After 10 years in power, the statesman had few friends offering to help to fight off the rebels.
Even so, a witness to the coup says that, while South African troops stood firm, government soldiers fled.
Ongoing abuses and alleged intimidation by Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party has prompted many to question the easing of sanctions by the European Union.
There are plans to take Robben Island to the world through a video game, website and mobile reconstruction of Nelson Mandela’s prison cell.
Oscar Pistorius is due in court for his bail hearing after being charged with the murder of Reeva Steenkamp. Here’s what to expect.
A hotel celebrates the famous author, but there’s little else to mark the city as Tolkien’s birthplace.
There’s a new form of nation-building in town and the new generation of comedians is laughing all the way to the bank.
Rights activists have hailed anti-poverty and Aids activist David Kuria as a pioneer despite an aborted election campaign.
The AU and West African regional bloc has condemned army interference in Mali’s politics after the prime minister was forced to resign.
Uganda helped the M23 militia with "logistics" as it fought a deadly and successful offensive against the Congolese army.