U.S. markets closed

  • S&P Futures

    4,128.75
    +1.00 (+0.02%)
     

  • Dow Futures

    33,705.00
    -4.00 (-0.01%)
     

  • Nasdaq Futures

    13,753.50
    +3.25 (+0.02%)
     

  • Russell 2000 Futures

    2,236.50
    +8.20 (+0.37%)
     

  • Crude Oil

    61.79
    +0.36 (+0.59%)
     

  • Gold

    1,783.40
    +1.40 (+0.08%)
     

  • Silver

    26.14
    -0.04 (-0.15%)
     

  • EUR/USD

    1.2021
    +0.0003 (+0.02%)
     

  • 10-Yr Bond

    1.5540
    -0.0100 (-0.64%)
     

  • Vix

    18.71
    +1.21 (+6.91%)
     

  • GBP/USD

    1.3843
    -0.0000 (-0.00%)
     

  • USD/JPY

    107.9070
    -0.0530 (-0.05%)
     

  • BTC-USD

    51,900.79
    -1,794.68 (-3.34%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,196.48
    -46.57 (-3.75%)
     

  • FTSE 100

    6,938.24
    +42.95 (+0.62%)
     

  • Nikkei 225

    29,188.17
    0.00 (0.00%)
     

'Call of Duty: Warzone' season 3 update takes Verdansk to 1984

Igor Bonifacic
·Contributing Writer
·1 min read

Season three of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone kicks off today. Series publisher Activision is billing the update as the franchise’s “most ambitious free content offering” to date, and there might just be something to that claim. Over in Black Ops Cold War multiplayer, fans will find two new 12 player maps called Yamantau and Diesel to check out today, with an updated version of Standoff from Black Ops 2 to follow later in the season. The update also adds four new operators — including everyone’s favorite COD character, Captain Price — as well as a handful of additional weapons. Fans of the game’s Outbreak mode can look forward to a new region and more vehicles.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War season three
Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War season three

But by far the biggest change comes to Warzone, Call of Duty’s standalone battle royale offering. Following multiple in-game events that culminated with a nuke blowing up Verdansk, the map is back with a new 1984 twist. Developer Raven Software tweaked nearly every element of the map, including most of the buildings, surfaces and objects to make them fit the new theme. Of course, that means Warzone players are in for another big download, with the latest patch coming in at about 25GB. You can read a full breakdown of what’s on offer with season three over on the official Call of Duty website.

Recommended Stories

  • Internal Facebook report finds the company bungled its 'Stop the Steal' response

    Facebook missed several opportunities to crack down on the “Stop the Steal” movement that fueled the Jan. 6, insurrection at the U.S Capitol, according to an internal report obtained by BuzzFeed News.

  • 'Call of Duty' DLSS upgrades promise a big boost to 4K gaming

    Updates to 'Call of Duty' for 'Warzone' and 'Modern Warfare' now support NVIDIA's DLSS, promising up to much higher frame rates in 4K.

  • Foxconn drastically scales back plans for $10 billion Wisconsin factory

    After promising 13,000 new jobs in the state, Foxconn will only create 1,454 positions.

  • Google’s Fi wireless service gets a new, cheaper unlimited plan

    Google’s Fi wireless service has always been a niche option that best served owners of Google Pixels, but today the search giant is adding a more affordable unlimited data plan in hopes of making Fi more palatable to the masses.

  • Vikings WR Justin Jefferson talks about Kirk Cousins hot mic moment

    Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson addressed the moment he had with Kirk Cousins during the Chicago Bears game.

  • Twitch is adding threaded replies to chat

    In an effort to make all of that chaos more manageable, Twitch is introducing threaded conversations.

  • YouTuber attacks critics of her poetry book 3 years after its release: 'What a loser'

    Social media users criticized the poetry to the point it became a meme. The post Gabbie Hanna ignites drama among YouTube community over her 2017 poetry book appeared first on In The Know.

  • 'Resident Evil 4' comes out on Oculus Quest 2 this year

    As promised, Oculus had new details to share about the upcoming VR remaster of Resident Evil 4.

  • Venezuela’s Guaido Taps $152 Million of Frozen Funds in the U.S.

