CANBERRA (Reuters) - Two Australian radio announcers who made a prank call to a British hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate broke a three-day silence on Monday to speak of their distress at the apparent suicide of the nurse who took their call.
The 2DayFM Sydney-based announcers, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, said the tragedy had left them 'shattered, gutted, heartbroken'.
Greig and fellow presenter and prank mastermind Christian have been in hiding since nurse Jacintha Saldanha's death and the subsequent social media outrage at their prank.
Greig told Australian television her first thought when told of Saldanha's death was for her family.
'Unfortunately I remember that moment very well, because I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened,' she said, amid tears and her voice quavering with emotion. 'I remember my first question was 'was she a mother?'.'
'I've wanted to just reach out to them and just give them a big hug and say sorry. I hope they're okay, I really do. I hope they get through this,' said a black-clad Greig when asked about mother of two Saldanha's children, left grieving their mother's death with their father Ben Barboza.
Saldanha, 46, was found dead in staff accommodation near London's King Edward VII hospital on Friday after putting the hoax call through to a colleague who unwittingly disclosed details of Kate's morning sickness to 2DayFM's presenters.
A recording of the call, broadcast repeatedly by the station, rapidly became an internet hit and was reprinted as a transcript in many newspapers.
But news of Saldanha's death sparked the Internet firestorm, with vitriolic comments towards the DJs on Facebook and Twitter.
Christian said his only wish was that Saldanha's grief-stricken family received proper support.
'I hope that they get the love, the support, the care that they need, you know,' said Christian, who like Greig struggled to talk about the tragedy.
Both Greig, 30, and Christian were relatively new to the station, with Greig joining in March and Christian having been in the job only a few days before the prank call after a career in regional radio.
Greig said she did not think their prank would work.
'We thought a hundred people before us would've tried it. We thought it was such a silly idea and the accents were terrible and not for a second did we expect to speak to Kate, let alone have a conversation with anyone at the hospital. We wanted to be hung up on,' she said.
Christian drew headlines only two weeks before the royal prank call by angering fellow passengers with a harmonica playing stunt aboard pop star Rihanna's private jet.
The 2Day parent company Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) has received more than 1,000 complaints from Australians over the actions of the popular presenters, who have both been taken off air during an broadcasting watchdog investigation.
Shares in SCA fell 5 percent on Monday after two major Australian companies pulled their advertising with the radio station in protest and other advertising was suspended.
The station said it had tried to contact hospital staff five times over the recordings.
'It is absolutely true to say that we actually did attempt to contact those people on multiple occasions,' said SCA chief executive Rhys Holleran.
'No one could have reasonably foreseen what has happened. I can only say the prank call is not unusual around the world,' he said.
The fallout from the radio stunt has brought back memories in Britain of the death of William's mother Diana in a Paris car crash in 1997 and threatens to cast a pall over the birth of his and Kate's first child.
Australia's Communications Minister Stephen Conroy sought to deflect calls for more media regulation, telling journalists that a looming investigation by Australia's independent regulator should be allowed to happen without political interference.
(Reporting by Rob Taylor; Editing by Michael Perry)
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Monday, December 10, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
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)
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'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)
This article is brought to you by SINGLES.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
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. Users of social media sites such as Twitter expressed outrage.
The hoax also 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, but that it was too early to draw conclusions. 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.
Two high profile Australian firms, the Coles supermarket group and phone company Telstra, said on Saturday that they were suspending advertising with the station. Others were expected to follow suit.
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 and its hosts 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, prompting community outrage and an advertiser backlash.
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 (ACMA), had received complaints about the royal hoax.
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 for fear of a repeat of the relentless media pursuit of Diana.
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 from her admission to hospital on Monday to her departure on Thursday.
The royal family has emerged from years of criticism that it was a dated and out of touch institution and is enjoying a surge in popularity in Britain following Kate and William's wedding last year. The impending royal baby will only boost public affection.
Elaborate celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the queen coming to the throne and her appearance at the opening of the London Olympics this summer - where a stunt double parachuted into the stadium - have all contributed to a more positive royal relationship with Britons.
