Driver Killed In Crash Between Two Ambulances

Colleagues of an emergency service driver killed when his vehicle was in a collision with another ambulance say they are "absolutely devastated" by the tragedy.

The Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust (WAS) said the crash involving two ambulances - one an urgent response vehicle and the other a patient transport service - happened on the A499.

Seven teams of paramedics, including two air ambulances, three ambulances by road and two rapid response cars, went to the scene where the driver of the non-emergency vehicle was pronounced dead.

Three people who were travelling in the 999 ambulance are being treated in hospital following the fatal crash in Pwllheli, Gwynedd, shortly before 3pm on Thursday.

WAS head of operations in North Wales, Sonia Thompson, said: "We were all absolutely devastated to hear about this tragic accident, and our thoughts are with everyone involved.

"We're doing everything we can to support our affected colleagues, and are working hard to understand what happened."

Richard Lee, the WAS's director of operations, added: "As an ambulance service we deal with road traffic accidents on a daily basis.

"These are always difficult for our staff to deal with, but even more so when they involve our colleagues."

The WAS said it had been overwhelmed by the "humbling and deeply touching" reaction, adding: "Out of adversity comes strength.

"We are truly stronger together. Thank you."

Fellow emergency services posted their support on social media.

London's Metropolitan Special Constabulary said their thoughts were with all those involved at the WAS as part of the "#999family".

The Northern Ireland College of Paramedics tweeted: "Our thoughts are with our @WelshAmbulance colleagues and their families this evening."

West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "Our deepest sympathies go out to our colleagues in @WelshAmbulance who lost one of their own in a crash today. #RIP."

Jim Hancox, from Midlands Air Ambulance's Strensham base, wrote: "Words can't express the sadness and loss our @WelshAmbulance colleagues will be feeling tonight.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with you ..."

The Dublin Fire Brigade tweeted: "Thinking of our colleagues in @WelshAmbulance and everyone affected by today's tragic events #999family."

TOWIE Star's Sister Hands Back Marathon Medal

The sister of The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) star James "Arg" Argent is to return her London Marathon finisher's medal after allegations of cheating.

Natasha Argent was recorded as completing the 26.2 miles in three hours 44 minutes but it was soon noted that she had appeared to run the second half of the race faster than elite athletes.

Members of the public flagged up that her results showed her as running the final 20km in under an hour. 

Earlier this week organisers of the event told Sky News the results were "extremely questionable".

Argent's results have now been wiped from the official London Marathon website.

The male and female elite winners of Sunday's race with Prince Harry

Hugh Brasher, event director, said: "Our results team has been in touch with Natasha Argent, along with a small number of other runners, to request an explanation for the missing split times in her results from Sunday's Virgin Money London Marathon.

"At her request, we have removed her results from the system and she will be returning her finisher's medal to us."

Argent's results page showed she started Sunday's race at 10.16am and had completed the first 20km by 12.33pm.

However, her timings for the next 20km were not visible on the site.

She then reappeared at the 40km mark at 1.21pm and finished at 2pm.

Organisers said there are a number of suspect times every year and around 20 out of 39,000 entrants are being investigated this year.

James Argent completed the London Marathon in 2012 with a time of just over six hours.

On Sunday he congratulated his sister on Twitter for her achievement but the tweet was later deleted.

Sky News has contacted his representative for a comment.

Why billionaire Carl Icahn just dumped every share he has in Apple

Apple has had a tough week after reporting that its quarterly revenue fell for the first time since 2003. Things got worse Thursday when billionaire investor Carl Icahn announced that he had sold his shares in the company.

The news sent Apple stock, already depressed by the disappointing earnings report earlier this week, down another 3 percent. Apple's stock, one of the most widely held in the world, is now down about 10 percent this week, erasing about $56 billion from its market value.

Icahn has been one of Apple's most prominent — and vocal — investors. In 2014, he suggested that Apple was undervalued and was worth more than $1 trillion. Icahn has also repeatedly tussled with the firm about a program for buying back its stock, which could raise its value. The company eventually relented.

But, Icahn said on CNBC Thursday afternoon, he has now sold all of his shares in the company and made a $2 billion profit.

