Quotes of the week: Mumsnet, monkeys and even some love for liberty

yazidi — Members of the Yazidi minority sect who were newly released wait along a road on the outskirts of Kirkuk Reuters

A former IS prisoner from Syria:

There are two ways to prove your allegiance to IS: either by getting married or by carrying out the punishments. They were merciless — the foreign fighters and the Syrians treated us the worst because they are the lowest in Isis.

From: Islamic State: 'Marginalised European jihadists use extreme violence to prove loyalty'

Skansen Zoo owner Jonas Wahlstrom:

After freezing permits for business men coming from Sweden, they have now frozen the import permits of pygmy monkeys too. We need to ask the Foreign Office in Stockholm to handle the monkey business with Saudi Arabia.

From: Swedish pygmy monkeys become latest victims of diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia

Ukip's Suzanne Evans:

The rules are so daft, that you can go for a swim without paying any VAT, but you'll be charged for it on the tampon you need to wear in order to go for a swim. It's plain stupid.

From: Election 2015: Ukip hopes to woo women with plan to scrap the 'Tampon tax'

Mumsnet's Justine Roberts:

If your primary school-aged child is "always keen to share her news from home", you can bet your bottom dollar she's already told the teacher that you swear like a trooper, drink wine before the school run, and that your other half is in banged up in jail.

From: School reports: Mumsnet's guide to cracking teachers' code and finding out truth about your children

David Hone, from Queen Mary, University of London and lead author of study into the daspletosaurus published in the journal PeerJ:

It's one of those things that is entirely mundane but entirely incredible – mundane in the sense that cannibalism (or eating other big carnivores you come across) is not unusual, it's rare but not unusual. But this case is very rare because these are big carnivores, so there's going to be one every few dozen kilometres, and they're not going to encounter one another on a daily basis. It's incredible because although you would expect that to happen, to find evidence of such a rare interaction is a big surprise. That's what is really neat.

From: Cannibal dinosaurs: T. Rex cousin Daspletosaurus fought and ate one another

Yazda NGO's Ziyad Shammo Aladany:

If you come and sit with the girls you will find different stories from girl to girl. A lot of them have been sold to Isis fighters, they have been raped in [...] public, and by more than two or three people at a time," Shammo said. "They were tortured, beaten and subject to any type of violence.

From: Iraq: Yazidi girls 'raped in public' and sold to Isis fighters before release

Labour leader Ed Milliband:

I don't blame people for taking advantage of non-dom status. I blame governments for fostering a system that can be taken advantage of.

From: Election 2015: Ed Miliband promises Labour will scrap non-dom tax status

Conservatives chairman Grant Shapps:

Tonight Nicola Sturgeon has promised that she'd prop up a minority Labour government – and hold Great Britain to ransom, vote by vote, policy by policy.

From: SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon fails to rule out future Scottish independence vote

Republican US presidential candidate Rand Paul:

Today I announce with God's help, with the help of liberty lovers everywhere, that I'm putting myself forward as a candidate for president of the United States of America. Too often when Republicans have won, we've squandered our victory by becoming part of the Washington Machine. That's not who I am. Government should be restrained and freedom should be maximised.

From: Rand Paul becomes first presidential candidate to accept bitcoin donations

US songwriter Don McLean:

I thought it would be interesting as I reach age 70 to release this, so that anyone who might be interested will learn that this song was not a parlour game. It was an indescribable photograph of America that I tried to capture in words and music, and then was fortunate enough through the help of others to make a successful recording."

From: American Pie manuscript sold at auction: Don McLean original lyrics go for $1.2m

Middle East director at Human Rights Watch Sarah Leah Whitson:

The Saudi government has long regarded its Shia citizens through the prism of Wahhabi dogma or state stability, branding them as unbelievers or suspecting their national loyalties.

From: Saudi Arabia's Shia and Riyadh's other war - 'The language of hatred is getting worse'

University of Michigan Medical School report author Jimo Borjigin:

These results support the concept that asphyxia activates a brainstorm, which may be targeted to prevent premature death of the heart and the brain. The study suggests that a pharmacological blockade of the brain's electrical connections to the heart during cardiac arrest may improve the chances of survival in cardiac arrest patients.

From: Near death experiences: Surge of brain activity accelerates deterioration of heart

Actor John Travolta: