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 today's ruling by a U.S. District Judge that Trump and Hegseth violated the

Posse Cometatis Act in deploying National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles, and Judge

Breyer went on to say in his 52-page ruling that, quote,

President Trump and Secretary Hague Seth have stated their intention to call National Guard troops into service in other cities across the country,

thus creating a national police force with the president as its chief.

Joining us is Sasha Abramsky, the Nation magazine's Western correspondent,

and the author of several books including Inside Obama's Brain, Breadline USA, American Furies,

The American Way of Pover, and his latest book is Chaos Comes Calling,

The Battle Against the Far Right Takeover of Small Town America.

We will discuss his latest article at the nation, the terror and cruelty of Trump's deportation machine.

Then we'll look into Xi Jinping's command of the world's stage

at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit over the weekend

and at Wednesday's giant military parade

where he will share the podium with Putin, Modi,

Kim Jong-un and a number of leaders of countries hostile to the United States.

Joining us is Orville Shell, who was formerly the dean of the Graduate School of Journalism

at the University of California at Berkeley, and is currently the Arthur Ross Director of the

Asia Society's Center on

U.S.-China relations. His books include Mandate of Heaven, the legacy of Tiananmen Square,

and the next generation of China's leaders, and wealth in power, China's long march to the

...