"We obviously made a great deal of money," Icahn said.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple is a "great company," Icahn said. Icahn said he called Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, to alert him to the news. "He seemed sort of sad to hear that," Icahn said.

Apple reported its earnings earlier this week, revealing that its revenue dropped from the previous year for the first time in 13 years. It also reported its first ever decline in iPhone sales from year to year — Apple sold 51.2 million phones in its latest quarter, down from 61.2 million the previous year.

The report ended a remarkable run that helped the tech firm become the world's most valuable company.

In Apple's latest earnings call,  Cook called the current situation a "pause" in Apple's growth. Yet with a majority of its revenue wrapped up in the slowing smartphone market, any perception that the iPhone is weakening has enormous repercussions.

Apple, like every other smartphone vendor, has watched consumer appetites for smartphones shrink during the past several quarters. That slowing growth seems to have caught up with the company this quarter, particularly in the critical market of China. Apple reported that revenue was down 26 percent from the same period last year, making it the region of the world where the firm saw the greatest downturn.

That appears to be behind Icahn's decision to sell his shares in the company, which were once valued at more than $5 billion. "China could be a shadow for [the company], and we have to look at that," he told CNBC.

White House Fence Height To Double Under Plan

The US Secret Service is proposing a "taller and stronger" White House fence that would almost double its current height from 6ft to 11ft 7in.

A PowerPoint slide presented as part of the proposal shows pictures of the tall iron fence outside Buckingham Palace in London.

"Intrusion detection technology" and "anti-climb features" are built into the Secret Service-backed new design for the new White House barrier.

The current fence (L) and the proposed fence (R)

It is not clear how much the upgraded fence would cost, but the plan is for it to go ahead by 2018.

The Secret Service is awaiting the approval of the National Planning Commission.

It is not clear how much the new fence would cost

The plan is being put forward because of an increasing number of people trying to breach security round the presidential mansion.

Only on Tuesday afternoon, a man was arrested after jumping over a fence at the White House complex.

The suspect, Steven Cox, 30, had earlier groped a female student and robbed others of a mobile phone and purse.

Bomb Hoaxer In Panda Onesie Shot At Fox News

A man wearing an animal onesie has been shot by police after threatening to blow up a Fox News affiliate in Baltimore.

The 25-year-old suspect entered the WBFF-TV offices on Thursday afternoon demanding the news station broadcast a story about a purported government conspiracy, according to Fox 45.

Police said the Maryland white male was wearing a surgical mask, sunglasses and a panda onesie.

But the so-called device turned out to be chocolate bars wrapped around tin foil with wires hanging out, police said.

The white male was seen lying wounded in the street

Fox 45 reporter Shelley Orman reported earlier there was a "man inside the lobby saying he has a bomb strapped to him".

Baltimore police spokesman TJ Smith told reporters at the scene they shot the suspect after he walked out of the station and refused to follow their orders.

He said snipers pulled the trigger because the man had ignored commands to take his hands out of his pockets.

Some witnesses said it was a hedgehog onesie, others a panda suit

The man was seen lying wounded in the street after up to seven shots rang out.

Authorities sent a robot to get closer and communicate with the suspect.

Video posted online showed police removed the man's outfit before loading him into a police van.

The suspect's vehicle was found set on fire in the station's car park

He was taken to hospital where he is being treated for his injuries.

The suspect's vehicle was found set on fire in the TV station's car park.

WBFF-TV was evacuated during the incident.

All employees were said to be safe and accounted for.

UK: Labour suspends Ken Livingstone in 'Zionism' row

Britain's opposition Labour Party has suspended Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London, after he argued that Adolf Hitler was a supporter of Zionism.

Amid an escalating row over alleged anti-Semitic rhetoric among its members, the Labour Party said on Thursday that it had suspended Livingstone "pending an investigation, for bringing the party into disrepute."

In an interview with BBC radio, Livingstone had defended Labour member of parliament Naz Shah, who was suspended on Wednesday for sharing allegedly anti-Semitic posts on social media.

During the course of the interview he made controversial comments about Israel, and made an obscure reference to Adolf Hitler "supporting Zionism before he went mad."

