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U S A NEWS

London (CNN) -- One of the first journalists to go on the record and allege phone hacking at News of the World was found dead Monday, the British Press Association said.
Sean Hoare, a former News of the World employee who said Andy Coulson "encouraged" phone-hacking, "was discovered at his home in Watford, Hertfordshire, after concerns were raised about his whereabouts," the press association said.
"The death is being treated as 'unexplained, but not thought to be suspicious,'" the report quoted Hertfordshire police as saying.
The Guardian reported that Hoare had recently injured his nose and his foot in an accident. It was unclear whether those injuries were linked to his death.
Hoare had publicly accused News of the World of phone-hacking and using "pinging" -- a method of tracking someone's cell phone using technology that only police and security officials could access -- according to the New York Times.
Hoare was one of the few sources who allowed his name to be used when speaking to the Times last year for an investigative report about allegations of phone-hacking by the British tabloid.
In his remarks, he specifically accused Andy Coulson -- former editor of News of the World, who went on to become Prime Minister David Cameron's communications director -- of wrongdoing.
The Times described Hoare has a "onetime close friend of Coulson's."
"The two men first worked together at The Sun, where, Hoare said, he played tape recordings of hacked messages for Coulson," the Times wrote in its report last September. "At News of the World, Hoare said he continued to inform Coulson of his pursuits. Coulson 'actively encouraged me to do it,' Hoare said."
The report added that Hoare said he was "fired during a period when he was struggling with drugs and alcohol. He said he was now revealing his own use of the dark arts -- which included breaking into the messages of celebrities like David and Victoria Beckham -- because it was unfair for the paper to pin the blame solely on" one reporter who covered the royal family.
"Coulson declined to comment for this article but has maintained that he was unaware of the hacking," the report said.

RELATED TOPICS

• Sean Hoare
• Andy Coulson
• Journalism

Coulson worked for Cameron until the police launched their new phone-hacking investigation in January, then resigned, still protesting his innocence, but saying he had become a distraction for the prime minister.
Last week, the Times reported that Hoare, a former show-business reporter for News of the World, also described "pinging" by the newspaper. "Pinging" is a term for locating a person using his or her cell phone number -- something that only law enforcement and security officials are allowed to do, the paper reported
Hoare "said that when he worked there, pinging cost the paper nearly $500 on each occasion," the Times reported.
A second former editor at the paper backed Hoare's account, speaking anonymously, the Times reported.
The Times reported that people on the police payroll were bribed to use the technology to pinpoint people's locations, according to the two former News of the World journalists.
The Guardian newspaper also spoke to Hoare last week. He told the paper it was "bollocks" that Coulson didn't know about the practice of "pinging," noting that "the chain of command is one of absolute discipline" at News of the World.
Hoare "repeatedly expressed the hope that the hacking scandal would lead to journalism in general being cleaned up and said he had decided to blow the whistle on the activities of some of his former News of the World colleagues with that aim in mind," the Guardian reported Monday.
"He also said he had been injured at a party the previous weekend while taking down a marquee erected for a children's party. He said he had broken his nose and badly injured his foot when a relative accidentally struck him with a heavy pole from the marquee," the report said.

Hoare emphasized that he was not making money from telling his story, the Guardian reported.

London (CNN) -- One of the first journalists to go on the record and allege phone hacking at News of the World was found dead Monday, the British Press Association said.
Sean Hoare, a former News of the World employee who said Andy Coulson "encouraged" phone-hacking, "was discovered at his home in Watford, Hertfordshire, after concerns were raised about his whereabouts," the press association said.
"The death is being treated as 'unexplained, but not thought to be suspicious,'" the report quoted Hertfordshire police as saying.
The Guardian reported that Hoare had recently injured his nose and his foot in an accident. It was unclear whether those injuries were linked to his death.
Hoare had publicly accused News of the World of phone-hacking and using "pinging" -- a method of tracking someone's cell phone using technology that only police and security officials could access -- according to the New York Times.
Hoare was one of the few sources who allowed his name to be used when speaking to the Times last year for an investigative report about allegations of phone-hacking by the British tabloid.
In his remarks, he specifically accused Andy Coulson -- former editor of News of the World, who went on to become Prime Minister David Cameron's communications director -- of wrongdoing.
The Times described Hoare has a "onetime close friend of Coulson's."
"The two men first worked together at The Sun, where, Hoare said, he played tape recordings of hacked messages for Coulson," the Times wrote in its report last September. "At News of the World, Hoare said he continued to inform Coulson of his pursuits. Coulson 'actively encouraged me to do it,' Hoare said."
The report added that Hoare said he was "fired during a period when he was struggling with drugs and alcohol. He said he was now revealing his own use of the dark arts -- which included breaking into the messages of celebrities like David and Victoria Beckham -- because it was unfair for the paper to pin the blame solely on" one reporter who covered the royal family.
"Coulson declined to comment for this article but has maintained that he was unaware of the hacking," the report said.