(Writing by Tim Castle and Jeremy Laurence; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
This news article is brought to you by SHOCKING DATING ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
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. Users of social media sites such as Twitter expressed outrage.
The hoax also 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, but that it was too early to draw conclusions. 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.
Two high profile Australian firms, the Coles supermarket group and phone company Telstra, said on Saturday that they were suspending advertising with the station. Others were expected to follow suit.
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 and its hosts 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, prompting community outrage and an advertiser backlash.
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 (ACMA), had received complaints about the royal hoax.
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 for fear of a repeat of the relentless media pursuit of Diana.
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 from her admission to hospital on Monday to her departure on Thursday.
The royal family has emerged from years of criticism that it was a dated and out of touch institution and is enjoying a surge in popularity in Britain following Kate and William's wedding last year. The impending royal baby will only boost public affection.
Elaborate celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the queen coming to the throne and her appearance at the opening of the London Olympics this summer - where a stunt double parachuted into the stadium - have all contributed to a more positive royal relationship with Britons.
(Writing by Tim Castle and Jeremy Laurence; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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Friday, December 7, 2012
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)
This news article is brought to you by PARENTING KIDS - where latest news are our top priority.
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)
This news article is brought to you by PARENTING KIDS - where latest news are our top priority.
UK's Kate and William "saddened" by nurse's death
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate said on Friday they were 'deeply saddened' by the death of a nurse who fell victim to a prank call from an Australian radio station seeking details of the duchess's condition while she was in hospital for morning sickness.
The King Edward VII hospital earlier confirmed the death of the nurse, Jacinda Saldanha.
'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,' said a statement from William's office.
(Reporting by Tim Castle; editing by Stephen Addison)
This news article is brought to you by SAVING MONEY BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
The King Edward VII hospital earlier confirmed the death of the nurse, Jacinda Saldanha.
'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,' said a statement from William's office.
(Reporting by Tim Castle; editing by Stephen Addison)
This news article is brought to you by SAVING MONEY BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
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)
This article is brought to you by PERSONALS.
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)
This article is brought to you by PERSONALS.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Obama leads heads of state atop Forbes 2012 power list
NEW YORK (Reuters) - When it comes to power, politics trumps business, according to a new Forbes ranking on Wednesday that found heads of state occupying six of the top 10 spots among the world's most powerful people, led by President Barack Obama.
The annual list selected what Forbes said were the world's 71 most-powerful people from among the roughly 7.1 billion global populace, based on factors ranging from wealth to global influence.
Obama was joined in the top 10 by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud of Saudi Arabia and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
The list's highest-ranked businessman was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates at No. 4. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, both public officials, also made the top 10.
'This year's list reflects the changing of the guard in the world's two most powerful countries: the United States and China,' Michael Noer, Forbes' executive editor, told Reuters in an email.
Noer noted that China's President Hu Jintao, last year's third most-powerful person, fell off the list as he is leaving power, and his successor, Xi Jinping, ranked ninth instead.
Both U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who have stated they will not be serving in Obama's second term, were not in this year's rankings.
While elected and appointed officials and business people made up the vast majority of Forbes' most powerful, Pope Benedict XVI placed fifth in the rankings.
Among the oddities was Joaquin Guzman Loera at No. 63.
Loera, far from a household name, is a billionaire nicknamed 'El Chapo' who as head of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel is the world's most powerful drug trafficker, according to Forbes.
Age was also not a barrier, with two of the youngest and oldest of this year's most powerful -- 28-year-old Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and 81-year-old News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch -- back-to-back at numbers 25 and 26, respectively.
Forbes noted that Zuckerberg fell out of last year's top 10 after Facebook's IPO disappointed. A gainer, meanwhile, was Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who moved up four spots to No. 18 despite being only halfway into her first term of office.
To create the rankings, which Forbes readily concedes bore a measure of subjectivity, editors graded candidates on four criteria for power and averaged the four grades:
-- Power over many people
-- Control over financial and other valuable resources
-- Power in multiple spheres or arenas
-- Active use of power
Some measures, such as power over many people, favored leaders such as the Pope, while the world's richest man -- Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim Hula, worth a reported $72 billion -- placed 11th on the strength of his wealth.
