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Hump day recs 4/26/2023

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Watch: “Battle Royale.” “Squid Game” upended the streaming world when it dropped on Netflix in late 2021. But you might not know that the South Korean dystopian survival series borrows a lot from this 2000 Japanese flick based on the manga comics by Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi, which also inspired the “Hunger Games” and “Fortnite.” The story: A totalitarian government forces high-school students to fight to the death. It's insane, often terrifying, and sometimes (very darkly) funny. Definitely worth a watch. — Carlos

Watch: “The Diplomat.” If you enjoyed Rufus Sewell’s swagger as Detective “Zen” (still bitter, BBC!), you’ll love him opposite Keri Russell in this geopolitical drama. They portray a married diplomatic duo, and while Russell plays her ambassador role with more than enough earnestness, Sewell is marvelously manipulative as the “behind-the-scenes” spouse. — Tracy

Listen: Harry Belafonte. This is Harry Belafonte’s voice. And this is Harry Belafonte’s voice. Willis

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Members of the Coalition of the Willing meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Luc Frieden, Moldova's President Maia Sandu, Finland's President Alexander Stubb, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi, EU Council President Antonio Costa and Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda, Latvia's Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs and Sweden's Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard attend the Coalition of the Willing meeting, in Kyiv, Ukraine, August 24, 2026.

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