The new BMW 7-Series is one of the most technologically advanced cars ever, and can turn your dreams into reality.

This is a car that can park itself while the driver stands outside, and one that has a tablet for back seat passengers to control every aspect of the interior, including the lights, sounds and even how it smells.

 

1.) Automatic parking

Autonomous parking feature means the 7-Series can be driven into a garage by itself.

The new 7-Series can park itself when no one is in it. All you have to do is point the car roughly into the entrance of a space or garage, get out, then press the key fob and the car will do the rest.

Let go and it will stop, but with an array of cameras and sensors looking in every direction, the car should work things out for itself. Clearly, we are one step closer to the end game: autonomous cars collecting us from the pub.

 

2.) Smart key

The same key fob that controls the self-parking feature also has an LED display to show how much fuel the car has, plus the status of door locks and windows.

It has a 2.2in touchscreen with a resolution of 320 x 320 and lets you set the climate control or heaters to a certain temperature before you get in; it also shows notifications, such as when a service is due.

 

3.) Inductive charger

The smart key's battery will last for months but to stop it ever running out, the 7-Series has an inductive charger to slot it into as you drive. The charger can also top-up any smartphones (or phone cases and covers) compatible with the Qi charging standard.

 

4.) Samsung tablet between the back seats

Continuing the mobile theme, the 7-Series includes a 7in Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 between the two rear passenger seats. This can be detached and used as a regular Android tablet (and connected to the car's built-in Wi-Fi network), but when fitted in the car it runs a bespoke BMW application.

Here, passengers can control the music, cabin lighting, the position of both rear seats and the front passenger seat, which can fold completely flat to act as a footrest.

The tablet can also be used to control the seats' massage function and even how the cabin smells; two different perfumes can be installed when you buy the car and picked from depending on your mood. The tablet can play its own music through the car, or stream video to two 10.3in screens on the back of the front seats.

 

5.) Gesture controls for the 12.3-inch touchscreen display

But the toys are not only for backseat passengers; those up front also get to have some fun. New for the 2016 7-Series is a 3D sensor that reads hand gestures performed by the driver or front passenger. Rotate a pointed finger in front of the dashboard to turn the stereo volume up or down or prod two fingers towards the dashboard to reject an incoming call.

Several other gestures can be configured to do whatever you like with the car's infotainment system. BMW's iDrive system is here, as you would expect, and features a touchscreen for the first time. There is also the familiar scroll dial and control buttons between the front seats.

 

6. Bowers & Wilkins stereo with speakers made from diamond

Such a huge car demands an equally large stereo, and few come larger than the 1,400-watt system created for the new 7-Series by British sound company Bowers & Wilkins. It has no fewer than 16 speakers dotted around the cabin, each illuminated as part of the car's dynamic lighting package, which includes lights in the roof lining designed to resemble a starry night.

A £5,000 optional extra, the stereo's speakers include laboratory-grown diamonds in the tweeters to produce sounds beyond what humans can hear. Never seen in cars before, the three diamond dome tweeters are joined by seven midrange drive units made from Kevlar, a material more commonly found in Formula One cars and bulletproof jackets. Completing the set-up are a further four aluminium tweeters, two bass subwoofers and a 1,400 watt, 10-channel amplifier.

 

7. Heads-up display with night vision

And finally... the 7-Series' heads-up display is 75% larger than its predecessor, as used by the BMW i8, and uses a night vision camera to warn the driver about pedestrians and large animals, which may be hidden at the sides of the road.

The display, which is projected on to the windscreen and can only be seen by the driver, shows the car's speed, the limit for that road (which changes when a camera spots a different road sign), overtaking restrictions, and sat-nav instructions in full colour.

The new BMW 7-Series goes on sale this month. Prices in the US start from $81,300.

 

 

 

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Apple Inc could be facing up to $862 million in damages after a U.S. jury on Tuesday found the iPhone maker used technology owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's licensing arm without permission in chips found in many of its most popular devices.

The jury in Madison, Wisconsin also said the patent, which improves processor efficiency, was valid. The trial will now move on to determine how much Apple owes in damages.

Representatives for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.