"When Hitler won his election in 1932 his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel. He was supporting Zionism before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews."

Naz Shah, was suspended on Wednesday after she was caught having shared a graphic with a map of Israel superimposed on a map of the US, bearing the caption "Solution for Israeli-Palestine conflict: Relocate Israel into United States." She added the comment "Problem solved."

She was also found to have used the hashtag #IsraelApartheid above a quote saying "Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal".

Labour member of parliament John Mann, who was later filmed chasing Livingstone and calling him a "Nazi apologist," was also reprimanded by party officials for his "completely inappropriate" public confrontation.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said later on Thursday that his party "won't tolerate racism."

More than 20 Labour MPs had earlier called on Corbyn to suspend Livingstone following his BBC interview.

Sadiq Khan, Labour's candidate to become the next London mayor, condemned Livingstone's remarks, saying they were "appalling and inexcusable."

"There must be no place for this in our party," said Khan, who looks set in the polls to become the British capital's first Muslim mayor.

Corbyn: Labour Will Not Tolerate Anti-Semitism

Jeremy Corbyn has said Labour will not tolerate anti-Semitism following the row over comments made by former London Mayor Ken Livingstone.

The Labour leader said the remarks were being investigated and would be dealt with by the General Secretary and the National Executive.

Backbencher John Mann had also been given a dressing down after launching a face-to-face attack on Mr Livingstone in which he accused him of being a "Nazi apologist".

Speaking during a visit to Hull, Mr Corbyn denied Labour has a problem with anti-Semitism as some have claimed.

"No, there is not a problem," he said. "We are totally opposed to anti-Semitism in any form within the party.

"The very small number of cases that have been brought to our attention will be dealt with swiftly and immediately, and they will be."

Mr Livingstone was suspended for "bringing the party into disrepute" after he took to the airwaves for a series of interviews in an attempt to defend Bradford West MP Naz Shah from allegations of anti-Semitism.

Ms Shah was suspended on Wednesday pending an investigation into controversial social media posts about Israel which she made before becoming an MP.

:: Naz Shah Issues 'Wholehearted' Apology   

Mr Livingstone insisted that while her remarks were "over the top", she was not anti-Semitic and that he had never encountered anti-Semitism in 40 years in the Labour Party.

He sparked fury among colleagues by going on to claim that Hitler had supported Zionism "before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews".

:: 'Red Ken' No Stranger To Damning Headlines

Within minutes of his BBC London interview, Labour MPs - including several members of the shadow cabinet - were demanding his suspension or removal from the party.

Labour's London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan described his comments as "appalling and inexcusable", while shadow cabinet member Chris Bryant told MPs he was "sick and tired" of people trying to explain away anti-Semitism, adding: "Yes, I'm talking to you, Ken Livingstone."

The chairman of the left-wing Momentum group of Corbyn supporters, Jon Lansman, said it was time Mr Livingstone "left politics altogether", adding: "All political lives end in failure and he should now depart voluntarily."

Mr Livingstone was harangued by Mr Mann when the pair arrived to give separate interviews at broadcast studios in Westminster.

As the former London mayor attempted to give a radio interview, the Bassetlaw MP jabbed his finger at him and accused him of being a "Nazi apologist" and attempting to "rewrite history".

The party later said in a statement the chief whip had "made it absolutely clear to John Mann that it is completely inappropriate for Labour Members of Parliament to be involved in very public rows on the television".

A number of Jewish groups have also called for Mr Livingstone's immediate expulsion from Labour.

Gideon Falter, chairman of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: "He is a hardened politician who has spent his political career accommodating anti-Semitic extremists and making anti-Semitic gaffes."

Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: "Ken Livingstone's comments were abhorrent and beyond disgraceful. He denies anti-Semitism in Labour when the evidence is there for all to see."

Baroness Neuberger, crossbench peer and senior rabbi to the West London Synagogue, has called on Mr Corbyn to set up a crossparty commission to investigate anti-Semitism in the Labour party.

She told Sky News: "I think he has to set up a serious commission to look at this within the Labour party more broadly. I think he has to bring in more people, not Labour, into that Commission or it can be accused of being a whitewash."