RELATED TOPICS

• Sean Hoare
• Andy Coulson
• Journalism

Coulson worked for Cameron until the police launched their new phone-hacking investigation in January, then resigned, still protesting his innocence, but saying he had become a distraction for the prime minister.
Last week, the Times reported that Hoare, a former show-business reporter for News of the World, also described "pinging" by the newspaper. "Pinging" is a term for locating a person using his or her cell phone number -- something that only law enforcement and security officials are allowed to do, the paper reported
Hoare "said that when he worked there, pinging cost the paper nearly $500 on each occasion," the Times reported.
A second former editor at the paper backed Hoare's account, speaking anonymously, the Times reported.
The Times reported that people on the police payroll were bribed to use the technology to pinpoint people's locations, according to the two former News of the World journalists.
The Guardian newspaper also spoke to Hoare last week. He told the paper it was "bollocks" that Coulson didn't know about the practice of "pinging," noting that "the chain of command is one of absolute discipline" at News of the World.
Hoare "repeatedly expressed the hope that the hacking scandal would lead to journalism in general being cleaned up and said he had decided to blow the whistle on the activities of some of his former News of the World colleagues with that aim in mind," the Guardian reported Monday.
"He also said he had been injured at a party the previous weekend while taking down a marquee erected for a children's party. He said he had broken his nose and badly injured his foot when a relative accidentally struck him with a heavy pole from the marquee," the report said.

Hoare emphasized that he was not making money from telling his story, the Guardian reported.

News of the world

The Secret Powers of Time

Time is the most important resource you have. This video is a great example of how your perspective of time can change you.
Professor Philip Zimbardo conveys how our individual perspectives of time affect our work, health and well-being. Time influences who we are as a person, how we view relationships and how we act in the world.

RELATED TOPICS

London (CNN) -- One of the first journalists to go on the record and allege phone hacking at News of the World was found dead Monday, the British Press Association said.
Sean Hoare, a former News of the World employee who said Andy Coulson "encouraged" phone-hacking, "was discovered at his home in Watford, Hertfordshire, after concerns were raised about his whereabouts," the press association said.
"The death is being treated as 'unexplained, but not thought to be suspicious,'" the report quoted Hertfordshire police as saying.
The Guardian reported that Hoare had recently injured his nose and his foot in an accident. It was unclear whether those injuries were linked to his death.
Hoare had publicly accused News of the World of phone-hacking and using "pinging" -- a method of tracking someone's cell phone using technology that only police and security officials could access -- according to the New York Times.
Hoare was one of the few sources who allowed his name to be used when speaking to the Times last year for an investigative report about allegations of phone-hacking by the British tabloid.
In his remarks, he specifically accused Andy Coulson -- former editor of News of the World, who went on to become Prime Minister David Cameron's communications director -- of wrongdoing.
The Times described Hoare has a "onetime close friend of Coulson's."
"The two men first worked together at The Sun, where, Hoare said, he played tape recordings of hacked messages for Coulson," the Times wrote in its report last September. "At News of the World, Hoare said he continued to inform Coulson of his pursuits. Coulson 'actively encouraged me to do it,' Hoare said."
The report added that Hoare said he was "fired during a period when he was struggling with drugs and alcohol. He said he was now revealing his own use of the dark arts -- which included breaking into the messages of celebrities like David and Victoria Beckham -- because it was unfair for the paper to pin the blame solely on" one reporter who covered the royal family.
"Coulson declined to comment for this article but has maintained that he was unaware of the hacking," the report said.

