Software guru McAfee wants to return to United States

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Software guru John McAfee, fighting deportation from Guatemala to Belize to face questions about the slaying of a neighbor, said on Saturday he wants to return to the United States.

"My goal is to get back to America as soon as possible," McAfee, 67, said in a phone call to Reuters from the immigration facility where he is being held for illegally crossing the border to Guatemala with his 20-year-old girlfriend.

"I wish I could just pack my bags and go to Miami," McAfee said. "I don't think I fully understood the political situation. I'm an embarrassment to the Guatemalan government and I'm jeopardizing their relationship with Belize."

The two neighboring countries in Central America are locked in a decades-long territorial dispute and voters in 2013 will decide in a referendum how to proceed.

Responding to McAfee's remarks, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said U.S. citizens in foreign countries are subject to local laws. Officials can only ensure they are "treated properly within this framework," she said.

On Wednesday, Guatemalan authorities arrested McAfee in a hotel in Guatemala City where he was holed up with his Belizean girlfriend.

The former Silicon Valley millionaire is wanted for questioning by Belizean authorities, who say he is a "person of interest" in the killing of fellow American Gregory Faull, McAfee's neighbor on the Caribbean island of Ambergris Caye.

The two had quarreled at times, including over McAfee's unruly dogs. Authorities in Belize say he is not a prime suspect in the investigation.

Guatemala rejected McAfee's request for asylum on Thursday. His lawyers then filed several appeals to block his deportation. They say it could take months to resolve the matter.

The software developer has been evading Belize authorities for nearly four weeks and has chronicled his life on the run in his blog, www.whoismcafee.com.

McAfee claims authorities will kill him if he turns himself in for questioning. He has denied any role in Faull's killing and said he is being persecuted by Belize's ruling party for refusing to pay some $2 million in bribes.

Belize's prime minister has rejected this, calling McAfee paranoid and "bonkers.

BEATING HEAD AGAINST WALL

After making millions with the anti-virus software bearing his name, McAfee later lost much of his fortune. For the past four years he has lived in semi-reclusion in Belize.

He started McAfee Associates in the late 1980s but left soon after taking it public. McAfee now has no relationship with the company, which was later sold to Intel Corp.

Hours after his arrest, McAfee was rushed to a hospital for what his lawyer said were two mild heart attacks. Later he said the problem was stress. McAfee said he fainted after days of heavy smoking, poor eating and knocking his head against a wall.

He told Reuters he no longer has access to the Internet and has turned over the management of his blog to friends in Seattle, Washington. On Saturday, they began posting a series of files claiming to detail Belize's corruption.

Residents and neighbors in Belize have said the eccentric tech entrepreneur, who is covered in tribal tattoos and kept an entourage of bodyguards and young women on the island, had appeared unstable in recent months.

Police in April raided his property in Belize on suspicion he was running a lab to make illegal narcotics. There already was a case against him for possession of illegal firearms.

McAfee says the charges are an attempt to frame him.

"People are saying I'm paranoid and crazy but it's difficult for people to comprehend what has been happening to me," he said. "It's so unusual, so out of the mainstream."

(Editing by Dave Graham and Bill Trott)

12.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

UK hospital says royal prank call appalling after nurse death

LONDON/PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - The London hospital that treated Prince William's pregnant wife Kate condemned on Saturday an Australian radio station that made a prank call seeking information about the duchess, after the apparent suicide of a nurse who answered the phone.

There has been renewed soul-searching over media ethics after Jacintha Saldanha, 46, the nurse who was duped by the station's call to the King Edward VII hospital, was found dead in staff accommodation nearby on Friday.

The owners of Sydney's 2DayFM said it had done nothing wrong and no one could have foreseen the tragic outcome of the stunt, but two leading Australian firms suspended their advertising.

The hoax, in which the radio hosts - posing as Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles despite Australian accents - successfully inquired after Kate's medical condition, has made worldwide headlines.

The hospital's chairman Lord Glenarthur urged the station's owners to ensure that such an incident could never happen again.

"It was extremely foolish of your presenters even to consider trying to lie their way through to one of our patients, let alone actually make the call," he said in a letter to Southern Cross Austereo Chairman Max Moore-Wilton.

"Then to discover that, not only had this happened, but that the call had been pre-recorded and the decision to transmit approved by your station's management, was truly appalling."

