MUM PROTESTS OUTRAGEOUS MEME

One mother lives in Texas with her three spirited children, including a son with a disability. Another mother lives in California with her adorable multiracial family.

Having a very different life, both women have something heartbreaking in common. They both know what it’s like for internet trolls to target their children in the cruellest of ways.

And now these mums are fighting back, and forcing people to face up to their prejudice in the process.

AliceAnn Meyer, of San Antonio, is in the midst of an impassioned crusade against a viral meme that mocks the appearance of her four-year-old son, Jameson, who was born with Pfeiffer syndrome (a rare genetic disorder that stopped his head and face from developing normally).

The meme was created from a photograph someone took from Ms Meyer’s blog Jameson’s Journey, which was intended as a way to share updates on Jameson and his condition with family and friends.

LEOPARD INVADES SCHOOL, MAULS SIX

Six people were mauled by a leopard after it invaded a school in India.

Incredible footage shows the big cat strolling along the corridor and attacking a man near a swimming pool.

Terrified wildlife expert Sanjay Gubbi used a pair of binoculars to try to fend off the rogue animal who savaged his right arm.

A forestry worker and a TV cameraman were also among those injured during the 10-hour rescue mission at Vibgyor International School in Bangalore, India.

The eight-year-old male leopard was eventually tranquillised and released yesterday.

Conservation scientist Mr Gubbi and forest department employee Benny Maurius were injured when they tried to corner the animal and sedate him.

MAN BATTERED FOR MOLESTING 6 YEAR OLD

Man allegedly caught molesting a young girl at a birthday party in Rio de Janeiro was battered by more than twenty guests and neighbours in the street outside.

According to the description of the video, which was posted to LiveLeak, the mother of the five-year-old birthday girl went looking for her other daughter, who is six, because she couldn’t find her at the party.

Mail.co.uk reports that she found her daughter being abused by a man in one of the house’s rooms. The man had his trousers down, the video showed.

Guests at the party and other people outside the house in the Complexo de Alemão, a notoriously crime-ridden collection of favelas in the north of the city, descended on the man and battered him severely.

WORLD'S FATTEST MAN DIES AT 38

World’s fattest man died of a Christmas Day heart attack after a week-long energy drink binge, it has been claimed.

Andres Moreno, who once weighed 445 kilograms, is said to have gorged on can after can of energy drink in the final days of his life.

Doctors believe that a “problem with his wife” triggered some sort of “emotional stress” that led to Mr Moreno dramatically abandoning a post-weight loss surgery diet.

He was found dead at his home in Ciudad Obregón, Mexico, several days later aged just 38.

“He drank more than six energy drinks a day according to his family and we believe it could be a lot more than six,” Dr Jorge Ojeda, who treated Mr Moreno said.

LESBIAN DJ TURNS TO BIBLE IN JAIL

‘ASIA’S sexiest DJ’ Angie Vu Ha has turned to the Bible to ward off lesbian temptations as she fights extradition in a New York jail.

Busted at John F Kennedy airport last year while attempting to flee the US with her nine-year-old daughter, after nearly three months in detention, the 32-year-old credits the power of prayer with helping her stay celibate.

“A lot of lesbians around here and a few blondes are hitting on me. But I prefer to read my Bible for now,” the former Playboy Playmate told the New York Daily News.

“I realized how tough I am. I thought I couldn’t last for two days and it’s now three months. I came to God and got saved so I spent time to pray and read the Bible, too.”

10 INDIAN SOLDIERS TRAPPED IN GLACIER

An avalanche has trapped 10 Indian army soldiers in the snow on the Siachen Glacier in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.

Army and air force teams are trying to rescue the soldiers in the northern part of the glacier, army spokesman Colonel S.D. Goswami said. Rescue dogs have also been pressed into service.

Avalanches and landslides are common in Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both entirely.

The rival nations also dispute the undemarcated border through the Siachen Glacier at an altitude of nearly 5800 meters.

Thousands of Indian and Pakistani troops are stationed on the freezing Himalayan terrain, where more troops have died from the gruelling conditions than from hostile fire.

CHINESE RAISE HOPE ON MONKEY BUSINESS

A village in rural Henan province, where land is too hard and rough to grow crops, residents have for centuries relied on training performing monkeys to make money. And as the Year of the Monkey approaches, they are hoping for bumper business.

A small temple devoted to the deity of the Monkey King, a popular figure from Chinese folklore and literature, sits on the outskirts of Baowan.

Zhang Zhijiu, a 60-year-old former monkey busker said, "Since this will be the Year of the Monkey, and we will be putting on (monkey performance) competitions for tourists, we all need to visit this temple and burn some incense.”