    (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido plans to make the biggest one-time withdrawal from offshore accounts frozen by U.S. sanctions to purchase Covid-19 vaccines as well as pay wages, legal fees and expenses.Guaido approved the release of $152 million, of which about $100 million will be used to buy vaccines through the World Health Organization-backed Covax initiative or other organizations, according to a budget report approved by the National Assembly. Another $23 million will go to what was termed “defending democracy,” along with $2.3 million in advising, security and travel costs for his inner circle with no details disclosed on a payment to Guaido, if any.While Guaido approved more than $150 million in expenses, it’s possible that it won’t all be used. His press official did not immediately respond to requests seeking details on payments.The funds frozen by U.S. sanctions had been held by Citibank in an account of Venezuela’s central bank and were moved to an account at the U.S. Federal Reserve in April 2020 at the request of the opposition-led National Assembly.Guaido can use the money because he’s recognized by the U.S. as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, with the authorization Venezuela’s National Assembly and U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The latest allocation will leave roughly $97 million in the account, less than a third of the original $342 million made accessible to the opposition since it began to withdraw funds in 2020.The U.S. and more than 50 countries in 2019 recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader following sham presidential elections a year earlier.Read more: Long Spared, Venezuela Sees Carnival Covid Spike But Hides TollSince then, Guaido’s popularity has plummeted as his quest to oust President Nicolas Maduro has stalled. Popular support for Guaido among Venezuelan stands at 15%, down from a 61% peak in February 2019, according to Caracas-based pollster Datanalisis. Just 11% support Maduro.With less than a million vaccines from China and Russia, Venezuela has one of the lowest vaccination rates of the region. A second wave has seen cases jump in recent weeks, overwhelming an already broken public health system. Maduro recently sidelined a bilateral health agreement struck with the opposition to make a $120 million payment to Covax without disclosing its origins, saying he won’t “be turned into a beggar.”As the opposition racks up legal fees to keep the nation’s gold held in the Bank of England out of Maduro’s hands and prevent the sale Citgo Petroleum Corp’s shares, about $4.8 million will go to legal counseling. The opposition’s parallel assembly, which has been declared null by Maduro’s government and has issued largely symbolic decrees since 2016, will receive $7.5 million.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Netflix recruits the Hype House's TikTok megastars for a reality show

    Imagine 'The Real World' with social media influencers who already know each other.

  • Signal hacked Cellebrite's phone hacking software used by law enforcement

    After the cellphone hacking company Cellebrite said it had figured out a way to access the secure messaging app Signal, Signal said that it's turning the tables.

  • Apple's new AirTags are as simple as they should be

    If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I. Lose. Everything. That character flaw, in tandem with a complete inability to see things smack in front of my face sometimes, means I’m perhaps the perfect person to try out Apple’s new AirTags. Good thing, then, that Apple sent along a few to test — along with a purple iPhone 12 running the new (and required) iOS 14.5 update.

  • CD Projekt plans dividend after Cyberpunk 2077 sales neared 14 million last year

    GDANSK (Reuters) -Polish video games maker CD Projekt on Thursday said it had sold 13.7 million copies of its flagship Cyberpunk 2077 game last year despite a bug-ridden launch, and will pay a dividend of 5 zlotys per share after record high 2020 sales and profits. With a budget of 1.2 billion zlotys ($316.19 million), Cyberpunk 2077 was CD Projekt's most-anticipated game since 2015's "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" but it has been delisted from Sony's PlayStation Store since shortly after December's problematic launch. Once an investor darling, CD Projekt has lost about 50% of its market value since December amid the Cyberpunk problems and is now valued at around 17.4 billion zlotys.

  • President Biden's Tax Proposal Targets Big Tech's $100B Overseas Profit: Bloomberg