The immediate consequence had been the humiliation of two "dedicated and caring" nurses, he said. "The longer term consequence has been reported around the world and is, frankly, tragic beyond words," Glenarthur added.

Australians from Prime Minister Julia Gillard to people in the street expressed their sorrow and cringed at how the hoax had crossed the line of acceptability.

Two large companies suspended their advertising from the popular Sydney-based station and a media watchdog said it would speak with 2DayFM's owners.

The hoax raised concerns about the ethical standards of Australian media, as Britain's own media scramble to agree a new system of self-regulation and avoid state intervention following a damning inquiry into reporting practices.

Southern Cross Austereo Chief Executive Rhys Holleran told a news conference in Melbourne on Saturday that the company would work with authorities in any investigation. He said he was "very confident" that the radio station had done nothing illegal.

"This is a tragic event that could not have been reasonably foreseen and we are deeply saddened by it. Our primary concern at this stage is for the family of Nurse Saldanha."

Holleran added that 2DayFM radio hosts Mel Greig and Michael Christian were "completely shattered" by Saldanha's death. The pair will stay off the air indefinitely, he said.

London detectives have sent a request to Sydney police to question the two presenters, Britain's Sunday Times said.

"Officers have been in contact with Australian authorities," a spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said.

Two high-profile Australian firms, the Coles supermarket group and phone company Telstra, said they were suspending advertising with the station.

Austereo said all advertising on 2DayFM had been shelved until at least Monday in a mark of respect to advertisers whose Facebook pages were inundated with thousands of hate messages.

The Twitter accounts of Greig and Christian were removed shortly after news of the tragedy in London broke.

SOCIAL MEDIA OUTRAGE

Social media were inundated with angry messages to the radio station in what has become the latest shock radio story to rile the Australian public. Earlier this year 2DayFM was reprimanded by Australia's independent communications regulator after a radio host talked a 14-year-old girl into revealing on air that she had been raped.

So-called "shock jock" radio announcers are frequently denounced in Australia for their deeply personal and often derogatory attacks on politicians and ordinary citizens.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said that the independent broadcast regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, had received complaints about the hoax.

The media fallout from the tragedy could extend beyond Australia's shores, said British radio presenter Steve Penk, who has made a career out of prank calls.

"I think it will probably be the death of the wind-up phone call. I think (British media regulator) Ofcom will wrap it in so much red tape that it will make it almost impossible to get these things on the air," he told Sky News.

Saldanha lived with her husband and two children in the western English city of Bristol. She moved to Britain from India around 10 years ago, British media reports said.

Her husband's family, who live in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, told news agency Asian News International they would miss their "good-natured and beautiful" relative.

"At eight o'clock in the morning, he (Saldanha's husband) rang up to say that she is no more, more than that we do not know about what actually happened. She is dead, that's all," said Camril Barboza, Saldanha's mother-in-law.

The British royal family has long had an uneasy relationship with the media, which sank to its lowest after the 1997 death of Prince William's mother Diana in a Paris car crash.

Palace officials acted swiftly this summer when a French magazine printed topless photos of Kate on holiday, taking legal action to curb republication.

Saldanha's death threatens to cast a pall over the enthusiastic public welcome given to Kate's pregnancy, which dominated newspaper front pages this week.

(Writing by Tim Castle and Jeremy Laurence; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Stephen Powell)

12.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Billionaire Aldi heir dies aged 58

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German billionaire Berthold Albrecht, heir to the Aldi supermarket chain and one of Germany's richest men, has died aged 58, his family announced on Friday.

Together with his brother Theo Jr, Albrecht's fortune was estimated at $17.8 billion, according to Forbes. That placed them at 32 in the list of Forbes billionaires and second for Germany.

"Berthold was a fighter, and full of hope to the end," his wife, Babette, wrote in a full-page notice published in several German newspapers.

The notice from the notoriously reclusive family said that the funeral had taken place in November, but it did not give further details of the circumstances of his death.

Berthold was the son of Aldi co-founder Theo Albrecht, who died at the age of 88 in July 2010.

After the Second World War, Theo and his brother Karl turned the small grocery store their mother operated in Essen into one of the nation's largest food retail chains, with a focus on a limited range of goods at bargain prices.

Aldi was split into two divisions covering north and south Germany in 1960. Theo took the north and Karl the south. Karl, aged 92, is classified by Forbes as the richest man in Germany with a fortune of $25.4 billion.