Only for the 2,500 villagers of Baowan, monkey breeding and raising is illegal across China without a proper license.

Monkeys wearing tight metal collars, are taught to ride bicycles and walk on stilts. One trainer was throwing daggers at a monkey balanced on a wooden board on a rolling cylinder. The animal was deftly catching the daggers and putting them between its teeth.

ETHNICITY HINDERS LOVE IN CYPRUS

Musicians Larkos Larkou and Hatice Ardost are no ordinary couple, meeting through social media and inspired by their love of music. Until at least a decade ago their relationship would have been unheard of in a country riven by conflict and distrust.

"It’s not really a subject of discussion in our household," Larkou, 43, says somewhat awkwardly as he sits cradling a cup of tea by the kitchen counter at the home he shares in Cyprus with Ardost, 34, his wife.

"Whether Hatice is a Turkish Cypriot and I’m a Greek Cypriot might be a subject for others, but for us, this is completely natural."

Ardost nods vigorously. "Two human beings being together is not a miracle."

Their union is emblematic of a gradual thaw in relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus, home to one of Europe’s most enduring conflicts.

The island has been split since a Turkish invasion in 1974 prompted by a Greek Cypriot coup. The two populations were kept almost entirely separate until rules for traveling across the dividing line were eased in 2003.

INSURGENTS KILL 10-YEAR-OLD FIGHTER

10-year-old Wasil Ahmad who often fought the Taliban has been shot dead while on his way to school in the southern Uruzgan province.

Uruzgan's deputy provincial police chief, Rahimullah Khan, says that Wasil Ahmad was killed in Tirin Kot, the capital of the province, on Monday.

The boy had often fought Taliban alongside his uncle, Khan said.

Gunmen described by Khan as insurgents killed the boy near his home.

He said Ahmad's uncle was formerly a Taliban commander who had changed allegiance to the government and been appointed local police commander in Khas Uruzgan district.

The use of child soldiers is illegal in Afghanistan, but the charity Child Soldiers International says both government forces and insurgents have been recruiting minors for years.

POPE IS NOT AN ACTOR

Pope Francis is expected to appear in a spiritual film aimed at children, Italian producers said on Monday, but the Vatican said the pontiff will not be acting.

"Beyond the Sun," described as a "family adventure story where children from different cultures emulate the apostles while searching for Jesus in the world around them," is in development by Rome-based distribution and production company AMBI.

The AMBI project, announced in a press release, led some media outlets on Monday to report that the film would mark the pope's debut as a movie actor.

However, the AMBI website says the film intends to "end with an epilogue from Pope Francis telling children how and where to find Jesus."

"The pope is not an actor," a Vatican spokesman said, downplaying suggestions that Francis would be making any kind of film debut.

AMBI said filming would start later in 2016 and that profits would go to two charities that work with young people in need in Argentina, where Francis was born.

MODEL DROP BILL COSBY LAWSUIT

A model has dropped her lawsuit accusing Bill Cosby of drugging and sexually abusing her at the Playboy Mansion in 2008.

Federal court records show Chloe Goins dismissed her lawsuit on Tuesday without explanation.

Her filing in Los Angeles was done in a way that would allow it to be refiled at a later date.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles decided last month not to file criminal charges against Cosby over her claims, noting that some details could not be corroborated.

Goins sued Cosby in October. Cosby had not yet responded to the case.

His previous lawyer denied that Cosby was in Los Angeles at the time Goins said she was abused.

Lawyers for Cosby and Goins did not immediately return email messages

ITALIAN ACTOR IN COMMA

An Italian actor is in a coma after a hanging scene in a live theatrical production went wrong, resulting in his strangulation.

Raphael Schumacher was rushed to hospital at the weekend after an audience member at the production in Pisa realised something was wrong and rushed to his aid.

The 27-year-old actor was appearing in a production of a play called Mirages at the Teatro Lux.

Police have launched an investigation.

A report in the Il Giorno newspaper suggested sufficient safety procedures had not been properly put in place prior to the performance.

According to another report, one of the other actors said afterwards: "The noose should have been fake and a harness should have caught him if he fell. I cannot explain how an incident like this happened."

TOUGH ROAD FOR ISLAM CONVERTEES

British converts to Islam are often left feeling isolated from their families and the rest of society, according to a new study.

Experts at Cambridge University's Centre of Islamic Studies looked at the experience of 50 British men of all ages, ethnicities and faith backgrounds, to gain a snapshot of the experience of Muslim converts.

They found many were left feeling isolated and dislocated, partly due to stereotypes about religious extremism.

Abdul Maalik Taylor, who converted to Islam from Hinduism 20 years ago and now runs Islamic-themed tours of London, took part in the study.

