After they became fed up with his plans, apparent plans to pass power to his wife grace mugabe. There is speculation that Robert Mugabe could be the pairing of significant announcement this evening, because the state broadcaster, z bc, is a p pa re ntly the state broadcaster, z bc, is apparently planning a broadcast from state house, his official residence, later this evening. Inevitably there is speculation that that could be, i stress could be, the resignation of Robert Mugabe as president of zimbabwe. Technically, although he may be under house arrest, he is still president of the country. Lets go to our first report this evening. Senior military commanders have met president Robert Mugabe to further pressure him to step down from government, as his own party held a historic meeting to dismiss him. Its a humiliating end for the decorated war hero and the partys longest serving leader. Our people, colleagues, are demanding from us gathered here to show leadership and to give effect to their demands for the recall of the president and first secretary of zanu pf, comrade rg mugabe, from his position in the party and government. Applause. Bruising infighting for power has taken its toll an empty top table, no Robert Mugabe and no first lady. This is the beginning of the end of an era. President Robert Mugabe will no longer head the party he has led for more than a0 years. The question now is who will take his place . The Central Committee has sacked not only the president but also the first lady as the leader of the womens wing, but she still remains the head of government. Parliament are expected to impeach him if he refuses to resign. War veterans who fought alongside him in the war of liberation have warned of an undignified exit if he digs in. Were hoping that by 12 oclock that they resume their negotiations, that he gives in to the fact he is going to tender his resignation and leave. In the event he doesnt, we take over from where the people left yesterday. The Vice President he sacked for disloyalty, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has been recalled to lead the party. Its an extraordinary end for a man whose name has been synonymous not only with zimbabwe, but also this party, since 1975. It really has been an extraordinary humiliation for Robert Mugabe to be dismissed as party leader by zanu pf, our Party Leadership until very recently who have been slavishly loyal to him, suddenly turning around yesterday after that huge demonstration we saw in harare yesterday and sacking him and his wife grace from her position in the party. We heard the announcement from a Senior Member of zanu pf yesterday. Comrades mugabe is hereby recalled from the position of president of zanu pf forthwith. Cheering chanting further, the resolution is that comrades mugabe should resign forthwith from his position as president , head of state and government of the republic of zimbabwe, and if this resignation has not been tended by midday tomorrow, the 20th november, 2017, the zanu pf chief whip is ordered to Institute Proceedings for the recall of the president in terms of section 97 of the constitution of zimbabwe. Cheering that was a representative of zanu pf. All along through this crisis since the military takeover, the armed forces have been trying to make it clear that this is not a military coup detat, although lots of observers have said that it has all of the hallmarks of a coup detat. The monetary dont want to make it look like that, the military, they want Robert Mugabe to be given out of office by constitutional means, that is a 2 step process if he does not reside voluntarily. The first step is zanu pf kicking him out as party leader as they did today, the second step, impeaching him in parliament. We have had the first step, he is 110w we have had the first step, he is now dismissed as party leader. 0ur Southern Africa correspondent was at that Central Committee meeting of zanu pf here in harare today. The congress is just ending. There has been singing and dancing, there has also been, particularly from some of the older ministers i have been speaking to, who have known president mugabe over the years, a certain sorrow, a wish that it could have been otherwise, that he had resigned when he have the opportunity, that he had not pushed his wife, grace, onto the party. As you say, this is the party that, two weeks ago, was doing anything president mugabe wanted. When he asked them to get rid of his deputy, mnangagwa, they did so immediately. They expelled him from the party. He fled the country for his life. Today, in an act of extraordinary political expediency and ruthlessness, they have turned on him. Notjust saying you are no longer the president of the party, but kicking his wife out of the party for good and giving him an ultimatum, an extraordinary ultimatum, saying if you are not gone as president of the country by tomorrow, noon, we will impeach you. Does that look like the most likely course of action . So far, he has been talking to the army for several days. He spoke to them on thursday, talking to them again today. He has shown no signs whatsoever, it seems, of willingly resigning his position. He is going to have to be forced out by impeachment . That is the way it looks at the moment. If he has an appetite for more humiliation, as it seems, then perhaps he will take it to the very end. It is remarkable that a story here that, in some ways, is about constitutions, about legality, about party politics, really boils down to the character, the Human Emotions of one elderly man who lost his nerve, he wanted his wife to take over because he felt perhaps he could not trust anybody else and who is digging in, talking about the constitution, we understand, talking about the letter of the law, saying it was a coup, saying he wont go. Yet the reality of zimbabwe, the reality of