On April 2, former French budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac admitted to once having a secret bank account in Switzerland, confirming tax-evasion allegations made by news site Médiapart, and which he spent months denying. The confession destroyed a once-promising political career and dealt a major blow to the Socialist government of President François Hollande, who was left red-faced for picking a tax-dodger to fix France’s struggling finances. But the affair has also rattled French democracy, reinforcing widespread mistrust of leaders and the mainstream media.

On March 20, 2003, the United States launched “Shock and Awe”, an unprecedented show of military firepower, as the first phase of its much-criticised invasion of Iraq. Dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled within weeks, but a dogged insurgency, bloody civil strife, and a protracted occupation were just beginning. Hussein’s sudden exit also broke a fragile balance of power in the region. Ten years on, the human and material costs of the war are immeasurable. Iraq is still struggling to find peace.

Every five years or so, Kenyans vote in elections that tend to reopen old, festering economic and ethnic wounds. The stakes this year are especially high following the disastrous 2007 poll, which unleashed a post-electoral bloodbath. Will East Africa’s most stable and prosperous nation repair itself in the 2013 polls?

Democratic President Barack Obama has defeated Republican challenger Mitt Romney to secure a second term at the White House, wrapping up a closely-fought presidential contest. Despite lingering dissatisfaction over the slow pace of economic recovery, the incumbent president won most key swing states, including the “bellwether” state of Ohio, while his Democratic Party also kept its narrow lead in the Senate. But with Republicans still in control of the House of Representatives, Obama is set to face familiar difficulties in pushing through his liberal agenda over the next four years.