Business

A group of Anonymous hackers who call themselves ‘KarmaSec’ have leaked data from a Japanese zoo in protest against animal abuse and brutality in Japan. In a tweet, the group claim they had hacked into the server of Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture Tourism Promotion Division’s website. AnonHQ reports: The group targeted the Akiyoshidai Safari Land Natural Zoo located in Yamaguchi, and threatened to release even more data if the zoo did not release all of its animals. They appear to have even more incriminating data. Release ALL of the animals! Warning you is too late.

A Texas demolition team tore down the wrong building and blamed their mistake on Google Maps. The company said the demolition mistake was “not a big deal” Oregon Live reports: The owners of a tornado-damaged duplex in Rowlett, a suburb of Dallas, arrived at their homes on Tuesday to find they had been demolished, according to the local ABC News affiliate WFAA. But the demolition was a mistake. The contractor, Billy L. Nabors Demolition, actually had a demolition permit for a home on the next block, WFAA reported.

While the final revision to Q4 2015 GDP was so irrelevant it was released on a holiday when every US-based market is closed, even the futures, it is nonetheless notable that according to the BEA in the final quarter of 2015 US GDP grew 1.4%, up from the 1.0% previously reported, and higher than the 1.0% consensus estimate matching the highest Q4 GDP forecast. The final Q4 GDP print was still well below the 2.0% annualized GDP growth reported in Q3.

With all of Europe and the Americas closed for holiday, what little market action there was overnight came out of Asia, where China once again was engaged in its last hour "National Team" market manipulation, which saved the SHCOMP from a red close after the now traditional last hour buying spree, pushed the Shanghai Composite from red on the session an hour before close to near the highs of the day.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has agreed to deregulate Monsanto’s GMO corn, unleashing a new wave of toxic herbicides into the environment.  The genetically-modified MON87419 corn strain is resistant to dicamba- and glufosinate-based herbicides. RT.com reports: These resistances allow farmers to grow plants that aren’t destroyed by herbicides produced by the same companies that designed the genetically-modified crops themselves.