RELATED TOPICS

• Sean Hoare
• Andy Coulson
• Journalism

Coulson worked for Cameron until the police launched their new phone-hacking investigation in January, then resigned, still protesting his innocence, but saying he had become a distraction for the prime minister.
Last week, the Times reported that Hoare, a former show-business reporter for News of the World, also described "pinging" by the newspaper. "Pinging" is a term for locating a person using his or her cell phone number -- something that only law enforcement and security officials are allowed to do, the paper reported
Hoare "said that when he worked there, pinging cost the paper nearly $500 on each occasion," the Times reported.
A second former editor at the paper backed Hoare's account, speaking anonymously, the Times reported.
The Times reported that people on the police payroll were bribed to use the technology to pinpoint people's locations, according to the two former News of the World journalists.
The Guardian newspaper also spoke to Hoare last week. He told the paper it was "bollocks" that Coulson didn't know about the practice of "pinging," noting that "the chain of command is one of absolute discipline" at News of the World.
Hoare "repeatedly expressed the hope that the hacking scandal would lead to journalism in general being cleaned up and said he had decided to blow the whistle on the activities of some of his former News of the World colleagues with that aim in mind," the Guardian reported Monday.
"He also said he had been injured at a party the previous weekend while taking down a marquee erected for a children's party. He said he had broken his nose and badly injured his foot when a relative accidentally struck him with a heavy pole from the marquee," the report said.

Hoare emphasized that he was not making money from telling his story, the Guardian reported.

London (CNN) -- One of the first journalists to go on the record and allege phone hacking at News of the World was found dead Monday, the British Press Association said.
Sean Hoare, a former News of the World employee who said Andy Coulson "encouraged" phone-hacking, "was discovered at his home in Watford, Hertfordshire, after concerns were raised about his whereabouts," the press association said.
"The death is being treated as 'unexplained, but not thought to be suspicious,'" the report quoted Hertfordshire police as saying.
The Guardian reported that Hoare had recently injured his nose and his foot in an accident. It was unclear whether those injuries were linked to his death.
Hoare had publicly accused News of the World of phone-hacking and using "pinging" -- a method of tracking someone's cell phone using technology that only police and security officials could access -- according to the New York Times.
Hoare was one of the few sources who allowed his name to be used when speaking to the Times last year for an investigative report about allegations of phone-hacking by the British tabloid.
In his remarks, he specifically accused Andy Coulson -- former editor of News of the World, who went on to become Prime Minister David Cameron's communications director -- of wrongdoing.
The Times described Hoare has a "onetime close friend of Coulson's."
"The two men first worked together at The Sun, where, Hoare said, he played tape recordings of hacked messages for Coulson," the Times wrote in its report last September. "At News of the World, Hoare said he continued to inform Coulson of his pursuits. Coulson 'actively encouraged me to do it,' Hoare said."
The report added that Hoare said he was "fired during a period when he was struggling with drugs and alcohol. He said he was now revealing his own use of the dark arts -- which included breaking into the messages of celebrities like David and Victoria Beckham -- because it was unfair for the paper to pin the blame solely on" one reporter who covered the royal family.
"Coulson declined to comment for this article but has maintained that he was unaware of the hacking," the report said.