He said he suffered considerably after converting: "It was a very challenging time and an experience I won't forget about.

"I suffered physical and emotional abuse from my family. It was a very testing time."

He said many felt demonised by media coverage.

YAWNING MORE 'CONTAGIOUS' FOR WOMEN

Yawns are twice as "catching" in women as they are in men, a study has shown.

The finding can be explained by the fact that women are the more empathic sex, say researchers.

Growing evidence suggests that yawn "contagion" is closely linked to empathy, the ability to step into the shoes of others and understand what they are feeling.

Even in higher animals, such as apes and monkeys, yawns can be catching.

One individual yawning can trigger an epidemic of yawns in their neighbors.

Research has shown that in apes, females are more susceptible to yawns than males.

Now a new study has shown that the same is true for humans.

After observing 1461 yawning bouts in everyday situations over a period of five years, a team of researchers found that women were roughly twice as likely to "catch" a yawn as men.

FIRST US ZIKA TRANSMISSION IDENTIFIED

United States has recorded it first know Zika virus transmission in Texas as reported by local health officials, who say it was likely contracted through sex and not a mosquito bite, a day after the World Health Organisation declared an international public health emergency.

The virus, linked to severe birth defects in thousands of babies in Brazil, is spreading rapidly in the Americas, and the WHO say it could hit Africa and Asia as well.

Zika was thought to be spread through bites of the mosquito of the Aedes genus, making sexual contact as a mode of transmission a potentially alarming development.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed it was the first US Zika case in someone who had not travelled abroad, CDC Director Dr Tom Frieden said on Twitter.

However, the CDC has not investigated how the virus was transmitted.

After this case, the CDC advised men to use condoms after travelling to affected areas, while pregnant women should avoid contact with semen from men exposed to the virus.

41 TIPS TO HEALTHY LIFE - DAY 7

7. PICK BRIGHT COLORED FOODS. 

There's no question that eating three to five servings of fruits and vegetables daily will improve your health. But more and more experts are saying healthy eating is not only about how many servings you eat. It's about the variety you pick, too.

Eat a diet of solely white foods, and you'll miss key nutrients your body needs—even if your palette includes cauliflower, onions, and mushrooms. Adding a multivitamin doesn't cut it either. "People will say, 'I'm taking a multivitamin, so I don't really need to eat these. "We do know for sure that if you don't eat your fruits and vegetables, you're not getting your fiber, that help keep your blood sugar down."

MAN WITH TREE GROWTH TO HAVE SURGERY

A Bangladeshi man whose hands and feet have grown to resemble gnarled tree branches is to undergo surgery.

Abul Bajandra has been suffering from a rare disease called epidermodysplasia verruciformis, which causes wart-like lesions, for 20 years. It's also known as "tree man" disease.

Bajandra first noticed the peculiar branch-like growths on his hands when he was 10 years old and tried cutting them off by himself, his doctor, Samanta Lal Sen, told CNN.

Now he's 30 and has one of the most severe cases of the condition ever recorded.

"This is one of the most rare cases of disease that I have seen in Bangladesh, even in the world", said Lal Sen, the chief-coordinator of the surgery at Bangladesh's state-run Dhaka Medical Hospital.

STRESS IN YOUTH LINKED TO HYPERTENSION

Young adults who are easily stressed are more likely to have high blood pressure in later life, researchers have found.

Study published in the journal Heart, examined more than 1.5 million 18-year-old men who were conscripted to the military in Sweden between 1969 and 1997.

When the young adults entered military service they were required to undergo psychological testing - including a 30-minute examination to determine their resilience to stress.

While none of the men included in the study had high blood pressure at the start of their military service, by 2012 researchers found that 93,028 were diagnosed with hypertension.

Using national disease registry data, the researchers found that a low stress resilience score at the age of 18 was associated with a heightened risk of developing high blood pressure in later life.

Men who were deemed the most susceptible to stress had a more than 40 per cent heightened risk of the condition than those who had the highest resilience to stress.

It is estimated that one in four adults in England has hypertension. It can increase a person's risk of heart attack, heart failure, kidney disease, stroke or dementia.

While previous research has linked elevated stress levels to high blood pressure it is thought that this is the first study to link low stress resilience in early adulthood to hypertension in later life.

UK TOURIST KILLED BY ELEPHANT IN THAILAND

36-year-old Scot named Gareth Crowe, was said to have been thrown by an elephant after it turned on its handler during an outing on Koh Samui.

The Bangkok Post said he was trampled on by the elephant and stabbed in the torso by its tusk on Monday afternoon.

It is understood his teenage daughter escaped with minor injuries and is being treated in hospital.

