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James Comey posted picture of shells arranged to say ‘8647’, using common slang for kicking a customer out of a bar

• James Comey is accused of calling for Trump’s death – but what does ‘86’ really mean?

Donald Trump accused the former FBI director James Comey on Friday of calling for his assassination in a coded social media post written in seashells.

Comey’s Instagram post – a photograph of seashells on a beach arranged to spell the numbers 8647, which he captioned “Cool shell formation on my beach walk” – was used by rightwing supporters of Trump to claim that it was a call to assassinate the US president. The Secret Service said it has launched an investigation.

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The president’s Middle East tour made one thing clear – he will betray his one-time ally in a heartbeat. He is already doing it

It’s come to something when the Palestinians’ best hope for relief rests on a man who dreams of emptying Gaza of its people and turning the place into a beach resort . And yet the clearest, and perhaps only, way out of the current agony lies with Donald Trump – and his growing impatience with an ever-more isolated Israel.

If this were any of Trump’s predecessors, you would be hailing the past week as confirmation of a radical, even epochal shift in US foreign policy. But because it’s Trump, you can’t be sure it’s not a passing whim that will be undone in another equally drastic shift a matter of weeks, or even hours, from now.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

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Kerri Pegg, ex-governor of HMP Kirkham, is latest in series of convictions of corrupt staff amid Prison Service crisis

As the former prison governor Kerri Pegg begins a stretch behind bars, marking the spectacular fall from grace of a woman once seen as a “rising star” within the service, she becomes the latest in an increasing number of corrupt staff experiencing the other side of a jail cell.

On Friday, Pegg, 42, was given a nine-year jail sentence for misconduct in a public office, after she entered into an inappropriate relationship with one of her prisoners, a convicted drugs boss.

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Change of culture came under fire amid mid-season slump but blend of youth and experience proved unstoppable

Way after midnight and visiting hours had long since finished but they had only just got started and they weren’t going to leave the patient with appendicitis lying there alone, not at a time like this. So Pedri González, Dani Olmo, Iñigo Martínez and Eric García rented four city bikes and cycled up Avinguda Diagonal in the dark. They had been out to Cornella and come back with the league, double done. They had gone to the training ground at Sant Joan Despí, belting through Bad Moon Rising from the balcony with the fans below. Now they were heading to the hospital to share the moment with Ferran Torres, recently out of emergency surgery and watching from the ward as he became a champion like them.

At the end of the game that finally won the title, a campaign concluded with victories over Real Madrid first and Espanyol four days later , just about as good as it gets, the first thing Hansi Flick was asked was what he was most proud of. “ Pfff ,” the coach replied. “I don’t think we have time for this …” There was so much, which is why there was a long pause before he finally said: “The most important thing is you feel like a family. The atmosphere in the dressing room is so great; I’ve never seen this before. They really take care of each other.” And which was why when he was asked whose league this was – Lamine Yamal’s? His – he replied: “Barcelona’s. This is not about one guy.”

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Firm prosecuted after unapproved material in tanks led to flakes and powder entering drinking water of 1.3m people

Anglian Water has been fined a record £1.42m for contaminating the water supply.

The company, which covers the east of England, received the fine at Northampton crown court after a prosecution brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) for failures that affected 1.3 million people.

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London-listed Character Group paused shipping Chinese-made goods in April due to Donald Trump tariffs

• Business live – latest updates

A British manufacturer that makes Peppa Pig and Fireman Sam toys has said trading with the US remains “uncertain” after it paused shipping Chinese-made products to the country because of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

London-listed Character Group said on Friday that it had put shipments from China to the US “on hold” in April after the White House announced hefty levies for imports of Chinese-made goods.

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Exclusive: delegates met officials weeks before UK set out higher-than-expected cap on foreign state ownership of newspapers

A delegation from the United Arab Emirates met Downing Street officials weeks before ministers announced a law change that allows the state to take a 15% stake in the Telegraph titles, the Guardian understands.

Ministers disclosed the cap this week as part of a long-awaited clarification on the rules around state ownership of British newspapers. It is higher than the 5-10% ceiling envisaged by the previous Conservative government.

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Australian jury asked to consider if murder accused was pretending to be sick after lunch that killed three in-laws

• Who are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom murders trial?

The mushroom paste was contained in a vial about 2cm wide and 5cm high, with the exhibit name EX X1 Z13.

The paste was taken from inside a beef wellington, which in turn was taken from inside a paper bag found in a wheelie bin outside Erin Patterson’s home.

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