Why Millions of People in Eastern Congo Face Starvation

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0:33Alex Ossola:Warner and Paramount are headed back to the bargaining table. Plus, to fund his proposed budget, New York City's mayor could raise property taxes by almost 10 percent. And millions of people in Congo are at risk of starvation.

0:47Nicholas Bariyo:The supermarket shelves are emptied. The food stores are closed or emptied. So most of the traders have nothing to say. Those that are available are very, very expensive and unaffordable.

1:00Alex Ossola:It's Tuesday, February 17th. I'm Alex Osola for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

1:16Alex Ossola:First up on this evening's show, media news. The saga continues. Warner Brothers Discovery said today that it will restart deal talks with Paramount. Warner's board has set a seven-day window for Paramount to make its, quote, best and final offer. Netflix says its$72 billion deal for Warner's movie and TV studios, plus its HBO Max streaming service, is still better than Paramount's bid. The New Deal talks set the stage for a potential bidding war. Netflix has the right to match an offer Warner accepts from another bidder. Warner shares closed up 2.7 % today, while shares of Paramount rose 4.9%, and Netflix added 0.2%.

1:55Alex Ossola:Over at CBS, Stephen Colbert lashed out at the Federal Communications Commission and his own network during his show last night. He said CBS scrapped an interview he had planned with Texas State Representative James Tallarico, a Democrat running for Senate. Colbert laid out what happened to the Tallarico segment during a six-and-a-half-minute monologue.

2:13Zohran Mamdani:He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network's lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast.

2:23Alex Ossola:Colbert said the network was worried of running afoul of the FCC's equal time rules for radio and broadcast television. The rules require shows that have candidates on during elections to also bring on their opponents. There's long been an exemption for news and talk show interviews, but last month the FCC issued guidance on the rules that were widely interpreted to be aimed at late-night and daytime shows that feature Democratic politicians. The FCC said a show that is, quote, motivated by partisan purposes wouldn't be entitled to an exemption. CBS and the FCC didn't respond to requests for comment.

2:59Alex Ossola:In U.S. markets, major indexes were slightly higher. The S &P 500, NASDAQ, and the Dow all rose about 0.1%. General Mills says weight loss drugs are changing how it does business. At an industry conference today, the cereal maker's CEO said it's planning new products packed with protein and fiber, as well as smaller package sizes. Earlier today, the company cut its sales and profit outlook for the year. Shares fell 7 percent. While shares of TripAdvisor rose 9.7 percent on activist investor Starbird Values' plans to push for a shakeup of its board. Starbird has been saying TripAdvisor should consider selling some or all of the company.

3:38Alex Ossola:And the German pharmaceutical and agriculture conglomerate Bayer has proposed settling a class-action lawsuit to resolve claims that its flagship herbicide, Roundup, causes cancer. The settlement plan includes more than$7 billion to fund payments over 21 years.

3:57Alex Ossola:This morning, we told you about how New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani had to present a budget for the coming fiscal year. Today, he warned that a nearly 10 percent increase in property taxes may be needed. His first choice is to raise taxes for rich corporations and individuals, but doing that requires approval from the state legislature and governor. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has opposed raising taxes. But Mamdani and the city council don't need the governor's approval to raise property taxes. The mayor's office says a property tax hike would affect 3 million residential units and over 100 ,000 commercial buildings.

4:31Alex Ossola:Coming up, the latest on talks between the U.S. and Iran, what's behind widespread hunger in Congo, and more international news after the break.

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5:14U.S.

5:15Alex Ossola:and Iranian officials met in Geneva today for diplomatic talks. They said the talks made progress after Tehran indicated it was willing to compromise around the edges of its nuclear program. But the regime also sent a veiled threat, carrying out military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump has repeatedly said he wants a deal that ensures Iran won't get a nuclear weapon, while he deploys American forces to the region in case there's no agreement. Journal reporter Lawrence Norman, who is in Geneva, says Tehran isn't showing that it's willing to compromise on key points.

