Freed from ISIS, Yazidi women return in 'severe shock'

The 16-year-old lies on her side on a mattress on the floor, unable to hold up her head. Her uncle props her up to drink water, but she can barely swallow. Her voice is so weak, he places his ear directly over her mouth to hear her.

The girl, Souhayla, walked out of the most destroyed section of Mosul this month, freed after three years of captivity and serial rape when her Islamic State captor was killed in an airstrike. Her uncle described her condition as “shock.” He had invited reporters to Souhayla’s bedside so they could document what the terror group’s system of sexual abuse had done to his niece.

“This is what they have done to our people,” said Khalid Taalo, her uncle.

Since the operation to take back Mosul began last year, approximately 180 women, girls and children from the Yazidi ethnic minority who were captured in 2014 by the Islamic State, or ISIS, have been liberated, according to Iraq’s Bureau for the Rescue of Abductees.

Women rescued in the first two years after ISIS overran their ancestral homeland came home with infections, broken limbs and suicidal thoughts. But now, after three years of captivity, women like Souhayla and two others seen last week by reporters, are far more damaged, displaying extraordinary signs of psychological injury.

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There are 4 types of Facebook users, shows report. Which type are you?

Researchers have found that Facebook's nearly two billion monthly users can be categorised into four types ranging from people who use the social media network to build on real-world relationships, to those focussed on "likes" and attention.

On an average, 1.28 billion people check Facebook daily, and according to a recent estimate, an average Facebook user spends 35 minutes a day on the platform.

"What is it about this social-media platform that has taken over the world," lead author Tom Robinson, Professor at the Brigham Young University, said in a statement.

To answer this, the team compiled a list of 48 statements to identify potential reasons as to why people use Facebook.

They found four categories of Facebook users: relationship builders, town criers, selfies and window shoppers.

Relationship builders post, respond to others' posts and use additional Facebook features primarily in an attempt to fortify relationships that exist beyond their virtual world.

"They use it as an extension of their real life, with their family and real-life friends," Robinson said.

Town criers, on the other hand, are unconcerned with sharing photos, stories or other information about themselves, they instead "want to inform everybody about what's going on". "They push out information," Robinson noted.
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MIT Pune, IBM unveil robot 'Chintu' to assist senior citizens

The students of Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT) Pune and technology giant IBM have developed a robot, Chintu, which would assist senior citizens in their everyday tasks.

Chintu, under 2ft tall robot, was developed after MIT Pune received a grant of Rs 10 lakh last year from IBM.


It is powered by the US-based company's cognitive assistant, IBM Watson. Chintu can move his hands and read books to an audience.

"Drawing from Watson's domain knowledge, Chintu will assist senior citizens in conducting everyday tasks such as reading the newspaper/book and generate reminders on their daily medication," Professor and Head of Computer Engineering Department at MIT Pune, Vrushali Kulkarni, told PTI.

She added that the students have been working on the project for the past few months. While 'Chintu' is still a few years from becoming mainstream, the students will continue to work on him to add functionalities.

"This has also opened up a new and exciting research avenue for our students. Robotics, Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing are interesting fields of research today and our students are getting first-hand experience of working in these fields," she said.

Mezjan Dallas, University Relations Leader at IBM India said the project is a great example of co-creation.

"You put great technology in the hands of bright and enthusiastic students, you give them freedom and a fun element and India's next generation of engineers start to do magical things," he said. (READ MORE)