Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24 7 at Background Briefing.org. I'm Ian Masterson.

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

We begin with the pause in the Gaza War and the exchange of prisoners with 50 hostages

released mostly women and children and foreign nationals in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners

held by Israel. Joining us to discuss how, in spite of the short lull in fighting, over 2 million people are still

facing dire shortages of food, water, medical treatment, shelter and safety.

Joining us is Robert Baer, one of the most accomplished agents in CIA history and the winner

of the Career Intelligence Medal. He's the author of four New York Times bestsellers,

including Sleeping with the Devil,

How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude,

and is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on the Middle East

and is an intelligence and national security affairs analyst for CNN.

His latest book is The Fourth Man,

The Hunt for a KGB spy at the top of the CIA and the rise of

Putin's Russia. Then, with Thanksgiving approaching, we will look into what we can be thankful for in

terms of an improvement in the economy and speak with Dean Baker, senior economist and co-founder

of the Center for Economic and Policy Research,

a progressive economic think tank based in Washington, D.C.

He's the author of Rigged, How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy

were structured to make the rich richer, and writes the popular economic blog,

Beat the Press, where he has an article, which we will discuss, things about the

economy to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

...