Places of leisure or culture: The health pass is now mandatory in France

To go to the cinema, to the museum or in sports establishments, the French must now present a proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test while the number of contaminations explodes, because of the Delta variant, more contagious. With 18,000 contaminations in 24 hours, "we have an increase in the circulation of the virus of about 150% over a week: we have never experienced this," warned Tuesday the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran. While the government no longer hesitates to speak of a "fourth wave" and that the outdoor mask makes its return in tourist areas where the epidemic starts again (Haute-Garonne, Charente-Maritime....), the Defense Council meets Wednesday, the day of the application of the health pass in places of leisure and culture gathering more than 50 people (against 1,000 previously).

Macron and ministers listened with Pegasus?

Has President Macron been spied on by a foreign power? The question arises after the revelation that the head of state and members of the government are on the list of potential targets of Pegasus software, used by some states to spy on personalities. Le Monde and Radio France, which are part of the consortium of 17 media outlets that had access to this list obtained by the network of journalists Forbidden Stories and the NGO Amnesty International, revealed Tuesday that these numbers, including that of theformer Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and 14 members of the government, are "in the list of numbers selected by a security service of the Moroccan state, user of the spy software Pegasus, for a potential hacking. The Cherifian kingdom disputes its involvement in this espionage case and King Mohammed VI and his entourage "are on the list of potential targets".

IN BRIEF

Two days before the official opening ceremony, the sports events of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games began on Wednesday in Fukushima at 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT), with the softball game, a women's version of baseball, between Japan and Australia.

The former film producer Harvey Weinstein, who is serving a 23-year prison sentence for sexual assault in New York since 2020, was on his way to Los Angeles on Tuesday where he will have to answer for new assaults in a second trial.