“As dawn broke over Harare this morning residents looked out of their windows to see soldiers patrolling the streets. After a day and night of frayed nerves, with rumours of a coup and sightings of troop movements, the plotters struck.” The Economist: Zimbabwe’s army mounts a coup against Robert Mugabe.

+ “Grace Mugabe’s political ambitions may have been as much about self-preservation as an instinct to lead. She has two sons and a daughter with the 93-year-old president. Libya is not the only case study to demonstrate that history is not always kind to family members who outlive a long-term authoritarian ruler.” The Guardian: The rags to riches rise and fall of ‘Gucci Grace’. “There was the extraordinary incident in which she allegedly assaulted a young model in Johannesburg – and needed diplomatic immunity to avoid an embarrassing court case. There was the bitter feud with the vice-president and rival to succeed her husband, Emmerson Mnangagwa, which resulted in her denying she plotted to poison him.”

+ The military is saying it’s not a coup, but Robert Mugabe is currently under house arrest.