This week sees diplomatic fallout as the US guns down two Libyan MiGs, meanwhile five European peace monitors are killed in another shot-down aircraft, later acknowledged by the Yugoslav military. Years later, Washington comes under renewed scrutiny as American and British companies are accused of carving up Iraq’s oil profits in the aftermath of war. In the heart of Paris, the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo marks one of the deadliest assaults on a media organisation in modern Europe. In 2021, signs of a fractious decade emerge with the storming of the United States Capitol, a stark example of political violence directed at a seat of government. All are charted on the front covers of The Independent.