WARF sued Apple in January 2014 alleging infringement of its 1998 patent for improving chip efficiency.

The jury was considering whether Apple's A7, A8 and A8X processors, found in the iPhone 5s, 6 and 6 Plus, as well as several versions of the iPad, violate the patent.

Cupertino, California-based Apple denied any infringement and argued the patent is invalid, according to court papers. Apple previously tried to convince the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to review the patent's validity, but in April the agency rejected the bid.

According to a recent ruling by U.S. District Judge William Conley, who is presiding over the case, Apple could be liable for up to $862.4 million in damages.

He scheduled the trial to proceed in three phases: liability, damages, and finally, whether Apple infringed the patent willfully, which could lead to enhanced penalties.

WARF used the patent to sue Intel Corp in 2008, but the case was settled the following year on the eve of trial.

Last month, WARF launched a second lawsuit against Apple, this time targeting the company's newest chips, the A9 and A9X, used in the just-released iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, as well as the iPad Pro.

The case is Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation v. Apple Inc in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, No. 14-cv-62.

  

 

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The iconic men's magazine Playboy said Monday that it is planning to drop fully nude female photography from its pages.

The news, first reported by The New York Times, is bound to send shock waves through the magazine industry, since Playboy has been a part of American popular culture since its debut in 1953.

The magazine's redesign, which will reportedly take place next March, appears to be a reaction to the ever-growing accessibility of online pornography.

"You're now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free," Playboy's chief executive Scott Flanders told The Times. "It's just passé at this juncture."

The revolutionary publication, which was founded by Hugh Hefner, told The Times that "Playboy will still feature women in provocative poses" but no longer fully nude.

Social media pointed out that the removal of nude photography may help boost the magazine's other known elements.

"The Playboy Interview has long been one of the greatest columns in the magazine world," Politico media reporter Alex Weprin tweeted. "In some ways the rest of the magazine held it back."

As for young men going through puberty everywhere, they will now have to actually read Playboy for the articles.

"Don't get me wrong, 12-year-old me is very disappointed in current me," Cory Jones, Playboy's top editor explained to the paper.

 

 

 

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The Volkswagen AG scandal over diesel emission tests is headed for Hollywood.

U.S. movie studio Paramount Picture and actor Leonardo DiCaprio's Production Company have acquired movie rights to a book proposal by New York Times journalist Jack Ewing about the clean diesel scandal, the biggest crisis in Volkswagen's 78-year history.

Publishing rights for the book sold earlier this month for six figures to the Norton publishing house, Marly Rusoff said. The book is expected to investigate how a "more, better, faster" ethos fueled one of the greatest frauds in corporate history.

Europe's largest automaker has admitted rigging diesel emissions tests in the United States, and Germany's transport minister says it also manipulated them in Europe.

The scandal has wiped more than a third off the German company's share price, forced out its long-time CEO and prompted investigations around the world.

DiCaprio, producer and star of "The Wolf of Wall Street" through his Appian Way production company, is also one of Hollywood's leading environmental campaigners.

 

 

 

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SABMiller accepts $104 billion AB InBev takeover offer

 

 

SABMiller (SAB.L) accepted a takeover proposal at the fifth time of asking on Tuesday after Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR), the world's largest brewer, set out a cash and share package worth 68 billion pounds ($104.4 billion).

After repeated rebuttals from its next largest rival, AB InBev said it was willing in principle to pay 44 pounds in cash per SABMiller share, with a partial share alternative set at a discount and limited to 41 percent of the SABMiller shares.

SABMiller said it had indicated to AB InBev that its board would be prepared to accept the offer and said it had asked for a two-week extension to the deadline set for its rival to announce a firm intention to bid. The new deadline is Oct. 28.

The parties have agreed that AB InBev would pay a break fee of $3 billion to SABMiller in the event the transaction fails to close as a result of regulatory issues or because AB InBev shareholders do not back it.

The new offer unveiled on Tuesday surpasses a Monday proposal set at 43.50 pounds in cash.

The partial share alternative remains, designed for SABMiller's two main shareholders, cigarette-maker Altria (MO.N) and the BevCo company of Colombia's Santo Domingo family, who own 40.5 percent of the UK-based brewer.

