining starting next week, UK officials said Wednesday, AP reported. The British government said people who have received both doses of a vaccine approved by the FDA in the US or by the European Medicines Agency, which regulates drugs for the European Union and several other countries, will be able to take pre- and post-arrival coronavirus tests instead of self-isolating for 10 days after entering England.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz will meet his French counterpart in Paris this week for talks that will include an "update" on the Pegasus spyware scandal, AFP reported on Tuesday, citing his office. A ministry statement said Gantz will leave Wednesday for talks with French Defence Minister Florence Parly on topics including the crisis in Lebanon, nuclear negotiations with Iran and the Pegasus malware made by Israeli firm NSO, which was allegedly used to target President Emmanuel Macron.

France's parliament approved a law early Monday requiring special virus passes for all restaurants and domestic travel and mandating vaccinations for all health workers, AP reported. Both measures have prompted protests and political tensions. The law requires all workers in the health care sector to start getting vaccinated by 15 September, or risk suspension.

French anti-riot police fired teargas on Saturday as clashes erupted during protests in central Paris against COVID-19 restrictions and a vaccination campaign, television reported.

French President Emmanuel Macron has changed his phone and phone number in light of allegations that Pegasus spyware might have targeted him, a presidency official said on Thursday. The same day Macron held an emergency cybersecurity meeting to weigh possible government action after reports that his mobile phone and those of government ministers may have been targeted by spyware, news wires reported.

The UK will pay France €62.7m to prevent migrants from crossing the English Channel, under a deal hammered out on Tuesday. The plan includes also doubling the number of French officers deployed along the coast and improving intelligence sharing, news wires reported.

People wanting to go to cinemas, museums, sporting matches and other cultural venues in France will have to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination or a negative test starting on Wednesday as the country faces a spike in cases from the highly transmissible Delta variant, news wires reported. The so-called "health pass" will be required for all events or places with more than 50 people, before being extended to restaurants, cafes and shopping centres in August, as President Emmanuel Macron announced in a televised address last week. 

Prosecutors in Paris said Tuesday they had opened a probe into allegations that Moroccan intelligence services used the Israeli-made malware Pegasus to spy on several French journalists, AFP reports.