Odd News Roundup: Instagram influencers are a vaccine priority; Magicians mark 100 years of sawing people and more

Wednesday's decision by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) paves the way for the yellow grubs to be used whole and dried in curries and other recipes and as a flour to make biscuits, pasta and bread.

Following is a summary of current odd news briefs.

Instagram influencers are a vaccine priority in wary Indonesia

Among the first in the queue for coronavirus vaccines in Indonesia has been one conspicuous group - social media influencers. Alongside President Joko Widodo as the world's fourth most populous country kicked off its vaccination drive on Wednesday was Indonesian television personality, Raffi Ahmad, who boasts almost 50 million followers on Instagram.

Magicians mark 100 years of sawing people in half

He came, he sawed, he conquered. One hundred years ago on Sunday, illusionist P.T. Selbit put a woman in a box on the stage of London's Finsbury Park Empire and sawed right through the wood, creating a magical classic. Now, 100 years on, magicians from around the world will be getting together online this weekend to celebrate the centenary of that landmark performance.

Overcoming the 'yuck factor': Yellow grub becomes EU's first insect food

Mealworms may soon find their into Europe's pasta bowls and dinner dishes, after becoming the first insect approved in the region as a human food. Wednesday's decision by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) paves the way for the yellow grubs to be used whole and dried in curries and other recipes and as a flour to make biscuits, pasta and bread.

Thailand serves up cannabis cuisine to happy customers

"Giggling bread" and "joyfully dancing salad" aren't the usual dishes on a menu in Thailand, but one eatery is hoping its cannabis-infused cuisine can lure foreign tourists and take the taboo out of the recently legalised leaf. The restaurant at the Chao Phya Abhaibhubejhr Hospital in Prachin Buri started serving its own happy meals this month, after Thailand de-listed cannabis as a narcotic, allowing state-authorised firms to cultivate the plant.

He's an Aussie: Joe the pigeon spared death as U.S. tag deemed fake

A pigeon due to be put down in Australia after apparently flying across the Pacific was spared the death sentence on Friday, after a leg tag identifying it as belonging to a U.S. bird organisation was declared a fake. The tag suggested it had lost its way during a race in Alabama and flown more than 13,000 kilometres (8,000 miles) to Melbourne - thereby falling foul of strict quarantine regulations forbidding the importation of live animals or birds.

(With inputs from agencies.)