RELATED TOPICS

• Sean Hoare
• Andy Coulson
• Journalism

Coulson worked for Cameron until the police launched their new phone-hacking investigation in January, then resigned, still protesting his innocence, but saying he had become a distraction for the prime minister.
Last week, the Times reported that Hoare, a former show-business reporter for News of the World, also described "pinging" by the newspaper. "Pinging" is a term for locating a person using his or her cell phone number -- something that only law enforcement and security officials are allowed to do, the paper reported
Hoare "said that when he worked there, pinging cost the paper nearly $500 on each occasion," the Times reported.
A second former editor at the paper backed Hoare's account, speaking anonymously, the Times reported.
The Times reported that people on the police payroll were bribed to use the technology to pinpoint people's locations, according to the two former News of the World journalists.
The Guardian newspaper also spoke to Hoare last week. He told the paper it was "bollocks" that Coulson didn't know about the practice of "pinging," noting that "the chain of command is one of absolute discipline" at News of the World.
Hoare "repeatedly expressed the hope that the hacking scandal would lead to journalism in general being cleaned up and said he had decided to blow the whistle on the activities of some of his former News of the World colleagues with that aim in mind," the Guardian reported Monday.
"He also said he had been injured at a party the previous weekend while taking down a marquee erected for a children's party. He said he had broken his nose and badly injured his foot when a relative accidentally struck him with a heavy pole from the marquee," the report said.

Hoare emphasized that he was not making money from telling his story, the Guardian reported.

CNN

(CNN) -- Graphic video footage released Monday by the Taliban shows the execution of at least 16 men believed to be Pakistani police officers -- a new escalation in the fight for control of a pivotal country in the global war over Islamic extremism.
Seventeen men were executed in total, according to Pakistan's government.
The video shows a group of men standing in a line in a patch of dirt along a grassy hillside, being berated by an individual holding a firearm. Several armed individuals then open fire on the men, who immediately drop to the ground. The gunmen then proceed to shoot the men in the head one at a time.
"Kill the enemy of Allah's faith," the lead gunman says in the video. "These all are the enemy of God religion."
"Shoot him again, shoot him in the head," the man says to one of the other gunmen. "Alright now he is dead."
"Come here, that one too is still alive," the man says, scanning the bodies. "Dead? Yeah, okay come here shoot that one too. A bit lower."
Mir Qasim Khan, police chief for Pakistan's Upper Dir district, told CNN the men killed in the video were probably those abducted from his region during a June 1 Taliban attack on the village of Shaltalo.
The attack targeted a security check point near the village.
Thirty police officers were killed and over a dozen more were kidnapped in the assault, Khan said.
Taliban representatives allege in the video that the executions were conducted in retaliation for the execution of six children by government security forces in Pakistan's heavily contested Swat Valley. A spokesman for the Pakistani military denied that any such incident took place, calling the claim "absolutely incorrect."
"It's wrong and it's a propaganda tool," Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said. "There was no such incident, and Pakistani children have never been executed by security forces."
The militants responsible for the attack are the same individuals who controlled Swat Valley before the Pakistani army recently cleared the region, according to Abbas.
The video is "quite repulsive and it shows the complete merciless and ruthless minds of these terrorists," he said. The Taliban "are quite inhumane and they use terror as a weapon."
Taliban extremists "used to terrorize Swat and now they're trying to bring terror to the Upper Dir region," he claimed.
Abbas said he believes the executions occurred in Upper Dir.
CNN could not verify the location of the executions or the identity of the victims.
Pakistan is a strategically-important nation in the global war over Islamic extremism. Its location, next to Afghanistan, has put it square in the middle of U.S.-led efforts there.
The Pakistani military has launched more than 10 offensives against violent extremists in northwest Pakistan in recent years, but for the United States, what matters most is North Waziristan, which U.S. officials call a safe haven for al Qaeda-linked militants who attack American soldiers across the border in Afghanistan.
Washington has pressured Pakistan to launch a major offensive in North Waziristan, but the Pakistani military has refused, saying its troops are stretched too thin with other operations in northwest Pakistan.
The army's reluctance to attack the Taliban in the district has fueled suspicions that the Pakistani military has links to militant groups in North Waziristan that are undermining the NATO operation in Afghanistan.
Pakistani military officials have repeatedly denied the allegations.
The relationship between Pakistan and the United States has been in a downward spiral over disputes about how to pursue counterterrorism efforts, particularly in the wake of the May raid on the Pakistani compound where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed. U.S. officials did not tell their counterparts in Pakistan about the raid ahead of time.

The United States believes Pakistan is not doing enough to go after al Qaeda and other extremists, while the Pakistanis are upset with what they consider to be unilateral steps taken by the United States within their borders.