His partner Catherine Hughes and their son were not on the trek, according to reports, which suggested the elephant named Golf was upset before the incident in the Tambon Bor Phud area and was not responding to its handler's commands.

Mr Crowe's daughter appeared to respond to witness claims that her father had teased the animal with a banana.

Eilidh Hughes wrote on the Samui Times website: "He was not teasing the elephant as I was his 16 year old daughter who is lying in hospital and I was on it."

AIR TRAVELERS TO DRINK 'BATTERY WATER'

Passengers with a low-cost airline could be served water created as a waste product from hydrogen batteries under plans for a zero-emissions fuel system.

Budget airline easyJet made the claim as it unveiled designs for a hybrid plane which could be trialled this year.

The concept would involve storing a hydrogen fuel cell in the aircraft's hold. Energy captured as the brakes are deployed during landing would then power the jet when it is on the ground, similar to the kinetic energy recovery system used in Formula One.

Ian Davies, easyJet's head of engineering, said the water produced as a waste product from the batteries would be discarded or reused.

Asked whether it would be served to passengers, he replied: "I think we could reuse the water. It's absolutely pure. Why would we throw water away when it's absolutely pure?"

Mr Davies said it could be used for drinking and flushing toilets.

He added: "This is potentially the freshest, cleanest water."

UNITED ONLY BY HATRED

Disagreements over who should come and on what terms which could not be resolved in time has hindered talks aimed at ending the five-year civil war that has claimed more than 250,000 lives and displaced 12m people scheduled for January 25th in Geneva.

At some point, it looked as if the talks could at last get under way on January 29th. But as the veteran diplomat ruefully conceded on Monday, threats to pull out should be expected: “Don’t be surprised: there will be a lot of posturing, a lot of walkouts and walk-ins, you should neither be depressed nor impressed. The important thing is to keep momentum.” As reported by The Economist.

Predecessors to Mr de Mistura gave up after peace conferences they had convened got nowhere as even that current limited goal may prove dauntingly hard to achieve. Hopes of some progress this time were raised after a meeting of the 17-country International Syria Support Group (ISSG) in Vienna in November, which was followed by a UN Security Council resolution calling for talks to start in January that would lead to a “credible” transitional government in place by July this year. Fair elections based on a new constitution would be held by the middle of 2017. Besides the start of the talks, it will be a miracle if any of those other milestones are met. Mr de Mistura admits that the participants are united only by mutual loathing. At the beginning of what he sees as a six-month process the groups will be kept in separate rooms, while he shuttles between them in a search for something they can agree on.

MESSI TO MEET YOUNG SHIRT MAKER

Five year-old Murtaza, from a poor family in the Jaghori district in the central province of Ghazni, became an unlikely Internet sensation after the pictures were shared on Facebook and other social media sites.

Barcelona star Lionel Messi will meet with the Afghan boy who made a shirt improvised from a plastic bag and bearing the name and playing number of his hero.

Unable to get a real Messi shirt, Murtaza's brother had rigged him up a plastic bag in the light blue and white colors of the Argentinian national team, with "Messi" and the number "10" written on it in marker pen.

The pictures were shared around the world and the Afghan Football Federation said on its website on Monday it was in contact with representatives of Messi and would arrange for Murtaza to meet the player soon.

41 TIPS TO HEALTHY LIFE - DAY 6

6. EAT MORE VEGETABLES

Like fruits, vegetables are important for the well-being of our health. Experts suggest that we should have 5-9 servings of fruits/vegetables, and unfortunately most people don’t even have at least 2 servings!

Though humans are classified as an omnivore, it is pertinent to note that the human dental configuration is closer to that of an herbivore than a carnivore.

Research shows that herbivores are likely to eat all day, so also with most humans. Some people just cannot allow 3 hours of the day with chewing something in the mouth. Carnivores eat less because they have to hunt to get food and this lessens their consumption of flesh and meat and this reduces the risk that may arise from consumption of meat.

Humans are created to be more of vegetarian than a lion. Daily consumption of flesh and meat should be reduced as to lower the risk from beef consumption and the likes.

Some of my favorite vegetables include: Kidney beans, black beans, asparagus, long beans, French beans, sprouts, button mushrooms and carrots, cabbage.

What are your favorite vegetables and how can you include more of them in your diet today?

HONESTY! AN EXPENSIVE GIFT

Being honest with oneself and others is one of the best lifestyle one can live, when you are being honest, it brings you close to decent people and pushes away the naysayer, it also helps you to a certain hopefulness about the world.

Honesty refers to facet of moral character and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness and straightforwardness. It means to be trustworthy, loyal fair and sincere.

Integrity evolve from the Latin word ‘integer’ meaning whole or complete according to American Heritage Dictionary of English language.