Were they to accept the discounted alternative and all other shareholders took cash, the offer would be worth 68 billion pounds ($100 billion).

The deal would rank in the top five mergers in corporate history and would be the largest takeover of a UK company.

The new group would brew almost a third of the world's beer, combining AB InBev's Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona lagers with SABMiller's Peroni, Grolsch and Pilsner Urquell.

AB InBev would add certain Latin American and Asian breweries to its already large presence and, crucially, see it enter Africa for the first time.

 

 

 

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Thousands of troops marched in elaborate formations across Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square In an incredible and rare show of strength and celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party.

Kim watched the extravaganza from a viewing platform and gave a rare live televised speech. Last year, Kim didn't show himself during a mysterious absence that lasted over a month.

"Our party can confidently state that our revolutionary armament today can deal with any kind of war U.S. imperialists ask for, and we are fully ready to persistently defend the country's blue sky and the well-being of the people," he told the gathered crowds.

North Korea's regime is fond of saber rattling and has made plenty of threats before. Intimidating words about the United States and South Korea have been very common in recent years.

Foreign diplomats, journalists and tourists gathered in Pyongyang for the spectacle, which saw fighter jets flying in a "70" formation.

 

 

A Chinese delegation led by Liu Yunshan, who is one of the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, met Kim and delivered a message from President Xi Jinping, according to North Korean state media KCNA.

The preparations for the Workers' Party of Korea anniversary appear to have begun as early as May, when satellite images captured approximately 45 tents assembled at a former Pyongyang airbase, according to an analysis posted on website 38 North.

By October, that area had swelled to about 800 tents, 700 trucks and 200 armored vehicles, with people appearing to move in formations "possibly in preparation for the parade," wrote Joseph Bermudez Jr, an analyst on North Korean affairs.

He concluded that "regardless of whether ballistic missiles are present or not, (it) will be one of the largest in North Korea's history."

 

 

The parade is one of North Korea's most significant holidays -- next to the birthdays of the country's founder Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il.

"We want to celebrate in the most significant way," Sin Un Gyong, a North Korean student told CNN's Will Ripley in Pyongyang before parade.

The Workers' Party of Korea is the political party that governs and runs North Korea.

 

 

"The Workers' Party is the locus of power in North Korea," Sung-Yoon Lee, professor of Korean Studies at Tufts University. "The party runs everything."

It was founded 70 years ago, after World War II and following the end of the Japanese occupation of Korea. With the Korean peninsula in disarray, a group chaired by Kim Il Sung in the Soviet-occupied northern part formed the Communist political party that came to be known as the Workers' Party of Korea.

 

 

 

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Dell's move to pay over $53 billion to buy EMC in the world's biggest-ever technology merger is coming to its last stages. 

Dell is expected to announce EMC's acceptance of a buyout offer by Monday or Tuesday, US-time. Dell is a global household name that manufactures PCs and servers. EMC on the other hand, is a lesser-known technology company that has focused on creating data storage, cloud computing and big data systems.

The combination of both would create a hardware and software titan. Analysts warned such mega-deals come with risks. "Large purchases like this often don't work out that well," said Kevin McIsaac, an IT infrastructure analyst with Intelligent Business Research Services.

Reuters reported that EMC's board had agreed to accept the deal with an offer of $US33 per share, citing sources close to the deal. Around $US25 per share would be paid in cash, and the rest would be paid to EMC shareholders with a special stock that tracks the market value of VMWare, the virtualisation software company majority-owned by EMC.

EMC is expected to have included a "go-shop" clause that would give it 60 days to find rival suitors in an effort to convince shareholders that Dell had offered the best deal.

Microsoft and Cisco are the most likely potential buyers but industry watchers have expressed doubts that either party will beat Dell's offer, which was 27 per cent more than EMC's share price before news leaked out last week.

The largest technology tie-up prior to this move involved the May merger of Broadcom and Avago, which was worth $US37 billion ($50.4 billion) and is yet to be completed.

If completed, the deal would be the second large buy-out by Michael Dell, one of the pioneers of the PC industry, in barely two years.