The Aldi empire, which has estimated worldwide annual turnover of about 50 billion euros ($65 billion), also owns the Trader Joe's grocery chain in the United States. In Europe it competes with the likes of Tesco, Carrefour and Metro.

Berthold worked on the board of directors at Aldi North. ($1 = 0.7700 euros)

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by David Goodman)

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Nurse who took prank call about royal Kate found dead

LONDON (Reuters) - A nurse who answered a prank call at the London hospital that was treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate for morning sickness has been found dead, the hospital said on Friday, in a suspected suicide.

The death comes days after the King Edward VII hospital apologized for being duped by an Australian radio station and relaying details about Kate's condition which made headlines around the globe.

"It is with very deep sadness that we confirm the tragic death of a member of our nursing staff, Jacintha Saldanha," John Lofthouse, the King Edward's chief executive told reporters outside the central London hospital.

"We can confirm that Jacintha was recently the victim of a hoax call to the hospital. The hospital had been supporting her throughout this difficult time."

Police said they had been called at 9:35 a.m. (4:35 a.m. EDT) about a woman found unconscious at an address near the hospital. The woman was pronounced dead after ambulance staff arrived.

Police said the death was being treated as unexplained but they we're not looking for anyone else, indicating the nurse had taken her own life.

William and Kate, who left the hospital on Thursday, said they were "deeply saddened" by the death of the nurse, who was married with two children.

"Their Royal Highnesses were looked after so wonderfully well at all times by everybody at King Edward VII Hospital, and their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha's family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time," a statement from William's office said.

CONFIDENTIAL DETAILS

The radio station launched its stunt in the wake of a frenzy of media attention in Britain and worldwide after officials announced Kate was pregnant with a future British king or queen.

Two presenters from Australia's 2Day radio station called the hospital early on Tuesday British time, pretending to be William's grandmother Queen Elizabeth and his father, the heir-to-the throne Prince Charles.

Despite unconvincing accents, presenters Michael Christian and Mel Greig were put through to the ward where Kate was being treated and were given details about how she was faring.

Saldanha had answered the call as it was early morning and there were no receptionists on duty, and had passed it to a nurse on the ward. Saldanha, who had worked at the hospital for four years, had not been facing any disciplinary action, a source said.

"She was an excellent nurse and well-respected and popular with all of her colleagues," Lofthouse said.

William's office said there had been no royal complaint about the breach of confidentiality, although the hospital said it was reviewing its "telephone protocols".

"On the contrary, we offered our full and heartfelt support to the nurses involved and hospital staff at all times," a royal spokesman said.

William's father, Prince Charles, had made light of the intrusion, joking to reporters after the incident: "How do you know I'm not a radio station?'

The private hospital is one of Britain's most exclusive and has a history of treating members of the royal family, including the Queen's husband Philip who was admitted in June for a bladder infection after taking part in a jubilee pageant on the Thames river.

PRESENTERS "SHOCKED"

The prank call and its tragic aftermath comes as Britain's own media scrambles to agree a new system of self regulation and avoid state intervention following a damning inquiry into reporting practices.

A recording of the call was widely available on the Internet and many newspapers printed a transcript of the call.

The Australian radio station and its owner Southern Cross Austereo said the presenters were shocked and would stay off their show until further notice out of respect for Saldanha's death.

"Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) and 2Day FM are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha from King Edward VII's Hospital and we extend our deepest sympathies to her family.

"Chief Executive Officer Rhys Holleran has spoken with the presenters, they are both deeply shocked and at this time we have agreed that they not comment about the circumstances," an SCA statement said.

The two presenters deleted their Twitter accounts shortly after the news broke and there was widespread condemnation of their actions on the social media website.

"Remember that #RoyalPrank ...? Yeah, the girl you humiliated is dead. You must feel great," one wrote.

Facebook tribute pages swiftly set up after the nurse's death attracted messages of sympathy, some echoing calls for the radio station to pay compensation to her family and for the presenters to resign.

Saldanha's body was removed from the red brick, five-storey building where it was found, and transferred to a small private ambulance, shortly after the hospital confirmed her death, a Reuters reporter at the scene said.

She had been staying in staff accommodation in the building, away from her family in the city of Bristol, western England, a source said.

