Congo accuses Rwanda before an East Africa court of helping rebels fight Congolese forces

ARUSHA, Tanzania (AP) — A regional court in East Africa opened proceedings on Thursday in a case filed by Congo against neighboring Rwanda, accusing it of violating Congo's sovereignty and territorial integrity by sending troops to help rebels in the country's east.

Eastern Congo has struggled with armed violence as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities. Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings.

Congo alleges that Rwandan forces have been involved in aggression and war crimes in the east. In July, U.N. experts estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwanda government forces are deployed in eastern Congo alongside the M23 rebel group, which has been making major advances.

The East African Court of Justice, based in Arusha, Tanzania, was established as a regional court under a 1999 treaty among a group of east African nations and is meant to hear cases from Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania. The court has been ratified by the United Nations.

The proceedings came a day after Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi called for sanctions against Rwanda at the U.N General Assembly, alleging it supports the M23 rebels in the restive eastern region.

In the lawsuit, Congo seeks to hold Rwanda accountable for violations including atrocities against civilians and breaches of international law, and also secure reparations for the victims of these alleged crimes.

The lawsuit underscores the long-running tensions between the two countries, particularly over the mineral-rich eastern Congo.

“We are happy the case has taken off,” the lawyer representing Congo, Elisha Ongoya, told The Associated Press.

Rwanda raised objections, questioning the court's jurisdiction in the case. Its lawyer, Emile Ntwali, urged for the case to be dismissed since the regional court does not handle criminal matters.

Ntwali also pointed out procedural mistakes, such as Congo's failure to translate court documents into English, the official language of the court.

Congo’s legal team asked the court to be allowed to submit new evidence and translated documents.

Presiding Judge Yohanne Masara said the court would review each side's arguments and deliver a ruling on the objections at a later date.

FILE - People displaced by the ongoing fighting gather at refugee camp on the outskirts of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)

FILE - Internally displaced Congolese wait for food to be distributed by WFP at the Mugunga 3 camp outside the eastern Congolese town of Goma Sunday Dec. 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

Congo President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to the lowest level in four months.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for jobless claims fell by 4,000 to 218,000 for the week of Sept. 21. It was the fewest since mid-May and less than the 224,000 analysts were expecting. Last week's figure was revised up by 3,000.

The four-week average of claims, which evens out some of weekly volatility, fell by 3,500 to 224,750.

Applications for jobless benefits are widely considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs in a given week.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits have fallen two straight weeks after rising modestly higher starting in late spring. Though still at historically healthy levels, the recent increase in jobless claims and other labor market data signaled that high interest rates may finally be taking a toll on the labor market.

In response to weakening employment data and receding consumer prices, the Federal Reserve last week cut its benchmark interest rate by a half of a percentage point as the central bank shifts its focus from taming inflation toward supporting the job market. The Fed’s goal is to achieve a rare “soft landing,” whereby it curbs inflation without causing a recession.

It was the Fed’s first rate cut in four years after a series of rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 pushed the federal funds rate to a two-decade high of 5.3%.

Inflation has retreated steadily, approaching the Fed’s 2% target and leading Chair Jerome Powell to declare recently that it was largely under control.

During the first four months of 2024, applications for jobless benefits averaged just 213,000 a week before rising in May. They hit 250,000 in late July, supporting the notion that high interest rates were finally cooling a red-hot U.S. job market.

U.S. employers added a modest 142,000 jobs in August, up from a paltry 89,000 in July, but well below the January-June monthly average of nearly 218,000.

Last month, the Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year than were originally reported. The revised total was also considered evidence that the job market has been slowing steadily, compelling the Fed to start cutting interest rates.

Thursday's report said that the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits rose by 13,000 to about 1.83 million for the week of Sept. 14.

A hiring sign for employment at FedEx is seen, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Grimes, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)