He bought out the PC company that bears his surname two years ago for $US25 billion to help undertake a drastic overhaul that he said would have been tough to complete if it had remained publicly-listed.

Taking Dell private also made it far simpler for the technology giant to acquire its rivals and would-be collaborators without running the risk of facing the wrath of major shareholders.

Mr Dell will be hoping that this advantage extends to the newly-merged entity, which will then have the firepower to restructure and reinvest in successful segments of its business without being scrutinised on the New York Stock Exchange.

Combining both companies also makes strategic sense. Where Dell has traditionally focussed on building IT servers, the hardware of data centres, EMC specialises in making the smarts that make the systems sing.

Its big data systems are designed to analyse vast tranches of information and find disparate patterns that corporate and government customers then use to improve products and policies.

This would allow Dell to be a one-stop shop for both the data centre systems that store the rapidly rising amounts of information produced by society and the software that turns it into productive sense.

But the deal also comes with tremendous risk because it creates a technology conglomerate in an era when many players, such as Google and Hewlett Packard, are splitting up their divisions to become more nimble.

The Financial Times also reported that Dell is in talks to raise over $US40 billion from an array of banks at a period of continuing uncertainty about the global economy.

  

 

 

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Facebook has finally unveiled its solution to people’s calls for a “dislike” button — in the form of six new emoji, each representing their own feeling.

Mark Zuckerberg hinted last month that his site was looking to expand the Like button, making a way for people to communicate that they were upset by news. And the site is now rolling out its solution in the form of emoji that represent “Love”, “Haha”, “Yay”, “Wow”, “Sad” and “Angry”.

Zuckerberg said for a long time that the feature wouldn’t be integrated in the “Dislike” button that many people had asked for, and that users wanted so much that it has spawned its own scams. Since that could be used for bullying and might make users feel bad, the site was exploring ways for people to communicate that they were upset without being explicitly negative.

Facebook’s way of doing that seems to be a series of expressive “Reactions”, rather than exactly replicating the Like button. That button is still available, but the new buttons sit alongside the regular thumbs up as extra options.

As with the Like button, the reactions will appear on any post in the news feed on mobile or desktop. The number of reactions that any post has received will sit underneath the post and users will be able to see who reacted and how.

The site will start rolling out the feature in Spain and Ireland, as a test. The countries have been chosen because they’re relatively closed groups and including Spain will allow the site to try out how the emoji work for non-English users, according to Techcrunch. 

 

 

 

 

 

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What did you just read?

It’s Google’s new purchased domain.

Now that Google is Alphabet, it's going to need some extra URLs to match its new identity.

But the company may be taking the quest for the perfect domain name a bit too far.

In addition to the ABC.xyz domain that Google showed off in August, it seems that it also recently acquired the domain for the entire alphabet.

That's right. Google is now the proud owner of the handy internet domain abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.com.

Google's new 26-letter URL was spotted in Whois records by DomainInvesting.com. The site noted that the URL was created in 1999 and was privately owned before being transferred to Google, though it's not clear how much Google paid for the URL.

"We realized we missed a few letters in abc.xyz, so we're just being thorough," a Google representative told us in an emailed statement.

Recode's Mark Bergen speculates that the purchase may have been defensive, to prevent the likes of Apple or Facebook getting their hands on it.

Clicking on the URL today leads to an inactive site, and we wouldn't expect that to change anytime soon. The internet address may be easy to remember, but it's not one that most people would relish typing.

 

 

 

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Microsoft stunned the world by launching its first ever laptop, the Microsoft Surface Book.

Over the past few years, Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) has said that its Surface tablets would replace traditional laptops, but now the company has a backup product -- just in case.

The Microsoft Surface Book looks like a MacBook at first glance, but how it works is much more interesting -- and intuitive.

Just like the Surface, the new Surface Book can be used as a full-powered laptop or as a tablet. You can also snap the display screen to the back of the keyboard so it acts like a clipboard, thanks to a unique mechanical hinge.

The Microsoft Surface Book has a special hinge that allows the screen to be undocked, or connected backwards as a clipboard. But the Surface Book isn't just another Surface tablet with a better keyboard.

