Fight of politics - The election run-off in the Democratic Republic of Congo is supposed to end a period stretching back some 130 years, marked by a succession of brutal and astonishingly corrupt regimes. While DR Congo has been a 'black hole at the heart of Africa', as a diplomat once described it, other countries have been sucked into conflict and it has been impossible to forge strong economic links between southern and eastern Africa and the north and west. One plan is to use the flow of the River Congo to supply electricity across the continent, but for that peace and good management are needed. This is why DR Congo now hosts the world's largest peacekeeping force - some 17,000 soldiers - with an annual budget of $1bn. The United Nations hopes that turning round DR Congo will go on to provide a massive boost to other poor African countries. At present this country which is two-thirds the size of Western Europe has just 300 miles of paved roads. 'We've suffered a lot, we want things to change,' said Harriette Katuku Kishala, a nurse in DR Congo's second city, Lubumbashi.