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From Line of Duty to Lost: 10 of the best TV twists

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Office romances, festive misery, an almighty family fall-out – here are some of the small screen’s most audacious rug-pulls

Jessica Raine’s arrival in the cast of Jed Mercurio’s anti-corruption police drama was at the heart of the publicity leading up to the show’s second series. The opening episode constructed DC Georgia Trotman’s character: dedicated, perhaps overly fond of a drink. And then, oops, a bent copper threw her out of a fifth-storey hospital window and she was gone. Trotman, we barely knew you …

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‘Nature is hurting’: Gojira, the metal band confronting the climate crisis

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With stirring songwriting that considers grief, philosophy and ecological collapse, the French quartet have become one of the world’s greatest heavy bands. They discuss their journey so far

Joe and Mario Duplantier grew up in a calm idyll – perhaps surprisingly for two of metal’s most forthright rabble-rousers. Born to a sketch-artist father and yoga teacher mother, the brothers were raised in Ondres, a remote commune on France’s western coast. Their house was so rural that, when a journalist visited, he compared it to a “hermitage”. Music was always playing, from folk to Mike Oldfield; it only stopped when poets and painters stayed the night and the children overheard the grownups discussing international philosophies.

The pair often passed the time on the beach. Joe collected wood and stones – only to come home to find his hands black with crude oil. Mario, meanwhile, had plastic bags flying in his face when he was out surfing. The serenity of the fairytale upbringing cracked. “We were confronted by nature hurting all the time, and nature hurting hurts you,” says Joe, the elder brother.

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‘They are taught to fear us’: Guardian US readers on explaining the police to their Black children

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From educating them about Emmett Till to telling them never to leave home without an ID card, parents of Black children in the US share how they prepare them for encounters with the police, and the daily impact on their young lives

My husband is one of just a handful of Black police officers in our city. Our daughter saw some of the George Floyd coverage and asked a lot of questions. We have had to explain that not all police are the good guys, that some people have racism and bias in their hearts. It has been a very tough spot to be in. We tell her some police are bad, as her daddy stands in a uniform and people say they hate the police. But her daddy is also that Black skin lying on the ground. We ourselves are struggling with it. How do we explain it to a child? We do so by teaching her the truth of the country and its violent past and present. And we believe in our hearts and with my husband’s words and actions in policing that he is that change. We have to. Shanda; Kansas; parent of a biracial eight-year-old daughter

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England’s seaside heritage from the air – in pictures

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Aerial photographs of England’s best-loved seaside resorts, taken between the 1920s and the 1950s when coastal destinations were nearing the peak of their popularity, tell the story of how they developed. Initially places where the wealthy few bathed in the sea to improve their health, they became a magnet for the whole population. England’s Seaside Heritage from the Air, written by Historic England’s Allan Brodie, is published by Liverpool University Press

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The low-hanging fruit in the climate battle? Cutting down on meat | Gaby Hinsliff

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Eating fewer animal products and less dairy would make a huge difference to carbon emissions

Something is cooking in the world of climate politics. Or, perhaps more accurately, something isn’t.

This week, the American recipe website Epicurious announced that, for environmental reasons, it wouldn’t publish any new beef recipes. No more steaks, burgers or creative ways with mince; no more juicy rib. Since about 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock farming, with beef responsible for nearly two thirds of those, it wanted to help home cooks do their bit.

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UN envoy: Myanmar military faces demands for democracy

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The top U.N. envoy for Myanmar says the strong united demand for democracy by its people has created “unexpected difficulties” for the military in consolidating power after the February coup and risks bringing the administration of the nation to a standstill

Ending Tigray conflict will test UK’s claim to be ‘force for good’

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Key parliamentary committee says government has duty to end violence and rights abuses in Ethiopia

The British government’s claims that its new development strategy would make it a “force for good” will be tested by whether it helps to end the conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, a parliamentary select committee said on Friday.

Failing to act would be “devastating” to the claim that the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) could lead the world by combining diplomacy and development, the MPs said in their report on the humanitarian situation in Tigray.

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Stephen Colbert Hammers Ted Cruz’s Lame Excuse for Sleeping During Biden’s Speech to Congress

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CBS

After staying up late for his live coverage of President Joe Biden’s big address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, a “punchier” than usual Stephen Colbert kicked off his Late Show monologue on Thursday by taking more than a few shots at Senator Ted Cruz, who was caught sleeping through the speech.

Noting that Biden the president wants to pay for his ambitious new social programs by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, Colbert said, “Yes, he’s taking from the rich and giving to the poor, which has led a lot of people to compare him to Robin Hood.”

“And he’s of course opposed by his arch-enemy, the Sheriff of Rotting Ham,” he added, as Cruz’s photo appeared on screen. From there, he explained that while the vast majority of Americans who watched the address supported Biden’s message, “Republicans enjoyed the speech a little less. Take Texas senator and divorced Porky Pig, Ted Cruz.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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