Others, such as New York's billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg, scored high in all areas, placing him at No. 16.
Noer said that Elon Musk, one of the co-founders of Paypal and Tesla Motors, was 'one of the more interesting newcomers' on the list due to his SpaceX company, a private space exploration venture.
'With NASA retiring the space shuttle fleet, private companies like SpaceX have been awarded huge contracts to do things like resupply the International Space Station. The commercialization of space is just beginning, but we expect it to be big business,' Noer said.
Former President Bill Clinton placed 50th, with editors noting that by hitting the campaign trail for Obama, Clinton 'cemented his status as a kingmaker', along with his nonpartisan Global Initiative raising more than $71 billion in commitments to fund charitable action worldwide.
Other high-ranking heads of state included French President Francois Hollande at No. 14, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at No. 19 and Iran's Grand Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Khamenei at No. 21.
Among businessmen in the top 20 were Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett at No. 15, Wal-Mart CEO Michael Duke at No. 17 and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at No. 20.
The entire list can be found at www.forbes.com/power as well as the December 24 issue of the magazine.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud, Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Andrew Hay)
This news article is brought to you by ADVANCED DATING ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
The annual list selected what Forbes said were the world's 71 most-powerful people from among the roughly 7.1 billion global populace, based on factors ranging from wealth to global influence.
Obama was joined in the top 10 by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud of Saudi Arabia and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
The list's highest-ranked businessman was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates at No. 4. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, both public officials, also made the top 10.
'This year's list reflects the changing of the guard in the world's two most powerful countries: the United States and China,' Michael Noer, Forbes' executive editor, told Reuters in an email.
Noer noted that China's President Hu Jintao, last year's third most-powerful person, fell off the list as he is leaving power, and his successor, Xi Jinping, ranked ninth instead.
Both U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who have stated they will not be serving in Obama's second term, were not in this year's rankings.
While elected and appointed officials and business people made up the vast majority of Forbes' most powerful, Pope Benedict XVI placed fifth in the rankings.
Among the oddities was Joaquin Guzman Loera at No. 63.
Loera, far from a household name, is a billionaire nicknamed 'El Chapo' who as head of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel is the world's most powerful drug trafficker, according to Forbes.
Age was also not a barrier, with two of the youngest and oldest of this year's most powerful -- 28-year-old Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and 81-year-old News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch -- back-to-back at numbers 25 and 26, respectively.
Forbes noted that Zuckerberg fell out of last year's top 10 after Facebook's IPO disappointed. A gainer, meanwhile, was Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who moved up four spots to No. 18 despite being only halfway into her first term of office.
To create the rankings, which Forbes readily concedes bore a measure of subjectivity, editors graded candidates on four criteria for power and averaged the four grades:
-- Power over many people
-- Control over financial and other valuable resources
-- Power in multiple spheres or arenas
-- Active use of power
Some measures, such as power over many people, favored leaders such as the Pope, while the world's richest man -- Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim Hula, worth a reported $72 billion -- placed 11th on the strength of his wealth.
Others, such as New York's billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg, scored high in all areas, placing him at No. 16.
Noer said that Elon Musk, one of the co-founders of Paypal and Tesla Motors, was 'one of the more interesting newcomers' on the list due to his SpaceX company, a private space exploration venture.
'With NASA retiring the space shuttle fleet, private companies like SpaceX have been awarded huge contracts to do things like resupply the International Space Station. The commercialization of space is just beginning, but we expect it to be big business,' Noer said.
Former President Bill Clinton placed 50th, with editors noting that by hitting the campaign trail for Obama, Clinton 'cemented his status as a kingmaker', along with his nonpartisan Global Initiative raising more than $71 billion in commitments to fund charitable action worldwide.
Other high-ranking heads of state included French President Francois Hollande at No. 14, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at No. 19 and Iran's Grand Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Khamenei at No. 21.
Among businessmen in the top 20 were Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett at No. 15, Wal-Mart CEO Michael Duke at No. 17 and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at No. 20.
The entire list can be found at www.forbes.com/power as well as the December 24 issue of the magazine.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud, Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Andrew Hay)
This news article is brought to you by ADVANCED DATING ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
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