The monitor contains the latest Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, and the keyboard base has a graphics processing unit (GPU) that boosts the laptop's performance. In addition, about three-fourths of the device's battery life is stored in the keyboard.

The keyboard base enhances the laptop's performance. The Surface Book is noticeably sturdy. The tablet portion of the laptop weighs 1.6 pounds, and the whole unit weighs about 3.5 pounds.

The 13.5-inch Surface Book will go on sale on October 26, with pre-orders starting Tuesday. A base model will cost $1,499. The Surface Book was just one of several Windows 10 products announced on Tuesday. Microsoft also launched a new Surface Pro and two Lumia smartphones.

The new Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has a bigger display -- 12.3 inches -- but is the same size as the Surface Pro 3. Microsoft also updated the accompanying keyboard to include a fingerprint reader, larger touchpad and a better keyboard.

The stylus also got an upgrade: It has a one-year battery life, magnetically attaches to the Pro 4 (and Surface Book), works with different pen tips and has a digital eraser on the other end.

 

 

The Lumia 950 and 950XL are basically like pocket-sized Windows 10 computers now: You can connect your phone to a monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Microsoft's goal is to "reinvent" products and "move people from needing Windows, to choosing Windows, to loving Windows," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. 

 

 

   

 

 

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Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal has given Twitter a big vote of confidence just months after suggesting CEO Jack Dorsey should step aside.

Alwaleed has increased its stake in Twitter over the last six weeks to 5.17%, making him the second biggest shareholder after former CEO and co-founder Evan Williams.

The announcement comes just days after Twitter (TWTR, Tech30) named Dorsey as its permanent CEO.

Alwaleed, one of the richest men in Saudi Arabia, bought a 3% stake in the company in 2011 before it went public in 2013. The current stake of 35 million shares is worth $1 billion, and includes 30 million shares owned directly by the prince and five million by his Kingdom Holding Company.

As recently as June, he was critical of Twitter management and spoke against Dorsey succeeding Dick Costolo when he stepped down as CEO. He told the Financial Times that Dorsey should focus on running his other company, Square. Twitter, he said, needed a new leader with extensive marketing experience.

Forbes ranks Alwaleed as the 34th richest person in the world. His other major investments have included Citigroup (C), as well as media companies like Time Warner (TWX) and Disney (DIS).

Despite being one of the earliest and biggest investors in Twitter, the prince is not an avid user. He has over 3 million followers, but has tweeted just 171 times since joining the network in 2013.

 

 

 

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The US Justice Department is set to release about 6,000 prisoners early in the largest one-time release of federal inmates, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The release, scheduled for between October 30 and November 2, is an effort to reduce overcrowding and provide relief to drug offenders who received harsh sentences over the past three decades, the newspaper said.

The inmates will be set free by the department's Bureau of Prisons. Most will go to halfway houses and home confinement before being put on supervised release, The Post said.

A Justice Department spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

The early release follows actions by the US Sentencing Commission, an independent agency that sets sentencing policies for federal crimes. The panel reduced the potential punishment for drug offenders last year and made the change retroactive.

The commission's action is separate from an effort by US President Barack Obama to grant clemency to some nonviolent drug offenders, an initiative that has resulted in the early release of 89 inmates.

The sentencing panel estimated that its change in guidelines could result in 46,000 of the roughly 100,000 drug offenders in federal prison qualifying for early release. The 6,000 figure is the first batch in that process, The Post said.

There are 206,000 inmates in federal prisons, up from about 25,000 in 1980, according to the Bureau of Prisons' website. There were a total of 1.56 million inmates in federal and state prisons at the end of 2014, according to Department of Justice figures.

The drumbeat for sentencing reform has come as US crime rates have drastically declined over the past two decades. US senators last week proposed a plan to reform criminal justice, aiming to scrap sentencing laws that lead to overcrowding.

The Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group, welcomed the move but said it was no substitute for a systemic makeover.

"Congress still needs to pass comprehensive criminal-justice reform," Michael Collins, the group's police manager, said in a statement.

 

 

 

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U.S. counter-terror officials have asked Toyota, the world’s second largest auto maker, to help them determine how ISIS has managed to acquire the large number of Toyota pick-up trucks and SUVs seen prominently in the terror group’s propaganda videos in Iraq, Syria and Libya, ABC News has learned.

