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Owen Bennett Jones introduces personal stories, insights and analysis from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ correspondents around the world. In this edition: Andrew Harding visits Goma and sees how Congo canvasses and campaigns during its election process; Michael Buchanan reflects on the root causes of England's 2011 rioting.

A "contrary little town" goes to the polls

The vast nation once known as Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a place often misunderstood elsewhere, and too often generally portrayed in the world's media as violent and impoverished. Its devastating and complex civil war, and the other smaller conflicts which it sparked, have ravaged its people, as well as its image; from 'blood diamonds' and gang rape, to massacres and children accused of witchcraft, it seems to generate a stream of bad news.

And yet: in a turn of events which might once have seemed impossible, the DRC held apparently free and multi-party elections on Monday – although the results won’t be known until next week. Andrew Harding visited the country's eastern border, looking for signs of hope.

Problems at home

When journalists go abroad, they sometimes show a regrettable tendency: for the duration of their visit to another country, they simply berate the authorities for not living up to Western or developed-world standards. Many nations complain that they're against an impossible yardstick - and that even those same Western nations don't live up to their own ideals.

The rioting across England in 2011 certainly left local journalists with a lot to explain. How could such chaos and violence be possible in a supposedly prosperous and well-governed country? Michael Buchanan gives us an insight into what life is really like for some East Londoners.