    President Joe Biden’s tax boost proposals under his infrastructure bill have targeted technology giants like Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon.Com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB), Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), who had reported over $100 billion in non-U.S. profits in their last fiscal years, Bloomberg reports. The tech industry prefers to stash profits at low-tax offshore jurisdictions due to easier mobility of their main assets like software code, patents, and other intellectual property compared to factories and other physical assets. The addition of extra deductions and other benefits to Donald Trump’s 2017 tax plan diluted its attempt to recover taxes from overseas profits. However, Biden’s law will further intensify the country’s friction with the tech companies over misinformation and antitrust investigations. Amazon Chair, Jeff Bezos, has endorsed higher corporate taxes. Intel’s Pat Gelsinger panned Biden’s plan. Trump’s 2017 global intangible low-taxed income (Gilti) targeted non-U.S. profits from intangible assets. Biden plans to double the Gilti tax rate to 21% from 10.5% and restrict foreign tax credits. It could increase corporate tax bills by almost $300 billion over a decade, with most of the burden falling on the tech sector. Microsoft’s annual Gilti tax bill could more than double to $2 billion. Microsoft generated 86% of its foreign pretax income from Ireland and Puerto Rico operations in 2020, which have lower corporate tax rates than the U.S. The 2017 tax law also allowed a tax deduction for overseas intangible income (FDII) to encourage the companies to retain their intangible assets at home country. Google’s share of domestic income rose after it began licensing intellectual property in the U.S. in 2019. Facebook followed suit. However, Biden FDII’s annulment proposal would raise the tax bills of tech companies. Amazon claimed $500 million in total FDII deductions in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Biden also proposed a 15% minimum book tax on high-profit organizations that escape taxes via research and development, foreign credits, and stock-based compensation. Google, Amazon, and Apple’s tax bills would be higher by $847 million, $1.2 billion, and $3.8 billion, respectively, if Biden’s book tax existed in 2020. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also represents several countries outside the U.S. over similar tax concerns. The OECD sought to replace the digital services taxes to procure higher revenue from companies like Google and Facebook. However, Amazon is escaping on the pretext of its thin margins. See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaApple, Google Face Antitrust Charges At Senate Hearing: WSJDOJ Forms Task Force To Curb Ransomware Attack: WSJ© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  • Rupee Fall Is Hurting Bonds Now Among Asia’s Worst: India Credit

    (Bloomberg) -- A slide in the rupee is exacerbating a slump in Indian corporate dollar notes that are now among the worst performers in Asia, just as concerns mount that companies are hedging less.The securities have lost about 0.1% in April, worse than a 0.4% gain for a broader Asian dollar bond gauge, according to a Bloomberg Barclays indexes. All the other countries in Asia have posted positive returns, except China which lost about 0.4% after the stumble by China Huarong Asset Management Co.The weaker rupee pushes up servicing costs on foreign debt. The currency has plunged about 2.4% against the dollar this month, making it Asia’s worst-performer. Spiking Covid-19 cases threaten to worsen the selloffAbout 5 out of 10 Indian firms hedge their foreign borrowings in India as compared to about 8 several years ago before the RBI eased rules on hedging, said Samir Lodha, chief executive officer at QuantArt Market Solutions, a Mumbai-based advisory firm. “The drop in the rupee this month may prompt more local companies with foreign borrowings to consider at least some low-cost hedging.”Primary Market -- Foreign Borrowings SlowThe weaker rupee is also making borrowers hesitate to tap what would otherwise be some of the lowest borrowing costs ever in the dollar bond market. Just one Indian company has settled a note this month: a $585 million deal from ReNew Power. That leaves issuance set for the lowest in six monthsLocal firms have also shunned foreign-currency loans in April after borrowings of $7.2 billion in the previous quarter“Most corporates will definitely pause their plans to issue fresh foreign-currency debt as they wait for the rupee to stabilize,” said Abhishek Goenka, founder of IFA Global, a Mumbai-based advisory firm. “Pandemic-induced currency volatility is making it difficult for borrowers to assess their foreign debt costs.”Firms may be turning more to the local credit market, even though there have been fresh obstacles there tooThey sold 47.6 billion rupees of bonds this week and still plan as much as 80.5 billion rupees more. If all those sales go through, that would be higher than in the previous two weeks combinedStill, offerings have fallen to 139.9 billion rupees ($1.9 billion) this month, the slowest start to a financial year since 2014. That’s due in part to rules that took effect April 1 strengthening the role of trustees for secured bonds backed by assetsSecondary Market -- Sovereign Rating ConcernsThe latest wave of coronavirus infections is also bad for India’s sovereign rating. The country has the lowest investment-grade score with a negative outlook at Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings“We expect a repeat of 2020’s sudden crash in economic activity in the coming months,” said Timothy Wee Lee Tan and Jason Lee, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts. “With a downgraded GDP growth outlook for FY22, India’s debt burden will be higher than the current IMF forecast, implying an elevated risk of ratings falling into speculative grade.”Any official gross domestic product downgrade may lead to pre-emptive widening of the option-adjusted spread for Indian dollar credits, with an actual offshore sovereign rating downgrade likely to push premiums up to 90 basis points wider to trade closer to Brazil and South Africa, according to Bloomberg IntelligenceDistressed Debt - ARC Rules Under ReviewReserve Bank of India formed a six-member panel Monday to review rules for Asset Reconstruction Companies or ARCs, which help India’s banking system deal with one of the world’s worst bad loan ratios among major economiesARCs have been in the spotlight in recent weeks:Mar. 18: India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs is investigating allegations of financial irregularities at the asset reconstruction arm of Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd., according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Edelweiss said it hasn’t received any intimation of any inspection by the ministryMar. 14: India’s central bank has rejected Yes Bank Ltd.’s proposal to set up an ARC for acquiring bad loans on conflict of interest concerns, Mint reported citing people it didn’t identifyMeanwhile, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services, whose default in 2018 triggered a prolonged credit crisis in the country, plans to resolve 500 billion rupees ($6.6 billion) of its debt by the end of September, Chairman Uday Kotak said last week. Investors are closely watching the debt resolution as a test case for group insolvencyKotak, who is heading the IL&FS board after government seized control of the shadow lender in 2018, expects to resolve about 62% of its 1 trillion rupees of debtAnother group facing challenges in servicing its debt is Future Group. The Indian supermarket-operator Future Retail Ltd. approved a debt resolution plan that eases some immediate concerns as a legal battle with partner Amazon.com Inc. threatens to delay an asset sale to Reliance Industries Ltd. India’s top court scheduled a final hearing in the matter to May 4Best and Worst Performing Corporate Dollar Bonds Last 12 MonthsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Replay: “The Future of Security” with CEOs of Evolv Technology & NewHold Investment