Toyota says it does not know how ISIS obtained the vehicles and is “supporting” the inquiry led by the Terror Financing unit of the Treasury Department -- part of a broad U.S. effort to prevent Western-made goods from ending up in the hands of the terror group.

“We briefed Treasury on Toyota’s supply chains in the Middle East and the procedures that Toyota has in place to protect supply chain integrity,” said Ed Lewis, Toyota’s Washington-based director of public policy and communications.

Toyota has a “strict policy to not sell vehicles to potential purchasers who may use or modify them for paramilitary or terrorist activities,” Lewis said. He said it is impossible for the company to track vehicles that have been stolen, or have been bought and re-sold by middlemen.

Toyota Hilux pickups, an overseas model similar to the Toyota Tacoma, and Toyota Land Cruisers have become fixtures in videos of the ISIS campaign in Iraq, Syria and Libya, with their truck beds loaded with heavy weapons and cabs jammed with terrorists. The Iraqi Ambassador to the United States, Lukman Faily, told ABC News that in addition to re-purposing older trucks, his government believes ISIS has acquired “hundreds” of “brand new” Toyotas in recent years.

“This is a question we’ve been asking our neighbors,” Faily said. “How could these brand new trucks... these four wheel drives, hundreds of them -- where are they coming from?”

ISIS propaganda videos show gunmen patrolling Syrian streets in what appear to be older and newer model white Hilux pick-ups bearing the black caliphate seal and crossing Libya in long caravans of gleaming tan Toyota Land Cruisers. When ISIS soldiers paraded through the center of Raqqa, more than two-thirds of the vehicles were the familiar white Toyotas with the black emblems. There were small numbers of other brands including Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Isuzu.

“Regrettably, the Toyota Land Cruiser and Hilux have effectively become almost part of the ISIS brand,” said Mark Wallace, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, who is CEO of the Counter Extremism Project, a non-profit working to expose the financial support networks of terror groups.

“ISIS has used these vehicles in order to engage in military-type activities, terror activities, and the like,” Wallace told ABC News. “But in nearly every ISIS video, they show a fleet -- a convoy of Toyota vehicles and that’s very concerning to us.”

Toyota says many of the vehicles seen in ISIS videos are not recent models. “We have procedures in place to help ensure our products are not diverted for unauthorized military use,” said Lewis, the Toyota executive.

But, Lewis added, “It is impossible for Toyota to completely control indirect or illegal channels through which our vehicles could be misappropriated.”

Questions about the ISIS use of Toyota vehicles have circulated for years. In 2014, a report by the radio broadcaster Public Radio International noted that the U.S. State Department delivered 43 Toyota trucks to Syrian rebels. A more recent report in an Australian newspaper said that more than 800 of the trucks had been reported missing in Sydney between 2014 and 2015, and quoted terror experts speculating that they may have been exported to ISIS territory.

Attempts to track the path of the trucks into ISIS hands has proven complicated for U.S. and Iraqi officials.

Toyota’s own figures show sales of Hilux and Land Cruisers tripling from 6,000 sold in Iraq in 2011 to 18,000 sold in 2013, before sales dropped back to 13,000 in 2014.

Brigadier General Saad Maan, an Iraqi military spokesman, told ABC News he suspects that middlemen from outside Iraq have been smuggling the trucks into his country.

“We are spending our time to fight those terrorists so we cannot say we are controlling the border between Iraq and Syria,” he conceded. “We are deeply in need for answers.”

In a statement to ABC News, Toyota said it is not aware of any dealership selling to the terror group but “would immediately” take action if it did, including termination of the distribution agreement.

Toyota distributors in the region contacted by ABC News said they did not know how the trucks reached ISIS.

Sumitomo, a Japanese conglomerate that ships vehicles to the region, wrote to ABC News, “In terms of how anyone operating outside of the law obtain vehicles for misappropriation, we have no way to know and therefore cannot comment.”

A spokesman for former owners of the Toyota dealership in Syria said its sales operation was halted in 2012.

