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Skin lightening is a global industry, with people buying creams, cement and even battery acid to put on their skin to lighten it. A new trend has emerged from the Philippines – intravenous infusions of an untested chemical called glutathione. Concerns have been raised in the British Medical Journal by consultant dermatologist Ophelia Dadzie, who says that the use of these injections is on the rise, despite potential health risks.

The war in Syria has taken a huge toll on the health and well-being of its people. Some of the women and girls who have escaped the conflict still encounter violence. In Jordan, martial arts expert Lina Khalifeh has set up SheFighter, to empower women and teenage girls by teaching them self-defence. Dale Gavlak joined one of the classes in the northern Jordanian town of Irbid.

British researchers have published the first evidence that a specific gene can affect our choice of food. Volunteers in a curry-eating experiment who had a particular genetic variant were drawn to dishes with the highest fat content – even though they couldn’t taste the difference. Professor Sadaf Farooqi said she was surprised that they ate twice as much of a high-fat korma than their lean counterparts.

(Photo: A Shanghai woman walks past a skin whitening advertising poster in Shanghai: Credit: Mark Ralston/AF/Getty Images)