News Headlines - 21 February 2021

▽Russia confirms first human case of H5N8 bird flu | NHK WORLD

Russia's health authorities say they have confirmed the world's first case of the highly pathogenic H5N8 strain of avian flu virus passed from birds to humans.
The head of the country's public health watchdog, Anna Popova, said on Saturday that Russia had reported the matter to the World Health Organization.
She said the H5N8 strain had been detected in seven workers at a poultry farm in southern Russia following an outbreak there among birds in December.

▽Romania Makes Homeless A Vaccine Priority | Barron's

Almost 300 homeless people have been vaccinated against coronavirus in Romania, making it one of the first European countries to single out people who are sleeping rough, health authorities said Saturday... Bucharest decided to move the homeless up the priority scale -- following in Denmark's footsteps -- after pressure from charity groups.

▽Facebook takes down main page of Myanmar military - The Straits Times

Facebook on Sunday (Feb 21) deleted the main page of the Myanmar military under its standards prohibiting the incitement of violence, the company said, a day after two protesters were killed when police opened fire at a demonstration against the Feb 1 coup... The Myanmar military is known as the Tatmadaw. Its True News page was no longer available on Sunday.

▽France row as Lyon mayor keeps meat off school menus - BBC News

The French government has criticised Lyon's mayor after he removed meat from school lunches in the city.
Gregory Doucet, a member of the Green party, has said the move allows service to be streamlined and quickened amid coronavirus restrictions.
But the government has hit back, accusing him of risking children's health.

▽Cambridge moonflower: Wait over for 'UK's first' bloom - BBC News

A rare Amazonian cactus that has attracted interest from around the world has started to bloom.
The team at Cambridge University Botanic Garden believe their moonflower Selenicereus wittii is the first to flower in the UK.
Thousands of people have viewed a webcam which has been trained on the plant for about 11 days.