The former owners, a Saudi company called Abdul Latif Jameel, said it “made the decision to cease all trading activities in the country and fully divested the business in October, 2012,” according to a spokesperson.

Wallace, of the Counter Extremism Project, said his organization wrote directly to Toyota earlier this year to urge the company to do more to track the flow of trucks to ISIS, and noted that the trucks are stamped with traceable identification numbers.

“I don’t think Toyota’s trying to intentionally profit from it, but they are on notice now and they should do more,” Wallace said. “They should be able to figure it out... how are these trucks getting there. I think they should disclose that, put a stop to that, and put policies and procedures in places that are real and effective to make sure that we don’t see videos of ISIS using Toyota trucks in the future.”

 

 

 

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The 500 largest American companies hold more than $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore to avoid U.S. taxes and would collectively owe an estimated $620 billion in U.S. taxes if they repatriated the funds, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The study, by two left-leaning non-profit groups, found that nearly three-quarters of the firms on the Fortune 500 list of biggest American companies by gross revenue operate tax haven subsidiaries in countries like Bermuda, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

The Center for Tax Justice and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund used the companies' own financial filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission to reach their conclusions.

Technology firm Apple was holding $181.1 billion offshore, more than any other U.S. company, and would owe an estimated $59.2 billion in U.S. taxes if it tried to bring the money back to the United States from its three overseas tax havens, the study said.

The conglomerate General Electric has booked $119 billion offshore in 18 tax havens, software firm Microsoft is holding $108.3 billion in five tax haven subsidiaries and drug company Pfizer is holding $74 billion in 151 subsidiaries, the study said.

"At least 358 companies, nearly 72 percent of the Fortune 500, operate subsidiaries in tax haven jurisdictions as of the end of 2014," the study said. "All told these 358 companies maintain at least 7,622 tax haven subsidiaries."

Fortune 500 companies hold more than $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore to avoid taxes, with just 30 of the firms accounting for $1.4 trillion of that amount, or 65 percent, the study found.

Fifty-seven of the companies disclosed that they would expect to pay a combined $184.4 billion in additional U.S. taxes if their profits were not held offshore. Their filings indicated they were paying about 6 percent in taxes overseas, compared to a 35 percent U.S. corporate tax rate, it said.

"Congress can and should take strong action to prevent corporations from using offshore tax havens, which in turn would restore basic fairness to the tax system, reduce the deficit and improve the functioning of markets," the study concluded.

 

 

 

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The new CEO of McDonald's is making big changes to try to boost the chain's stagnant sales. His boldest move yet starts Tuesday: all-day breakfast.

McDonald's started testing all-day breakfast in a few places in March. To go nationwide, more than 14,300 restaurants in the U.S. needed to install separate griddles and train staff on how to handle breakfast orders simultaneously with lunch and dinner.

The roll out is further complicated by the fact that franchisees have been urging the company to cull the number of items they serve. The operators say the bloated menu makes it hard to run the restaurants and leads to longer wait times.

Still, McDonald's insists that franchisees supported the decision to serve pancakes and egg sandwiches all day long. U.S. stores account for about 40% of global profits at McDonald's. And profits are suffering -- down 9% last year.

McDonald's hopes it can stem the losses by getting new customers into its restaurants, while ensuring that loyal lunch and dinner customers don't opt for breakfast instead because those items generally cost less.

All-day breakfast is just one piece of CEO Steve Easterbrook plan for McDonald's. Since he took over in March, the company has taken steps to improve food quality. It now requires chicken suppliers to reduce the use of antibiotics and started using real butter instead of liquid margarine.

McDonald's has also been advertising the "Premium Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Deluxe Sandwich," made with 100% chicken breast meat and real buttermilk and no artificial flavors.

But the biggest boost for sales will likely be all-day breakfast. RBC analyst David Palmer believes it will boost sales by 4%.

"McDonald's U.S. business wants and needs a win," said Palmer. "All-day breakfast is a start but the company needs to build on it.''

  

 

 

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As part of its Internet.org initiative, Facebook is partnering with France's Eutelsat Communications to use satellite technology to make Internet accessible to more users in Africa.

