News Headlines - 13 February 2021

▽Four Thai pro-democracy leaders detained under royal defamation law - France 24

A Thai court denied bail Tuesday to four prominent democracy activists after they were indicted for violating the kingdom's royal defamation law -- the first formal charges laid against the leaders of a movement calling for reforms to the monarchy.
Demonstrations in Bangkok last year against the government of former army chief Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha drew tens of thousands at their peak, with many calling for changes to the country's once unassailable royal family.
Criticism of the monarchy is taboo due to harsh lese majeste laws that carry penalties of up to 15 years in jail per charge.

▽Vaccine shortage puts Palestinian lives at risk

The Palestinian Health Ministry started a COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Feb. 2, with health workers taking the first shots. But the shortage of vaccine supplies is dashing hopes of inoculating most of the Palestinian population in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian health authorities received 2,000 vaccine doses from 5,000 doses pledged by Israel to the Palestinian Authority (PA)... Israel has one of the most advanced vaccination campaigns in the world, inoculating more than half of the country’s 9 million population.
Tel Aviv, however, refused to give the vaccine to the Palestinians, citing that the PA is responsible for public health under the Oslo Accords.

▽CDC recommends double masks to help protect against COVID-19 - CBS News

After months of demands for federal health officials to update mask recommendations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new guidelines Wednesday that include wearing well-fitting face masks or two masks at a time to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic.
The updated guidance follows the release of new research from the CDC which tested various masks in a lab setting and found evidence that combining a cloth mask over a surgical mask could dramatically reduce both the spread of the virus to others and exposure to the virus oneself.
The CDC's new recommendations advise Americans to select masks with a nose wire that can be adjusted for a snug fit, and to use a mask fitter or brace to better seal their masks.

▽UK woman who killed disabled son detained in hospital indefinitely | The Guardian

A woman who killed her disabled 10-year-old son after undergoing a breakdown during the UK’s coronavirus lockdown has been detained in hospital indefinitely.
Dylan Freeman had been “an indirect victim” of the interruption caused by Covid-19 to normal life, said Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb as she sentenced his mother, Olga Freeman, 40, at the Old Bailey.
Freeman had been struggling to care for her child, who was found dead at their home in Acton, west London, on 15 August, and was said by the judge to have reached her “wits’ end”.

▽Deprived of lavish restaurants, French lovers turn to sex toys for Valentine's Day | Reuters

Deprived of lavish restaurants and forced to stay at home at night to curb the spread of the coronavirus, French lovers are turning to sex toys to spice up their Valentine’s Day... In the three months running up to this year’s Valentine’s Day, sales at the Passage du Desir’s seven outlets jumped 68% on previous months. A year earlier, sales rose by just 12% during the same period ahead of Feb. 14.
Candy cuffs and other sex toys line the shelves of Pruvot’s store, surrounded by shuttered restaurants and cafes in central Paris. Large heart-shaped red boxes with filled with 14 toys for the bedroom bring a Valentine’s Day twist to an advent calendar.