The News Matrix: Monday 15 July 2013

Mandela going home, predicts ex-president

A former president of South Africa says he expects Nelson Mandela to soon be discharged from the hospital to recuperate at home. Thabo Mbeki predicted on Saturday that Mandela would be going home after being hospitalised for more than five weeks for a recurring lung infection. MORE

Two soldiers dead after training in heat

Two soldiers who died while training in the Brecon Beacons in Wales yesterday may have succumbed to soaring temperatures of 29.5C (85.1F). A third serviceman was taken to hospital and remains in a serious condition. The Ministry of Defence said it was investigating. MORE

Mystery solved: JK Rowling dunnit

JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, has been unmasked as the real writer of the crime novel The Cuckoo’s Calling, published under the pen name Robert Galbraith in April. The book has since flown to the top of the Amazon best seller charts.

Civilians trapped inside mosque

Two hundred civilians were trapped yesterday inside a mosque in a suburb of Damascus as fighting continued outside between opposition fighters and President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. The civilians were pinned down in Qaboun, a suburb north of the Syrian capital. MORE

Hip hop hooray: Jay-Z tops album chart

Hip hop star Jay-Z has achieved his first UK number one album. His Magna Carta ... Holy Grail ousted Mumford & Sons’ Babel. His success comes after his appearance at London’s Wireless Festival on Saturday.

Ice sheets melting faster than thought

The massive Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets are melting much faster than previously thought, new research reveals. The 300 billion tonnes of ice lost a year lost may have a dramatic effect on sea levels. But scientists say many more years of research is needed to determine whether global warming is reponsible for the melt. MORE

Jade Goody’s life to be depicted in opera

The tragic life of reality star Jade Goody, who died from cervical cancer aged just 27 in 2009, is to be portrayed in an opera called and the Crowd (wept), by playwright Afsaneh Gray. It will be conducted by the editor of live music at BBC Radio 3, Adam Gatehouse. MORE

Red-carpet greeting for Sudanese leader

Sudan’s indicted leader Omar al-Bashir arrived in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, to a red-carpet welcome yesterday, despite demands from Human Rights Watch that Nigeria arrest him for genocide in Darfur. “Nigeria has the shameful distinction” of being the first West African country to welcome him, it said.