Her family said they were deeply saddened and asked for media to respect their privacy "at this difficult time", in a statement released by police.

(Additional reporting by Peter Schwartzstein and Michael Holden; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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Billionaire Aldi heir dies aged 58

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German billionaire Berthold Albrecht, heir to the Aldi supermarket chain and one of Germany's richest men, has died aged 58, his family announced on Friday.

Together with his brother Theo Jr, Albrecht's fortune was estimated at $17.8 billion, according to Forbes. That placed them at 32 in the list of Forbes billionaires and second for Germany.

"Berthold was a fighter, and full of hope to the end," his wife, Babette, wrote in a full-page notice published in several German newspapers.

The notice from the notoriously reclusive family said that the funeral had taken place in November, but it did not give further details of the circumstances of his death.

Berthold was the son of Aldi co-founder Theo Albrecht, who died at the age of 88 in July 2010.

After the Second World War, Theo and his brother Karl turned the small grocery store their mother operated in Essen into one of the nation's largest food retail chains, with a focus on a limited range of goods at bargain prices.

Aldi was split into two divisions covering north and south Germany in 1960. Theo took the north and Karl the south. Karl, aged 92, is classified by Forbes as the richest man in Germany with a fortune of $25.4 billion.

The Aldi empire, which has estimated worldwide annual turnover of about 50 billion euros ($65 billion), also owns the Trader Joe's grocery chain in the United States. In Europe it competes with the likes of Tesco, Carrefour and Metro.

Berthold worked on the board of directors at Aldi North. ($1 = 0.7700 euros)

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by David Goodman)

12.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nurse who took prank call about royal Kate found dead

LONDON (Reuters) - A nurse who answered a prank call at the London hospital that was treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate for morning sickness has been found dead, the hospital said on Friday, in a suspected suicide.

The death comes days after the King Edward VII hospital apologized for being duped by an Australian radio station and relaying details about Kate's condition which made headlines around the globe.

"It is with very deep sadness that we confirm the tragic death of a member of our nursing staff, Jacintha Saldanha," John Lofthouse, the King Edward's chief executive told reporters outside the central London hospital.

"We can confirm that Jacintha was recently the victim of a hoax call to the hospital. The hospital had been supporting her throughout this difficult time."

Police said they had been called at 9:35 a.m. (4:35 a.m. EDT) about a woman found unconscious at an address near the hospital. The woman was pronounced dead after ambulance staff arrived.

Police said the death was being treated as unexplained but they we're not looking for anyone else, indicating the nurse had taken her own life.

William and Kate, who left the hospital on Thursday, said they were "deeply saddened" by the death of the nurse, who was married with two children.

"Their Royal Highnesses were looked after so wonderfully well at all times by everybody at King Edward VII Hospital, and their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha's family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time," a statement from William's office said.

CONFIDENTIAL DETAILS

The radio station launched its stunt in the wake of a frenzy of media attention in Britain and worldwide after officials announced Kate was pregnant with a future British king or queen.

Two presenters from Australia's 2Day radio station called the hospital early on Tuesday British time, pretending to be William's grandmother Queen Elizabeth and his father, the heir-to-the throne Prince Charles.

Despite unconvincing accents, presenters Michael Christian and Mel Greig were put through to the ward where Kate was being treated and were given details about how she was faring.

Saldanha had answered the call as it was early morning and there were no receptionists on duty, and had passed it to a nurse on the ward. Saldanha, who had worked at the hospital for four years, had not been facing any disciplinary action, a source said.

"She was an excellent nurse and well-respected and popular with all of her colleagues," Lofthouse said.

William's office said there had been no royal complaint about the breach of confidentiality, although the hospital said it was reviewing its "telephone protocols".

"On the contrary, we offered our full and heartfelt support to the nurses involved and hospital staff at all times," a royal spokesman said.

William's father, Prince Charles, had made light of the intrusion, joking to reporters after the incident: "How do you know I'm not a radio station?'

The private hospital is one of Britain's most exclusive and has a history of treating members of the royal family, including the Queen's husband Philip who was admitted in June for a bladder infection after taking part in a jubilee pageant on the Thames river.

PRESENTERS "SHOCKED"

The prank call and its tragic aftermath comes as Britain's own media scrambles to agree a new system of self regulation and avoid state intervention following a damning inquiry into reporting practices.

A recording of the call was widely available on the Internet and many newspapers printed a transcript of the call.