Eutelsat press release said: "Under a multi-year agreement with Spacecom, the two companies will utilize the entire broadband payload on the future AMOS-6 satellite and will build a dedicated system comprising satellite capacity, gateways and terminals.

The project is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2016 and will cover west, east and southern Africa. Internet via satellite is one of the many ways which Facebook is exploring to make the Internet reach more users under its controversial Internet.org initiative.

"We believe that satellites will play an important role in addressing the significant barriers that exist in connecting the people of Africa," said Chris Daniels, VP of Internet.org.

Facebook is also testing a solar-powered drone with a wingspan as big as a Boeing 737 that will use lasers to send Internet signals to stations on the ground.

The project is part of a broader Facebook effort that also contemplates using satellites and other high-tech gear to deliver Internet service to hundreds of millions of people living in regions too remote for conventional broadband networks.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged Facebook's business will benefit in the long run if more people gain Internet access, but he says the effort isn't driven by profit-seeking. Instead, he has said it's based on the conviction that Internet service can bring a variety of economic and social benefits to developing nations.

 

 

 

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Struggling clothing company American Apparel (APP) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday.

The publicly traded company listed numerous creditors in its filing, with investment firm Standard General L.P. having the largest unsecured claim at $15 million.

The move is far from a surprise: American Apparel said in August it had "substantial doubt" that it would stay in business.

The clothing maker had been in the middle of a turnaround effort that included store closings and some layoffs. The company also faced several lawsuits from ousted CEO Dov Charney.

Charney was fired last year from the company he founded amid allegations of mismanagement and sexual harassment. Charney and his associates have retaliated with about 20 lawsuits and "administrative actions," according to the firm.

Charney founded American Apparel in 1998, building an operation that was famous for its sex-infused advertising campaigns and unorthodox business practices.

On Wall Street, the company's stock has dropped to penny stock status as losses increase. The attorney representing American Apparel, Laura Davis Jones, could not be reached for comment.

 

 

 

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The number of people living in extreme poverty is likely to fall for the first time below 10 percent of the world's population in 2015, the World Bank said on Sunday as it revised its benchmark for measuring the problem.

Extreme poverty has long been defined as living on or below $1.25 a day, but the World Bank's adjustment now sets the poverty line at $1.90 a day.

The Bank said the change reflects new data on differences in the cost of living across countries, while preserving the real purchasing power of the previous yardstick.

Using the new benchmark, the World Bank projects that 702 million people or 9.6 percent of the world's population will be living in extreme poverty in 2015, down from 902 million people or 12.8 percent of the global population in 2012.

The global development lender attributed the continued fall in poverty to strong economic growth rates in emerging markets, particularly India, and investments in education, health, and social safety nets.

"... these projections show us that we are the first generation in human history that can end extreme poverty," World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement.

However, he warned that slower global growth, volatile financial markets, conflicts, high youth unemployment and the impact of climate change were obstacles to meeting a U.N. target to end poverty by 2030, part of a new set of development goals adopted by 193 countries at the United Nations last month.

"But it remains within our grasp, as long as our high aspirations are matched by country-led plans that help the still millions of people living in extreme poverty," Kim added.

According to the Bank, around half of those living in extreme poverty by 2020 will hail from hard-to-reach fragile and conflict-affected states. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for some half of the global poor.

Expects said the prospect of emerging economies losing steam could challenge promises to eradicate extreme poverty.

"If economic growth of the developing world over the last 15 years was an anomaly, was a blip, then we're in trouble," said Laurence Chandy, a fellow at the Brookings Institution whose research focuses on global poverty.

"If instead it's a kind new normal then we've got a good chance of getting close to this goal," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The World Bank first introduced a global poverty line in 1990, setting it at $1 a day. It was adjusted last in 2008, when the group raised it to $1.25 a day.

Across the planet, the number of people living in extreme poverty has dropped by more than half since 1990, when 1.9 billion people lived under $1.25 a day, compared to 836 million in 2015, according to the United Nations.

This follows the adoption in 2000 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which included the eradication of extreme poverty.

Replacing the MDGs are the Sustainable Development Goals, a set of 17 goals to combat poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030 - with ending extreme poverty for all people everywhere, a key target.

 

 

 

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