President Robert Mugabe's own ruling ZANU-PF party wants him to step down and plans to hold a rally in Zimbabwe's capital Harare on Saturday to make the point.
Mr Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, faces the starkest challenge ever to his rule after the army seized power on Wednesday, saying it was targeting "criminals" around the nonagenarian leader.
On Friday, ZANU-PF called for Mugabe to resign, the main state newspaper The Herald reported -a clear sign that the aged leader's authority has collapsed after the army takeover.
The newspaper said ZANU-PF branches in all 10 provinces had met and had also called for Mugabe's wife Grace to resign from the party. It was her ambitions to succeed her husband that triggered the political crisis.
A senior member of ZANU-PF said the party wanted their long-time president gone.
"If he becomes stubborn, we will arrange for him to be fired on Sunday," the source said. "When that is done, it's impeachment on Tuesday."
The Herald reported that ZANU-PF would convene a special Central Committee meeting on Sunday to "realign the revolutionary party with current political developments".
Pointedly, the military said it "fully supports" a "solidarity march" — apparently separate from the ZANU-PF event — in the capital, Harare, on Saturday, part of an apparent groundswell of anti-Mugabe sentiment unleashed by the dramatic events of the past few days. The army said it had been "approached by several private volunteer organisations seeking to freely move and express their desires" and they could do so if they were orderly and peaceful.
Harare has been calm as the coup has unfolded but the armed forces also issued a warning against looting.
The army appears to want Mugabe to go quietly and allow a transition to Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking last week as vice president sparked the army action.
One goal the generals have is to prevent Mr Mugabe from handing power to his wife, Grace, 41 years his junior, who appeared on the cusp of power after Mr Mnangagwa was pushed out.
Mugabe, 93, who calls himself the grand old man of African politics, appears to be running out of options. The army is camped on his doorstep. Grace Mugabe is under house arrest and her key political allies are in military custody. All the main pillars of Mugabe's rule have turned on him or have offered no support.
The police have shown no resistance, while Chris Mutsvangwa, the leader of Zimbabwe's influential war veterans, said on Friday that Mugabe would not be allowed to resist the military and remain in power. And now ZANU-PF, which built a cult of personality around its leader, has deserted him.
Mr Mugabe is revered by some as an elder statesman and independence leader but also reviled by many in Africa and abroad who accuse him of resorting to violence to retain power while running a once promising economy into the ground.
The economy collapsed after the seizure of white-owned farms in 2000. Unemployment is now running at nearly 90 per cent and chronic shortages of hard currency have triggered inflation, with the prices of imports rising as much as 50 per cent a month.
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25 visual effects (VFX) studios
2,150 VFX shots in a film with 2,500 shots
1,000 VFX artists
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Bangladesh (from): Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed
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Range: 400km
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All times UAE:
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How to report a beggar
Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
Dubai – Call 800243
Sharjah – Call 065632222
Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372
Ajman – Call 067401616
Umm Al Quwain – Call 999
Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411
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Fixtures for Round 15 (all times UAE)
Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
Lecce v Genoa (3.30pm)
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A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
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Apple Watch Series 4
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- 400m Olympic running track
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Bantamweight 56.4kg: Mehdi Eljamari (MAR) beat Abrorbek Madiminbekov (UZB), Split points decision
Super heavyweight 94 kg: Adnan Mohammad (IRN) beat Mohammed Ajaraam (MAR), Split points decision
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Light heavyweight 81.4kg: Taha Marrouni (MAR) beat Mahmood Amin (EGY), Unanimous points decision
Light welterweight 64.5kg: Siyovush Gulmamadov (TJK) beat Nouredine Samir (UAE), Unanimous points decision
Light heavyweight 81.4kg: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Haroun Baka (ALG), KO second round
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ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
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Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
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Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
If you go
The flights
Emirates (www.emirates.com) and Etihad (www.etihad.com) both fly direct to Bengaluru, with return fares from Dh 1240. From Bengaluru airport, Coorg is a five-hour drive by car.
The hotels
The Tamara (www.thetamara.com) is located inside a working coffee plantation and offers individual villas with sprawling views of the hills (tariff from Dh1,300, including taxes and breakfast).
When to go
Coorg is an all-year destination, with the peak season for travel extending from the cooler months between October and March.