5:45Zohran Mamdani:There has been no sign that the Iranians have really shifted on their key red lines. And the Iranians are saying, OK, if you strike us, we will use everything we've got to spark a regional war. They know that is not what the White House wants. So Iran does have some leverage here. At some point, Washington will need to decide, Do we believe that this process is real or are the Iranians buying time? And if they decide that it's not real, President Trump has made it very, very clear that he is prepared and willing even to strike Iran.

6:19Alex Ossola:In other international news, India's Coast Guard has seized three tankers sanctioned by the U.S. The tankers are now anchored off Mumbai and are under investigation. Analysts said the seizures show that relations between New Delhi and Washington are improving. Earlier this month, the two countries struck a trade deal after India promised to stop buying Russian oil. And the U.S. plans to deploy more advanced missile systems and other weapons in the Philippines to push back against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. The Philippines has openly challenged China's claims to much of the area and strengthened its alliance with Washington.

6:58Alex Ossola:In the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, 10 million people are facing hunger. There's food, but people can't get to it because the group ruling the area is standing in the way. M23 is a rebel group backed by Rwanda. One year ago, M23 seized eastern Congo's largest city of Goma and since then has tried to establish itself as the prevailing government. Journal reporter Nicholas Barrio has been following the story and joins me now from Kampala, Uganda. Nicholas, how is M23 making it difficult to get food?

7:28Nicholas Bariyo:They have introduced a lot of restrictions here. They have a lot of checkpoints. They control the border crossings. And in this case, they give priority to imports that come from Rwanda or Rwandan allies. These kind of restrictions hobbling the movement of trade. One trader told me that he couldn't get his container cleared because he had gotten it from Kenya and M23 questioned it and held it for several weeks until the food got rotten.

7:57Alex Ossola:So imports are getting held up beyond the point of being useful if they're not from Rwanda or Rwanda's allies. But what about food grown within the country?

8:07Nicholas Bariyo:Yes, they have evicted a lot of local farmers, especially in food baskets, disrupted farming activities, disrupted harvest.

8:15Alex Ossola:It sounds like few imports, not much is being able to be grown. So if you're a resident of Goma who's going to the grocery store, what does it look like on the shelves there?

8:26Nicholas Bariyo:Usually most of the supermarket shelves are empty. The food stores are closed or empty. The markets are also empty. Some of the commodities are really so scarce, especially those that are imported, like rice, like cooking oil. So most of the traders have nothing to say. Those that are available are very, very expensive and unaffordable.

8:49Alex Ossola:And how is the international community responding to this dire situation?

8:54Nicholas Bariyo:The UN and Western governments have been pushing M23 to a ceasefire. But these have really done little to change the situation on the ground. The UN is also pushing for the reopening of Goma International Airport, which was a major hub for the supply of relief aid. The rebels so far have not allowed its reopening. And aid agencies are warning that some people may starve to death, especially vulnerable people, mothers and young children and the sick.

9:25Alex Ossola:That was WSJ reporter Nicholas Barrio. Thanks, Nicholas.

9:28Nicholas Bariyo:Thanks for having me.

9:30Alex Ossola:M23 and the Rwandan government didn't respond to requests for comment. And that's what's news for this Tuesday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bien-Aimé and Alexis Moore with supervising producer Tali Arbel. I'm Alex Osula for The Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with the news show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.

10:01Alex Ossola:This episode is sponsored by Morgan Stanley's Thoughts on the Market. It can be difficult to stay up to date on the financial market in today's ever-changing environment. With so much commentary at any given moment, it's hard to cut through the noise to gain quality, actionable insights. Morgan Stanley is here to help with their podcast, Thoughts on the Market. Thoughts on the Market is your daily market snapshot, covering trends across the global investment landscape and offering perspectives from Morgan Stanley's leading economists and strategists. It's one of the only daily podcasts providing real-time commentary from a financial institution on the day's biggest questions and topics.

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