Hello and welcome to background briefing, available 24-7 at background briefing.org. I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the grounding of the fleets of Boeing 737 Max aircraft after a door blew off

one in mid-flight and look into how a storied American company was taken over by numbers

crunches and still has a disastrous CEO in charge who ignored aeronautical engineers who wanted

to build a new plane rather than bulk up the old 737 resulting in a flying turkey.

Joining us is Jeff Wise, a science journalist specializing in aviation and psychology, a licensed

pilot of gliders and light airplanes.

He has served as an on-camera aviation analyst on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC,

and his articles have appeared in the New York Magazine, the New York Times, Time, Businessweek, Esquire, and many others.

And he's the author of The Taking of MH370.370 and the new podcast series, Deep Dive,

MH370. Then we'll assess the case brought by South Africa against Israel in the International

Criminal Court of Justice, accusing the Jewish state of genocide in Gaza and calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Joining us is Chris McGreel, who writes for The Guardian U.S. and is a former Guardian correspondent in Washington, Johannesburg, and Jerusalem.

He's the author of American overdose, the opioid tragedy in three acts, and his latest article

of The Guardian is how apartheid history shaped South Africa's genocide case against Israel.

Jewish groups have accused the ANC of anti-Semitism, but the International Court of Justice

case stems from parties' long-standing support for Palestinians.

Then finally, we'll speak with John Judas, Editor Large at Talking Points Memo, and author

of many books, including the Nationalist Revival, Trade, Immigration and the Revolt

Against Globalisation, and the Politics of Our Time, Populism, Nationalism and Socialism.

We will discuss his latest book co-written with

Rui Tuxera, where have all the Democrats gone, the soul of the party in the age of extremes,

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