Tag: leak
Jennifer Lawrence Slams Stolen Nude Photos As ‘Sex Crime’

Jennifer Lawrence Slams Stolen Nude Photos As ‘Sex Crime’

New York — Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence has spoken publicly for the first time after naked pictures of her were hacked and posted online, angrily slamming the leak as a “sex crime.”

Speaking exclusively to Vanity Fair, the rising siren of the silver screen said she felt violated and was afraid how the hacked photographs would affect her career.

“Just because I’m a public figure, just because I’m an actress, does not mean that I asked for this,” she told the November issue of the magazine, which will be available online Wednesday.

“It’s my body, and it should be my choice, and the fact that it is not my choice is absolutely disgusting. I can’t believe that we even live in that kind of world.”

Hackers dumped nude photos of more than a dozen Hollywood celebrities on social media last month after snatching them from Apple’s iCloud in what the tech giant called a “targeted attack.”

“It is not a scandal. It is a sex crime,” the 24-year-old actress told Vanity Fair.

“It is a sexual violation. It’s disgusting. The law needs to be changed, and we need to change. That’s why these websites are responsible.”

“Just the fact that somebody can be sexually exploited and violated, and the first thought that crosses somebody’s mind is to make a profit from it. It’s so beyond me. I just can’t imagine being that detached from humanity. I can’t imagine being that thoughtless and careless and so empty inside.”

She told Vanity Fair she had sent the photographs to her then boyfriend while they were in a long distance relationship.

She was initially tempted to write a statement, but said: “Every single thing that I tried to write made me cry or get angry.

“I started to write an apology, but I don’t have anything to say I’m sorry for. I was in a loving, healthy, great relationship for four years. It was long distance, and either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he’s going to look at you.”

More than a dozen Hollywood celebrities have threatened to sue Google for failing to crack down on the leaks.

A letter by prominent Tinseltown lawyer Marty Singer published by the Hollywood Reporter warned they could seek $100 million in damages from the U.S. online search giant for failing to take down the photos.

AFP Photo/Isaac Brekken

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U.S. Tests For Toxic Spill From Mexico Mine

U.S. Tests For Toxic Spill From Mexico Mine

Los Angeles (AFP) — U.S. authorities are testing a river in Arizona for possible cross-border contamination from a toxic mine spill in northwestern Mexico, an official said Tuesday.

The checks came after a massive acid leak in the Sonora River from the Buenavista copper mine, the worst environmental disaster on record in Mexico’s mining industry.

The spill turned a 60-kilometer (40-mile) stretch of the waterway orange and caused Mexican authorities to shut off the municipal water supply to 20,000 people in seven towns.

“Two water-quality inspectors from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality were dispatched today to the border region where the San Pedro River crosses into Arizona from Sonora,” said a spokesman for the Arizona watchdog.

The International Boundary and Water Commission later said experts had not found any visual signs of pollution, but explained test results would take longer.

“The team observed no anomalies in the San Pedro River and took water quality samples from both the tributary and the river. Lab results will not be available for several days,” said spokeswoman Sally Spener.

The San Pedro River flows north from Mexico, entering the United States to the west of Naco, Arizona. The Buenavista mine is located approximately 30 miles (48 kilometers) upstream from the U.S.-Mexico border.

The IBWC is responsible for applying the boundary and water treaties between the two countries.

AFP Photo/Hector Guerrero

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FBI Widens Probe Of Naked Celebrity Photos

FBI Widens Probe Of Naked Celebrity Photos

Los Angeles (AFP) — The FBI vowed to widen a probe into the massive hacking of naked celebrity photos if necessary, after new reported leaks including nude shots of Kim Kardashian.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) launched an investigation earlier this month after a first batch of pictures, including of “Hunger Games” megastar Jennifer Lawrence, was published.

On Saturday U.S. media reported that more nude celebrity photos, including reality star Kardashian and actress Vanessa Hudgens, had been circulating on social media.

The pictures, also including U.S. soccer star Hope Solo, appeared briefly on 4chan and Reddit, before being removed, celebrity gossip site TMZ reported.

BuzzFeed said that personal videos and photos belonging to actresses Aubrey Plaza, Mary-Kate Olsen, Hayden Panettiere, and Leelee Sobieski were posted, in addition to previously unseen pictures of Lawrence.

“The FBI’s investigation into alleged computer intrusion/theft is continuing,” FBI Los Angeles spokeswoman Laura Eimiller told AFP Monday.

“I’m unable to comment on specifics with regard to alleged victims, but any individual who believes they are a victim of these violations is encouraged to report it, if not already engaged with law enforcement,” she added.

Hackers first released a trove of nude starlets’ photos on September 1, after snatching them from Apple’s iCloud in what the tech giant has called a “targeted attack”.

The company has denied its cloud storage system was breached, suggesting that the celebrities had their accounts hacked by using easy-to-guess passwords, or by giving up their personal data to cyber criminals posing as Apple, a technique known as “phishing”.

In addition to Lawrence, celebrities whose pictures were allegedly stolen and posted online in early September included model Kate Upton, singer Avril Lavigne, and actress Gabrielle Union.

AFP Photo/Astrid Stawiarz

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Ruptured Pipe Leaves 10,000 Gallons Of Oil On L.A. Streets

Ruptured Pipe Leaves 10,000 Gallons Of Oil On L.A. Streets

By Jason Wells, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — A 10,000-gallon crude-oil spill in Los Angeles early Thursday was expected to take 24 hours to fully clean up, officials said.

Firefighters responding to the spill shortly after 1 a.m. the Atwater Village section of the city were able to hem in much of the oil by using loads of sand from a nearby cement company to build a dam-like berm, creating a sort of “lagoon” that tanker trucks were able to sip from using their vacuum lines.

Those trucks were able to provide more accurate readings, which firefighters used to downgrade the size of the spill after initially estimating its size at 50,000 gallons.

The burst pipe had sent a geyser 20 to 50 feet in the air, blasting the adjacent Gentlemen’s Club, which had to evacuate, Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Jamie Moore said. Some 10 vehicles were also stuck in the club’s lot due to the oil, he added.

Two people at a nearby medical center who complained of nausea, possibly due to the oil, were transported to a local hospital, Moore said.

By the time crews were able to shut off the pipeline remotely, the spill had created pools of oil, some about 40 feet wide and knee-deep, in the largely industrial area, the Fire Department reported.

“It looked like a lake,” Moore said.

Most of the oil was vacuumed up by 6 a.m., but more work will be needed to fully clean the spill, he added.

He said cleanup crews would use diaper-like sponges to sop up what oil could not be vacuumed up by the tanker trucks. After that, he said, high-pressure hoses blasting a soap solution will be used to break up the remaining oil.

The entire process will take up to 24 hours, Moore said.

The Gentlemen’s Club will probably have to undergo extensive cleanup after oil spewed against its roof and a side wall, Moore said. Four other businesses near the ruptured line were affected by street closures, but did not suffer significant damage, officials said.

The pipeline transports oil from Bakersfield, Calif., to Texas. It was not immediately clear what caused the rupture.

©afp.com / Kevork Djansezian