HIGHLIGHTS

►France PARIS

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.

►Greece ATHENS

Greek security services have arrested a Moroccan suspected of belonging to the Islamic State group in Syria who had appeared in one of their propaganda videos, police and security sources said Thursday.

►Malta VALLETA

Malta should take responsibility for the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia as it created "an atmosphere of impunity" that risked her life, a public inquiry concluded.

►Egypt

CAIRO An Egyptian court on Thursday sentenced 24 Muslim Brotherhood members to death for the killing of police officers in two separate cases, a judicial source said.

►Italy

ROME Italy's government on Thursday agreed a key justice reform intended to speed up trials and reduce backlogs, overcoming opposition from within the ruling coalition.

►Saudi Arabia

RIYADH Saudi Arabia announced yesterday it would reopen its borders to fully vaccinated foreign tourists after a 17-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, the state news agency said.

►Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN The International Criminal Court has dropped its arrest warrant for Ivory Coast's former first lady Simone Gbagbo over post-election violence that killed thousands in 2010-2011.

►Equatorial Guinea

MALABO Six French soldiers were detained at the Bata airport in Equatorial Guinea on Thursday while stopping to refuel their helicopter, according to France's military and local media.