It looked complicated, and all at once, those who should have known better started circulating the worst stories; it was a cacophony of contradictory statements, false witnesses, and as ever, the mainstream media contributed actively to the confusion.

Yet the jigsaw was relatively simple: a young president had opposed the underworld’s evil lords, countered a threat from the traditional enemy, and made his fair share of vicious foes across what is often described as “the establishment”.

He was very different from his predecessors, and more different still from those pale puppets  who would succeed him: for many across the world, he was Hope.

Then, he was murdered, leaving behind him a sea of sorrow, a beautiful widow, and two small children who would spend the rest of their lives isolated from all the others.

People mourned, inconsolable, heads of states reflected on the fragility of life.