In the face of diplomatic threats and international condemnation, Iraqi Kurdistan held a referendum this week on independence. With the result now confirmed as a huge mandate for secession, some sort of separation from Iraq now looks almost inevitable. Rebecca Richards and Robert Smith ask whether this already hard-pressed region could survive on its own.

The academic journal, Third World Quarterly, recently published an article that made a perplexing case in favour of colonialism. The journal has faced an outcry. Joseph McQuade points out that many people still believe that the British Empire was a good thing. In fact empirical research clearly proves that colonialism inflicted grave political, psychological and economic harm.

Singapore has passed a bill requiring soda producers to reduce sugar content. But to improve public health and reduce growing obesity trends in Asia – Singapore alone could have one million diabetic residents by 2050 - governments must do more and promote lifestyle changes through education and access to healthy foods, argue Asit K. Biswas and Kris Hartley.