the world around him has changed utterly. He is grasping at straws that dont even exist. Zanu pf said they want to amend the constitution to remove the notion of one centre of power. What do you think they mean by that . Do they effectively mean this country cannot be a dictatorship any more . What you was seeing is zanu pf very sensibly positioning itself for elections next year. It is a party that does not want to lose power. It has elected as president a rough guy, a man with a brutal reputation as an enforcer for president mugabe going back years. It is now looking forward to the elections. When i spoke to patrick chinamasa, isaid, i remembertalking to you about the opposition mdc a few years ago and whether they could win an election. He said, they will not be allowed to, we will not let them. I said, has anything changed . He said, yes, we still want to win elections but we will not have one man in charge for the next 37 years. How much has zanu pf changed . We will have to see. Andrew harding, our Southern Africa correspondent. Robert mugabe is currently the worlds oldest head of state at 93 years of age. He may not be that very much longer. It looks like hes got very little time left as president of zimbabwe, having been sacked or party leader of zanu pf today. He may only have hours left in office or days at the most. Inevitably the political obituaries are already being written. And he returns after the war of liberation against white minority rule, he retired hero back to harare in1980. Minority rule, he retired hero back to harare in 1980. At the beginning of his will, people praised advances in education and health care for example, but as that that is in year rule went on, it was dominated political repression with economic mismanagement, with inflation running at many billions of percent at one stage. I, Robert Gabriel mugabe. Robert gabriel mugabe was a revolutionary leader who fought in the liberation struggle against white minority rule. And beartrue allegiance to zimbabwe. His tight grip on power earned him the title of being the oldest head of state in the world. The 93 year old leader has been in power since zimba bwes independence in 1980. He has continued his life as an International Statesman despite a diminishing reputation, as zimbabwes economy crumbled amid corruption and violence. Mugabes rise to power began in 1979 when the lancaster house agreement ended white minority rule. At first, he protected minority rights. But in the 20005, he changed tack he led a chaotic land reform programme, including redistributing land from white farmers without compensation. The countrys economy collapsed with runaway inflation figures. The central bank printed money on a massive scale. Supermarket shelves were empty. A loaf of bread would cost you trillions to buy. Mugabes misrule prompted widespread protests. That was the birth of the opposition mdc, led by trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai, who later entered into a power sharing agreement with mugabe, following a disputed election. The economic climate was unbearable, something it is still struggling to recover from. Millions of zimbabweans crossed the border into neighbouring south africa, looking for a better life. He tried to pave the way for his wife, grace mugabe, to be his successor. The army found that unacceptable, saying that this is not a dynasty. Milton nkosi, bbc news, south africa. We have been talking to milton with his thoughts about Robert Mugabe, milton met Robert Mugabe and i asked him whether he thought it would be incredible to mr mugabe to see now how hes been dumped by his own party zanu pf. This must be deeply painful for Robert Mugabe. Remember, he only had one thing in mind. He wanted to die in office. And now this plan is crumbling right before his eyes. Robert mugabe loved leadership, one of his oldest comrades told me once, James Chikerema, that when they grew up during their childhood days, that when they played games, if they played the church, for example James Chikerema said that Robert Mugabe loved leadership so much that he had to be the bishop. And this is the man today whos now been taken away from the position of leadership. This has been a long time coming. Because many zimbabweans have been calling for this day to come. There are millions of zimbabweans here in south africa who have fled their own country of birth, looking for better economic opportunities, because there was an economic collapse. Remember, zimbabwes own Unemployment Rate is hovering above 90 . So many people, both from the side of the limpopo river and from across there, are celebrating the departure of Robert Mugabe who, they still respect, by the way, for liberating them from white minority rule. And thats why they wanted to handle this as delicately as possible. There was no gaddafi moment, for example, you could ask why. Its because zimbabweans still honour Robert Mugabe for the contribution he made into their own liberation from white minority rule. And milton, in your assessment, then, was his big mistake to try and pass on power to his wife, grace mugabe, 41 years hisjunior, who is such a hated figure in this country . Oh, yes. Indeed. The sequence of events that weve witnessed in the last few days, were actually triggered by the decision of sacking of Emmerson Mnangagwa so grace mugabe could take over from him and eventually be the president of zimbabwe. And thats what many veterans who fought in the liberation struggle found unacceptable, they could not bear the thought of grace mugabe, who was once a typist in Robert Mugabes office, would now be leader of the country when people who went to prison, people who spent time in prison, Robert Mugabe himself spent ten years behind bars fighting white minority rule, and many of his comrades are still alive, it would be a shame as far as they were concerned