Six In The Morning Sunday June 29

29 June 2014 Last updated at 07:13

Iraq receives Russian fighter jets to fight rebels

Iraq says it has received the first batch of fighter jets it ordered from Russia to help it as it fights an offensive by Sunni rebels.

The defence ministry said five Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft would enter service in "three to four days".

The insurgents control large swathes of the north and west after a string of attacks over the past three weeks.

On Saturday, the government said it had retaken the northern city of Tikrit, but rebels dispute this.

State television said 60 militants had been killed and that preparations were now being made to move north towards rebel-held Mosul.

The rebels confirmed there had been heavy fighting in the city they took on 11 June, but implied the attack had failed, saying they were pursuing what was left of the army offensive.

EDITORIAL Sunday 29 June 2014

The Nigerian girls are still missing

It is to be hoped that President Jonathan is still being advised by British and other experts on how to deal with Boko Haram

How quickly the outrage passes on from the front pages. A month or so ago much of the world seemed united in its condemnation of the kidnapping of more than 200 girls by Boko Haram, the Islamist sect, in Nigeria. But despite Hollywood stars and Michelle Obama taking pictures of themselves holding up placards saying "Bring Back Our Girls", it has proved impossible to return them to their families.

As the complexities of the security situation in northern Nigeria became apparent, the campaign's intensity has weakened. At an early stage, it was reported that 300 people were killed in a Boko Haram attack near Chibok, the town from where the students were taken, because the Nigerian security force protecting the mostly Christian population had been deployed to join the search.

Syria charity blames red tape for closure of Aleppo hospital

Staff at much-needed hospital given a month's notice because charity needs established funding partner to keep facility open

• Tracy McVeigh
• The Observer, Sunday 29 June 2014

All staff at a hospital serving the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo have been given a month's notice after a British medical charity blamed red tape for its closure.

Half a million people in the war-torn country will lose access to desperately needed healthcare when Atareb hospital, operated by the British-based aid agency Hand in Hand for Syria (HIHS), closes within the next few days.

It would be a disaster for local people as well as for the medical staff, who included some of the last remaining doctors in Syria, and their families, said the charity's head of logistics, Fadi al-Dairi, speaking from the Syrian-Turkish border.

India's uranium mines expose villages to radiation

India plans to source a quarter of its energy from nuclear power by 2050. But this ambitious goal could come at a cost. Radioactive waste from uranium mines in the country's east is contaminating nearby communities.

It's a hot summer afternoon in Jadugoda, a small town in eastern India. Four women wearing saris sit in a circle in front of a mud house, with smooth white walls and pink borders decorated with small shards of mirror.

Nearby, a woman pumps up water from a tube well. She then beats a miner's uniform that belongs to her brother. He works nearby, in the uranium mines.

Suddenly a gust of wind blows black dust from the mines into the courtyard. The women cover their faces and rush to cover the pots of water so they don't get contaminated.

America's Marijuana Revolution: Ganjapreneurs Hit the Jackpot

By Anne Seith in Denver, Colorado

Since the legalization of marijuana in two US states in January, entrepreneurs and investors have been seeing green. Observers believe the industry will grow rapidly and may even rival the Dot.Com boom of the 1990s.

There are many ways to get high: John and Jane knew that even before traveling to Denver, Colorado. Yet neither was prepared for the vast diversity of offerings they were confronted with when they arrived.

At the 3D Cannabis Center, they found flavored pot catering to every taste -- mints, gummy bears, sour fruits and even truffles and pralines. "We got Swiss style yesterday," a salesman says, pitching a dark chocolate. The selection also includes varieties like Cookies & Cream or tangerine-chocolate. All, of course, are enhanced with cannabis.

Unofficial Hong Kong reform poll in last day

Democracy 'referendum' to end a day before huge numbers of people expected to turn out for pro-democracy demonstration. Last updated: 29 Jun 2014 06:54

Hong Kong citizens have voted in the final day of an unofficial referendum on democratic reform, days before a record number of people are expected at an annual pro-democracy protest.

The 10-day poll has seen voters choose how the city's leader should be elected, but it has enraged Beijing with state-run media describing the ballot as "an illegal farce".

More than 760,000 people have voted since the poll opened online earlier this month, the AFP news agency reported, as fears grow that Beijing will backtrack on its promise to allow Hong Kong universal suffrage.

Tensions are running high in the former British colony with upwards of 500,000 people expected to participate in a pro-democracy rally on Tuesday, the anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China.