Long  called The Dark Continent, the nations which dot Africa are climbing to  greater significance on the world stage. Some of the nations impact the  world in economic equations as well suck Western powers into conflicts  which can have global impact. The African nations offer a ready market  to such economic powerhouses as China and the US of A.

Rwanda: Rwanda has issued a response to a U.N. Group of Experts report linking  Kigali to a rebellion in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.  Speaking at a forum in Nairobi Saturday, Rwandan Foreign Affairs  Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said the case against Rwanda is superficial,  and her country questions the report's standards of proof.

Mushikiwabo  says her country submitted a counter-argument to the U.N. Security  Council Friday in response to the report accusing Rwanda of supporting  the M23 mutiny in DRC.

“We  have had three days of discussions with the Group of Experts," she said.  "We went through every single allegation. Every single one of them. We  have given our explanation, we have provided supporting documents to a  number of false allegations, what they do with it, we don't know.”

Mushikawabo  admitted she did not think the report would necessarily change the  minds of the Group of Experts, but said it was important for Rwanda to  address these issues.

http://voanews.com/content/rwanda-issues-rebuttal-to-un-over-m23-report/1448357.html

Ethiopia: Ethiopia's  government says that federal security forces have stopped a clash  between two tribes in the country's south after fighting killed nearly  two dozen people.

Mesfin  Assefa, an official in the Oromia region, said Sunday that federal and  local forces restored order and that fighting has stopped. Fighting  between the Borana and Garri tribes has broken out over the last week.

Local  authorities say about two dozen people were killed, including two  police, after fighting started Wednesday. More people were injured when  thousands fled to Kenya. Armed men also set ablaze a number of houses.

http://azstarnet.com/news/world/ethiopian-forces-contain-deadly-tribal-clash/article_ff31848d-8313-5060-964c-64817eec71c0.html

Congo: Democratic  Republic of Congo's President Joseph Kabila has accused neighboring  Rwanda of backing rebels hostile to his government, saying it was an  "open secret" that Kigali was meddling in Congo's volatile eastern  borderlands.

Kigali has  repeatedly rejected the allegations and accused the report's authors of  failing to verify their information or consult Rwandan authorities.

Kabila  commented for the first time on the growing row between the two uneasy  neighbors during a rare news conference broadcast on state television on  Saturday night.

"As for the  involvement of Rwanda...It's an open secret. You know, the whole world  knows. There is a report that effectively establishes the presence and  active backing from this country to the M23 and to other armed groups,"  Kabila said.

The president  said his government had also requested an explanation from another  eastern neighbor, Uganda, of persistent rumors that its soldiers were  involved in the fighting.

"The  ministry of foreign affairs has specifically asked the Ugandans what is  going on and the response is that the Ugandans have nothing to do with  it," he said.

http://reuters.com/article/2012/07/29/us-congo-democratic-rwanda-idUSBRE86S0C420120729

Ivory Coast: The  Ivory Coast president says military intervention in Mali is  "inevitable" within weeks, if there's no quick change in the West  African country where Islamist extremists rule the north.

Alassane  Ouattara said in an interview published Sunday in the French weekly Le  Journal du Dimanche the intervention force would likely include soldiers  from Niger, Nigeria and perhaps countries such as Chad _ with  logistical help from France and the United States. He defined logistical  help as material support and counselors but added that combat aircraft  are needed.

Ouattara heads  the West African regional bloc ECOWAS which secured Mali's consent for  an intervention at a meeting last week in Ivory Coast.

http://azstarnet.com/news/world/ivory-coast-leader-foresees-mali-intervention-soon/article_bdaa01f1-0740-524a-96e3-457e32acb407.html

From the Cornfield, the ongoing upheavals in Africa are drawing the US in to more and more operations on the ground. One spark, one flare-up could find the find the US embroiled in yet another needless war.