to see grace mugabe taking the number one job in the country while they were still there. Thoughts and analysis there about what appears to be the demise of Robert Mugabe. It is over for him, no one here has any doubt about that but its not quite over because although he has been sacked as party leader, he is still technically president of the country. But perhaps just for president of the country. But perhapsjust for a president of the country. But perhaps just for a few more hours. The National Broadcaster here, z bc, has been told to go to state house, the official residence of the president , to prepare for an announcement this evening. And it could be, there is a condition that it could be a resignation announcement from mr mugabe. But on the other hand, he has shown throughout this crisis that he is pretty stubborn and not necessarily prepared to go easy. The coming hours will tell us. That is it from me live in harare, back to the studio. Thank you very much, then. The headlines on bbc news. Robert mugabe has been given an ultimatum of midday tomorrow to resign from his position as president of zimbabwe or face impeachment proceedings. The chancellor, philip hammond, has said britain needs to build an extra 300,000 homes a year to make an impact on the housing crisis. Police say theyre confident that the body found near swanage is that of the missing teenager, gaia pope. Gaias sister described her as the light of my life. Lets get the sport now. Chris coleman has been confirmed as the new boss of championship side sunderland after resigning as wales manager. He signs a two and a half year deal to replace simon grayson, who was sacked last month. Having been relegated from the premier league last season, sunderland are bottom of the table afterjust one win in 17 matches. Colemans joined on the staff by his former wales assitant kit symons, and their first game will be tuesdays Nights League match away at aston villa. Having taken sunderland down last season, david moyes is back in the premier League Already as the new boss of west ham united. Hell be hoping for survival this time around with the club inside the relegation zone. Theyre away at watford, around 20 minutes in. Its currently 1 0 to watford, will hughes with his First Premier League goal. You can listen to the match on bbc radio 5live. Congestion outside the ground meant kick off in hearts first match in their refurbished stadium was delayed by 15 minutes. Its currently goalless against Partick Thistle at tynecastle. Garry monks return to leeds united didnt go to plan as his middlesbrough side were beaten 2 1 in the championship. This goal from Ezgjan Alioski put them two up after pablo hernandezs opener. A late penalty wasnt enough for boro, who stay sixth. Victory means leeds are now level with them on points. Tommy fleetwood has won golfs race to dubai title. He held off fellow englishmanjustin rose to top the european tours money list. It went down to the final hole on the final event of the season. Rose could have claimed it with an eagle on the 18th at the tour championship but he only managed a birdie. Jon rahm won the event. It has not massively sunk in. Just kind of a long day, especially when we finished it. It wasnt pretty today. Didnt play how id like to add itjust shows that i played two amberley will goal unbelievable rounds, justin played amazingly and not back and ijust rounds, justin played amazingly and not back and i just showed rounds, justin played amazingly and not back and ijust showed that golf can bea not back and ijust showed that golf can be a tough game. Race to dubai champion is very cool. England will play tonga in the semi finals of the Rugby League World cup, after they beat Papua New Guinea by 36 points to six in melbourne this morning. England dominated from the off. Jermaine mcgillvary scored another two tries to put them in control. Hes scored six in the tournament now. While man of the match Kallum Watkins also scored a couple as england ran in a total of seven tries. They have been good all tournament, there are big boys there, they run ha rd there are big boys there, they run hard and tackle hard, it was a real test for our pack but came up well. I dont think we have put in a great performance, we are still building, into the semis and thats where we wa nted into the semis and thats where we wanted to be. In the days domestic rugby union action, exeter have the chance to go to the top of the aviva premiership with a win over harlequins. Its been a tight affair its been a tight at sandy park. Going into the final 20 minutes. As for elsewhere, sale sharks and bath are ahead. Englands women have already failed to regain the ashes but theyve won their penultimate t20 of the series in australia to restore some pride. England set the australia a total of 153 to win in canberra and then bowled the hosts out for 112 to win by a0 runs, withjenny gunn taking four wickets. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Lets return now to our top story. President mugabe has been dismissed as the leader of zimbabwes ruling zanu pf party, a day after tens of thousands marched on the streets calling for him to go. Hes been replaced by the former Vice PresidentEmmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking by mr mugabe sparked this political crisis and military intervention. Lets get more insight into this story with peter godwin, the author of the fear the last days of Robert Mugabe. Hejoins us now via skype. Thank you forjoining us this afternoon on what is a momentous event happening in zimbabwe. There dont seem to be many options left now for Robert Mugabe, the army is against him, the people have turned against him, the people have turned against him, the people have turned against him and now his own party, but do you think you will still try to dig his heels in . No, i think