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After two days of mourning, the West African nation Ghana is giving its late president John Atta Mills a state and military burial today at Geese Park, a bird sanctuary near the seat of government, Osu Castle, along the Atlantic Ocean. His mortal remains, which were moved from the Banquet Hall in Accra, currently lie in a Ghana flag-draped casket at Ghana's Independence Square (Black Star Square). The burial ceremony is ongoing as thousands have gathered to bid him farewell. Eighteen heads of state; President of the ECOWAS Commission, Kadre

Artistic gymnastics events at the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games concluded yesterday with two gold medal wins for China and gold medals for the Netherlands and the United States. China's Feng Zhe won gold in the men's parallel bars, just narrowly beating out the German gymnast Marcel Nguyen by 0.166 points. China also claimed a gold with Deng Linlin scoring a 15.600 in the women's beam. The balance beam proved treacherous for some: Gabrielle Douglas, considered a favourite for the event, came seventh after a dramatic fall. The United States

Fire crews have battled numerous wildfires across portions of Oklahoma during recent days. At least eighteen fires have been reported across the state, one of which severely damaged the town of Luther, nearly destroying it. Media sources indicate the fires have damaged over 68,000 acres. Many of the fires burned throughout Saturday night. In the central part of the state, various rural areas and small towns were evacuated; officers went door to door in some locales to notify residents of the impending dangers. A spokesperson for the American R

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the largest civil services trade union in the United Kingdom, yesterday reversed its decision to hold a strike for its UK Home Office worker members scheduled for today, the day before the Olympic Games are due to start in London. The strike, which was called last week as a result of job reductions being made, would have affected the UK Border Agency (UKBA), the Identity and Passport Service, and the Criminal Records Bureau, at London Heathrow Airport amongst other UK airports. PCS General Secret

An AS532 Cougar helicopter has crashed in the south-east of France, killing all six occupants onboard. The aircraft, owned by manufacturing company Eurocopter, descended in the Verdon Gorge — located in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence — at roughly 13:30 CEST (1130 UTC) yesterday. Police lieutenant Benoit Gounine told Reuters "[t]he accident occurred in a place that's very difficult to access, which is complicating our work". A spokesperson for Eurocopter said the occupants of the helicopter were company engineers and test pilots. The

Dozens of people have been killed as a result of flooding in Plateau State, located in the central part of Nigeria. The flooding occurred as the result of a large amount of rainfall close to Jos, a city in the north of the state, causing overflow of a dam. The Red Cross has reported the recovery of 35 corpses, while BBC News Online has placed the death toll at a minimum of 39. A spokesperson for the Red Cross said approximately two hundred houses had been sunk or wrecked. A significant number of the affected houses had been built of mud. Mana

Homebush Bay, New South Wales — On Friday, Wikinews sat down with first time Paraylympic Australian Gliders Leanne Del Toso, Sarah Vinci, and Amber Merritt, and second time Paralympic competitor Clare Nott at the Pullman Hotel following their 57–45 win against China at the Rollers & Gliders World Challenge in Sydney. With South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius‎'s inclusion in the 2012 Summer Olympics as one of the most talked-about Paralympic stories, the players were asked their feelings about his inclusion in the Olympic Games. As a grou

Homebush Bay, New South Wales — Yesterday, the Australian Gliders beat the German women's national wheelchair basketball team 48–46 in the first place match at the Rollers & Gliders World Challenge taking place at the Sport Centre at the Sydney Olympic Park. The two teams were close most of the game, with the first quarter ending 11–6 Germany, second quarter ending tied 19–19 and the third quarter ending 31–27. In the fourth, both teams had on court issues: the Australians got caught out several times because of shot clock violations. Meanwh

Border patrols at Britain's airports may be left short-staffed as the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) have voted to strike for twenty-four hours next week on Thursday, July 26, the day before the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. PCS members working in the Home Office, which operates the Border Agency, voted for the strike on Wednesday to protest against the loss of jobs at the Home Office, as well as pay and conditions of workers. Following the strike, union workers will also take other action including working to rule a

A report published by public-health journal The Lancet suggests living a sedentary lifestyle is now as-fatal for individuals as smoking. Compiled by 33 research workers, the report speaks of a "pandemic" in which an estimated one-in-three adults worldwide are inactive, leading to approximately 5.3 million fatalities from this. Research for The Lancet established people in higher-income countries are more inactive than those where lower incomes prevail. The study indicated nearly two-in-three adults in the United Kingdom are not active enough.

Homebush Bay, New South Wales — Earlier today at the Sport Centre at the Sydney Olympic Park, the Australian Gliders beat the Germany women's national wheelchair basketball team 53–45. Germany took an early lead in the game after winning the opening tip-off. They pulled ahead 5–0 before Australia was able to answer back with a two point shot by 3 point player Sarah Stewart. Australia went on a 16-point unanswered scoring run, beating Germany 16–5 with 1:21 left in the first before the Germans were able to score off a basketball by Gesche Sc

Homebush Bay, New South Wales — In a closely fought game Thursday night between the Australian Rollers and the Great Britain men's national wheelchair basketball team at the Sport Centre at the Sydney Olympic Park, Australia rolled away as 65–51 victors. The Australians, many with facial hair, met the partially tattooed Great Britain side with a lot of aggression and sometimes borderline violence on the court. Wheelchairs rammed into each other with much greater frequency than in the previous match played between the Australian and German wo