The Australian radio station and its owner Southern Cross Austereo said the presenters were shocked and would stay off their show until further notice out of respect for Saldanha's death.

"Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) and 2Day FM are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha from King Edward VII's Hospital and we extend our deepest sympathies to her family.

"Chief Executive Officer Rhys Holleran has spoken with the presenters, they are both deeply shocked and at this time we have agreed that they not comment about the circumstances," an SCA statement said.

The two presenters deleted their Twitter accounts shortly after the news broke and there was widespread condemnation of their actions on the social media website.

"Remember that #RoyalPrank ...? Yeah, the girl you humiliated is dead. You must feel great," one wrote.

Facebook tribute pages swiftly set up after the nurse's death attracted messages of sympathy, some echoing calls for the radio station to pay compensation to her family and for the presenters to resign.

Saldanha's body was removed from the red brick, five-storey building where it was found, and transferred to a small private ambulance, shortly after the hospital confirmed her death, a Reuters reporter at the scene said.

She had been staying in staff accommodation in the building, away from her family in the city of Bristol, western England, a source said.

Her family said they were deeply saddened and asked for media to respect their privacy "at this difficult time", in a statement released by police.

(Additional reporting by Peter Schwartzstein and Michael Holden; Editing by Louise Ireland)

12.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

UK's Kate leaves hospital after morning sickness

LONDON (Reuters) - Prince William's pregnant wife Kate left the King Edward VII hospital in central London on Thursday where she had spent four days being treated for acute morning sickness.

Accompanied by her husband, Kate, 30, appeared at the steps of the hospital smiling and holding a bouquet of yellow flowers. Neither she nor William spoke to waiting reporters before being driven way.

Kate, who married the second-in-line to the throne in April last year, has been suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum, an acute morning sickness which causes severe nausea and vomiting and requires supplementary hydration and nutrients.

There has been no announcement about when the baby is due, although the prince's spokesman has said Kate is less than 12 weeks pregnant.

Kate, known formally as the Duchess of Cambridge, will now recuperate at Kensington Palace, a royal residence in west London, her husband's office said.

"She is feeling better but now requires a period of rest," a royal spokeswoman said. "Their royal highnesses would like to thank the staff at the hospital for the care and treatment the duchess has received," the spokeswoman added.

The onset of the severe sickness and the need for Kate to go to hospital brought forward the announcement of her pregnancy, sparking a frenzy in the British media and even taking by surprise her grandmother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, according to reports.

Bookmakers have been quick off the mark to lay odds on a name for the unborn baby, who will be third in line to the British throne after William and his father Charles.

The government is passing legislation in time for the birth to change historic rules of succession so that males no longer have precedence over a female sibling.

There has even been speculation that Kate could be carrying twins, as the acute sickness she is suffering is slightly more common in twin pregnancies.

World leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama were swift to follow British Prime Minister David Cameron in sending their congratulations.

(Reporting by Tim Castle and Stephen Addison, editing by Paul Casciato)

12.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

Deportation looms for tech guru McAfee after heart drama

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Software guru John McAfee, fighting deportation to Belize, was rushed to a hospital in Guatemala on Thursday shortly after his asylum request was rejected, but a suspected heart attack turned out to be stress in a fresh twist to the saga.

The 67-year-old U.S. computer software pioneer was taken swiftly from a hospital in a police car out of the sight of media, after earlier arriving in an ambulance lying on a stretcher.

His lawyer said he was being taken back to an immigration department cottage where he has been detained since crossing illegally into Guatemala from neighboring Belize, where police want to question him in connection with his neighbor's murder.

"He never had a heart attack, nothing like that," said Telesforo Guerra, a former attorney general who had earlier said McAfee had two mild heart attacks.

"I'm not a doctor. I'm just telling you what the doctors told me," he added. "He was suffering from stress, hypertension and tachycardia (an abnormally fast heartbeat)."

McAfee was posting on his blog www.whoismcafee.com in the morning, the time he suffered the stress attack.

"I don't think a heart attack prevents one from using one's blog," Guerra had said at the time.

Guerra's assistant, Karla Paz, earlier said she found McAfee lying on the ground and unable to move his body or speak.

McAfee was detained by Guatemalan police on Wednesday for illegally sneaking across the border with his 20-year-old girlfriend to escape authorities in Belize. He has said he fears authorities in Belize will kill him if he returns.

