Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at background briefing. I'm Ian Masters,

and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and assess whether there is a deliberate policy of starvation underway,

while the US and others resort to band-aid solutions of airdrops and building appear.

Joining us to discuss Biden's warning that Netanyahu will be crossing a red line if he goes ahead with an invasion of Rafa is Omar Shakir, who serves as the Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch.

He investigates human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

Han has authored several major reports, including a 2021 report comprehensively

documenting how Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and

persecution against millions of Palestinians. As a result of his advocacy, the Israeli government

deported Omar in November of 2019.

Then we look into the array of third-party spoilers led by RFK Jr., along with Jill Stein, Cornell West, and no labels,

who together already have 17% of the vote and were clearly hurt Biden a lot more than Trump.

Joining us is David Farris, a professor of political science at Roosevelt University in Chicago, and a regular contributor to Salon, The Week and Newsweek. He is the author of

Time to Fight Dirty, How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics, and most

recently, The Kids Are All left, how young voters will

unite America. His recent article at Ceylon is, three comforting lies, Democrats need to stop

telling themselves about November, and his recent article at Ceylon is three comforting lies

Democrats need to stop telling themselves about November,

and we'll discuss his latest.

Trump and Biden should both be terrified of a third-party vote.

Then finally, we'll investigate the real possibility of money from malign foreign dictators bailing out Trump with the half a billion he has to put up in bonds in the cases against him in New York.

Joining us is David K. Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize winning Investure reporter and bestselling author

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