John McAfee's widow says he was not suicidal after losing extradition fight


Simon Rushton
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The widow of software mogul John McAfee blamed US authorities on Friday for his death in a Spanish prison, where he was awaiting extradition to America, and said he was not suicidal.

Janice McAfee said she wanted a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the 75-year-old, which occurred in his prison cell on Wednesday in what the authorities said was an apparent suicide by hanging.

Speaking outside the Barcelona-area Brians 2 jail, where her husband had been held since October, she said she had last spoken to him a few hours before he was found dead.

"His last words to me were 'I love you and I will call you in the evening'; those words are not words of someone who is suicidal," she said, holding back tears.

"I blame the US authorities for this tragedy. Because of these politically motivated charges against him, my husband is now dead," she said.


Calling her husband a fighter who "had hope things would work out", Ms McAfee added: "I don't believe he did this. I will get answers."
The US embassy has said it is monitoring the Spanish investigation into his death.

"We are closely monitoring local authorities' investigation into the cause of death, and stand ready to provide all appropriate assistance to the family. Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment," a representative said.

John McAfee's wife Janice outside the Brians 2 prison. AP
John McAfee's wife Janice outside the Brians 2 prison. AP

British-born McAfee, who launched the world's first commercial antivirus in 1987, was detained last October at Barcelona airport, after living for years on the run from US authorities.

He was indicted in Tennessee on tax evasion charges and was charged in a cryptocurrency fraud case in New York.

McAfee's lawyer, Javier Villalba, said the family was awaiting the results of an official autopsy, but he would request a second, independent autopsy on instruction from the McAfee family.
"Even though he was born in England, America was his home," Ms McAfee said. "He came there when he was a child. He had his first girlfriend there, his first case, you know, his first job.
"He made his first millions there and he wanted to be there. But, you know, politics just wouldn't allow for that to happen.

"All John wanted to do was spend his remaining years fishing and drinking," his widow said
"He was just so loving. He had a big heart and he just loved people and he just wanted to have peace in his life," she added. "My prayers are that his soul has found the peace in death that he could not find in life."

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What drives subscription retailing?

Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.

The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.

The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.

The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.

UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.

That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.

Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.

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1987

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1921

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Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Maestro
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The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

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The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

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The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888