Guatemala's foreign minister, Harold Caballeros, said earlier McAfee's request for asylum was rejected.

Constitutional lawyer Gabriel Orellana, a former foreign minister, said the government should have given more weight to the asylum request rather than rush to a decision.

"We should take into account the fact that McAfee has not been accused of any crime in Belize," he said.

QUARRELED WITH FELLOW AMERICAN

Police in Belize want to quiz McAfee as "a person of interest" in the killing of a fellow American, Gregory Faull, with whom he had quarreled. But they say he is not a prime suspect in the probe.

McAfee says he has been persecuted by Belize's ruling party because he refused to pay around $2 million he says it is trying to hustle out of him, he said.

Belize's prime minister denies this and said McAfee, who made millions from the Internet anti-virus software that bears his name, was "bonkers." McAfee later lost much of his fortune and turned to a life of semi-reclusion by the Belizean beach.

McAfee spent Wednesday night reading his blog and posting his thoughts on a laptop he said was lent to him by the warden of the cottage where he was staying.

One person asked him if he felt like committing suicide.

"I enjoy living, and suicide is absurdly redundant," he wrote. "The world, from the very beginning, hurls viruses, accidents, hungry animals, defective DNA - and uncountable more - in an attempt to kill us. It always succeeds. Suicide is simply aiding and abetting."

McAfee's earlier posts spoke of his relief at arriving in Guatemala, thinking he had found a way out of his troubles.

One of his readers posted a message offering him just that.

"John. I have a special ops team near the La Aurora International Airport. I can get you out of jail and provide safe passage back to the States for a fee. Please let me know if this interests you."

DRUG PAST

Guatemala's government originally said the eccentric tech entrepreneur, who loves guns and young women and has tribal tattoos covering his shoulders, would be expelled to Belize within hours. But it later rowed back.

The U.S. State Department said it was aware of McAfee's arrest and its embassy was providing "appropriate consular services," but could not comment further.

On the island of Ambergris Caye, where McAfee has lived for about four years, residents and neighbors say he is eccentric and at times unstable. He was seen to travel with armed bodyguards, sporting a pistol tucked into his belt.

The predicament of the former Lockheed systems consultant is a far cry from his heyday in the late 1980s, when he started McAfee Associates. McAfee has no relationship now with the company, which was sold to Intel Corp.

McAfee was previously charged in Belize with possession of illegal firearms, and police had raided his property on suspicions that he was running a lab to produce illegal synthetic narcotics. He says he has not taken drugs since 1983.

"I took drugs constantly, 24 hours of the day. I took them for years and years. I was the worst drug abuser on the planet," he told Reuters just before his arrest. "Then I finally went to Alcoholics Anonymous, and that was the end of it."

(With reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Simon Gardner and Dave Graham; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Philip Barbara)

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UK's Kate leaves hospital after morning sickness

LONDON (Reuters) - Prince William's pregnant wife Kate left the King Edward VII hospital in central London on Thursday where she had spent four days being treated for acute morning sickness.

Accompanied by her husband, Kate, 30, appeared at the steps of the hospital smiling and holding a bouquet of yellow flowers. Neither she nor William spoke to waiting reporters before being driven way.

Kate, who married the second-in-line to the throne in April last year, has been suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum, an acute morning sickness which causes severe nausea and vomiting and requires supplementary hydration and nutrients.

There has been no announcement about when the baby is due, although the prince's spokesman has said Kate is less than 12 weeks pregnant.

Kate, known formally as the Duchess of Cambridge, will now recuperate at Kensington Palace, a royal residence in west London, her husband's office said.

"She is feeling better but now requires a period of rest," a royal spokeswoman said. "Their royal highnesses would like to thank the staff at the hospital for the care and treatment the duchess has received," the spokeswoman added.

The onset of the severe sickness and the need for Kate to go to hospital brought forward the announcement of her pregnancy, sparking a frenzy in the British media and even taking by surprise her grandmother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, according to reports.

Bookmakers have been quick off the mark to lay odds on a name for the unborn baby, who will be third in line to the British throne after William and his father Charles.

The government is passing legislation in time for the birth to change historic rules of succession so that males no longer have precedence over a female sibling.

There has even been speculation that Kate could be carrying twins, as the acute sickness she is suffering is slightly more common in twin pregnancies.

World leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama were swift to follow British Prime Minister David Cameron in sending their congratulations.

(Reporting by Tim Castle and Stephen Addison, editing by Paul Casciato)

12.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Deportation looms for tech guru McAfee after heart drama

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Software guru John McAfee, fighting deportation to Belize, was rushed to a hospital in Guatemala on Thursday shortly after his asylum request was rejected, but a suspected heart attack turned out to be stress in a fresh twist to the saga.

The 67-year-old U.S. computer software pioneer was taken swiftly from a hospital in a police car out of the sight of media, after earlier arriving in an ambulance lying on a stretcher.

His lawyer said he was being taken back to an immigration department cottage where he has been detained since crossing illegally into Guatemala from neighboring Belize, where police want to question him in connection with his neighbor's murder.

"He never had a heart attack, nothing like that," said Telesforo Guerra, a former attorney general who had earlier said McAfee had two mild heart attacks.

"I'm not a doctor. I'm just telling you what the doctors told me," he added. "He was suffering from stress, hypertension and tachycardia (an abnormally fast heartbeat)."

McAfee was posting on his blog www.whoismcafee.com in the morning, the time he suffered the stress attack.

"I don't think a heart attack prevents one from using one's blog," Guerra had said at the time.

Guerra's assistant, Karla Paz, earlier said she found McAfee lying on the ground and unable to move his body or speak.

McAfee was detained by Guatemalan police on Wednesday for illegally sneaking across the border with his 20-year-old girlfriend to escape authorities in Belize. He has said he fears authorities in Belize will kill him if he returns.

Guatemala's foreign minister, Harold Caballeros, said earlier McAfee's request for asylum was rejected.

Constitutional lawyer Gabriel Orellana, a former foreign minister, said the government should have given more weight to the asylum request rather than rush to a decision.

"We should take into account the fact that McAfee has not been accused of any crime in Belize," he said.

QUARRELED WITH FELLOW AMERICAN

Police in Belize want to quiz McAfee as "a person of interest" in the killing of a fellow American, Gregory Faull, with whom he had quarreled. But they say he is not a prime suspect in the probe.

McAfee says he has been persecuted by Belize's ruling party because he refused to pay around $2 million he says it is trying to hustle out of him, he said.

Belize's prime minister denies this and said McAfee, who made millions from the Internet anti-virus software that bears his name, was "bonkers." McAfee later lost much of his fortune and turned to a life of semi-reclusion by the Belizean beach.

McAfee spent Wednesday night reading his blog and posting his thoughts on a laptop he said was lent to him by the warden of the cottage where he was staying.

One person asked him if he felt like committing suicide.

"I enjoy living, and suicide is absurdly redundant," he wrote. "The world, from the very beginning, hurls viruses, accidents, hungry animals, defective DNA - and uncountable more - in an attempt to kill us. It always succeeds. Suicide is simply aiding and abetting."

McAfee's earlier posts spoke of his relief at arriving in Guatemala, thinking he had found a way out of his troubles.

One of his readers posted a message offering him just that.

"John. I have a special ops team near the La Aurora International Airport. I can get you out of jail and provide safe passage back to the States for a fee. Please let me know if this interests you."

DRUG PAST

Guatemala's government originally said the eccentric tech entrepreneur, who loves guns and young women and has tribal tattoos covering his shoulders, would be expelled to Belize within hours. But it later rowed back.

The U.S. State Department said it was aware of McAfee's arrest and its embassy was providing "appropriate consular services," but could not comment further.

On the island of Ambergris Caye, where McAfee has lived for about four years, residents and neighbors say he is eccentric and at times unstable. He was seen to travel with armed bodyguards, sporting a pistol tucked into his belt.

The predicament of the former Lockheed systems consultant is a far cry from his heyday in the late 1980s, when he started McAfee Associates. McAfee has no relationship now with the company, which was sold to Intel Corp.

McAfee was previously charged in Belize with possession of illegal firearms, and police had raided his property on suspicions that he was running a lab to produce illegal synthetic narcotics. He says he has not taken drugs since 1983.

"I took drugs constantly, 24 hours of the day. I took them for years and years. I was the worst drug abuser on the planet," he told Reuters just before his arrest. "Then I finally went to Alcoholics Anonymous, and that was the end of it."

(With reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Simon Gardner and Dave Graham; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Philip Barbara)

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