there has been a lot of negotiation in the last few days about his exit package and his severance, not before time, but i think he is toast. Its just a before time, but i think he is toast. Itsjust a question before time, but i think he is toast. Its just a question of how he goes. As it initially what he wa nted he goes. As it initially what he wanted to retire in a few months but i dont think thats a possibility. I think you will be given a stark binary, either he resigns today or tomorrow, robert b tomorrow, under his own steam, or parliament will probably fire him probably tomorrow, or parliament will try and buy him on tuesday under the constitution. His party stayed in power, something which some people are getting a rush of blood to the head of getting giddy, but all were seeing is power changing hands between colleagues in the same ruling party. I was going to ask you, people are talking about it as a turning point but lets face it, if it is Emmerson Mnangagwa who ta kes if it is Emmerson Mnangagwa who takes over, would it really be a break with the past . Im beginning to feel like the resident curmudgeons, raining on everyones parade but the truth is that Emmerson Mnangagwa is just as morally culpable and has just as much blood on his hand and isjust as corrupt as Robert Mugabe. He has been his bagman for more than a0 yea rs. Been his bagman for more than a0 years. I dont think theres in amount to be cheering about. It shows you how desperate asked zimbabweans are for any change because we have had this same at hand of stasis on the country ever since it became independent in 1980. So people are giddy at any change, they have had the same place looking down on them for so long. Its possible that Emmerson Mnangagwa will rebrand the party and we will see a micro life, my crew zanu pf lights, zanu pf 2. 0. I have low expectations and i expect to see them dashed. So do you think there isa them dashed. So do you think there is a chance of a National Unity government with the opposition, with Morgan Tsvangirai involves . The thing is, there is a moment right now or opportunity and leveraged. I did do not think it has been used properly. Its going to disappear, this is a small window and come tuesday or wednesday, when Emmerson Mnangagwa is the fully fledged president of zimbabwe, that window closes quickly. I suspect they might throw a couple of sweeties in the direction of the opposition, give them some kind of semblance of a government of National Unity, leading to free and Fair Elections but unless they really are free and fair, we are not that much further than we were. Its a game of Musical Chairs in the ruling party. We must leave it there but thank you for your insight into all of that and we will see how events pan out in the coming days. Police in dorset say theyre treating the death of the teenager gaia pope as unexplained. The 19 year olds body was found yesterday afternoon close to a coastal path near swanage. She was last seen alive on the 7th november. 0ur correspondent james ingham is at the scene in swanage. Police are now trying to establish exactly how gaia died. At the moment, they are treating her death as unexplained. When gaia was last seen, she was said to be in a distressed state and, when she went missing, she didnt have medication on her that she needs for her epilepsy. But detectives believe she may well have been killed. Last week, they arrested three people, questioning them on suspicion of her murder. They have now all subsequently been released. So, today, in a field down this dirt track, close to the coastal footpath here in swanage, forensic teams are hard at work trying to establish clues, trying to find clues. They are also hoping that, together with results from a postmortem examination and door to door inquiries around here, it will help drive their future investigation. The discovery of gaias body brought to an end 11 days of searching by emergency services, friends and family, and also strangers, volunteers who felt compelled to help. This town has been rocked by her disappearance, and now her death. Tonight, prayers will be set at St Marys Church in swanage as this small, peaceful, coastal town begins to come to terms with gaias death. Investigators are continuing to look into the causes of a mid air collision between a helicopter and a plane after the bodies of the four men who died were recovered. Police and air accident experts remain at the scene of the wreckage in woodland in buckinghamshire, one of the victims has been named as captain mike green. He was conducting a Flight Instructor course with a student when they both died. The queen and Prince Philip will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary tomorrow. To mark the milestone, Buckingham Palace has released this new portrait. A set of six commemorative stamps have also been issued by royal mail, they feature the couples engagement and wedding. They are the first royal couple to celebrate their platinum anniversary. Lets have a look at the weather now. Hello. A fine end to the data much of the country, but change is that through the evening and overnight. A frontal system moving eastwards, head of it clear skies and an early frost but eventually our picks of rain, strengthening breeze into Northern Ireland and scotland, snow over the mountains, rain into Northern England. Further south, drier and cloudier and a mild night orjust gone. Rain still with this tomorrow morning, rainy and a00 metres above will have snow. This rain will take its time leaving southern Northern England but behind it, cloudy and mild day england and wales seeing, but still cold. Another system set up for a pattern of unsettled weather much of the week so you further outbreaks of rain on tuesday, heaviest in scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England. Hello. This is bbc news. The headlines