    Metal detectors and security checks may soon be a thing of the past. Evolv Technology, an AI security screening company, already uses its platform at amusement parks, concert halls and stadiums across the country to provide safety for large crowds. IPO Edge and The Palm Beach Hedge Fund Association hosted fireside chat with Evolv Technology and special […]

  • CN Rail kicks off regulatory approval process for $30 billion Kansas bid

    Canadian National had informed the STB, which oversees freight rail service and rates in the United States, that it plans to file an application, seeking permission to combine with Kansas City Southern, the company said. The notice commences a regulatory process should Kansas City Southern accept Canadian National's offer, it added. The company's offer trumps a $25 billion bid made by rival Canadian Pacific for Kansas City Southern in March.

  • Philippines Raises 2.1 Billion Euros in Three-Part Bond Sale

    (Bloomberg) -- The Philippines returned to the euro bond market for the first time in more than a year on Wednesday, raising 2.1 billion euros ($2.5 billion).The nation tapped low interest rates in the euro bond market with a three-part note offering. Proceeds from the issuance will be used in part for the nation’s budget, as the Philippines tackles the economic fallout from the pandemic.The Philippines has the highest number of active coronavirus cases in Southeast Asia, and a recent surge in infections is overwhelming hospitals and dimming economic outlook. Philippines Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said earlier this month the government plans to sell dollar bonds too before interest rates rise. The latest borrowing came less than a month after the nation raised 55 billion yen ($509 million) in the Samurai bond market.The government sold 650 million euros of four-year notes at 75 basis points over mid swaps. See here for additional details.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Chip supply shortage may hurt cigarette makers

    Cigarette giant Philip Morris is keeping a close eye on whether the yawning semiconductor shortage will impact its fast-selling electronic heat-not-burn product called IQOS, which houses a microchip.

  • Malaysia Sells World’s 1st Sovereign Dollar Sustainability Sukuk

    (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia became the first country to sell a dollar Sukuk linked to sustainable activities, adding to a growing number of issuers turning to debt financing for environmental and social projects.The Southeast Asian country priced $800 million of 10-year sustainability Islamic finance notes on Wednesday, Malaysia’s finance ministry said. The deal also included a $500 million 30-year tranche. The offering was oversubscribed by 6.4 times.Sustainable debt issuance rose 29% last year to a record $732 billion, according to figures from BloombergNEF. Indonesia sold green debt that complies with religious principles in 2018, making it the first country in the world to issue such securities, according to a United Nations Development Programme report.“Demand for ESG or sustainability-linked bonds continues to gain traction while there is still a limited supply” of such issuance from Southeast Asia, said Winson Phoon, head of fixed-income research at Maybank Kim Eng Securities in Singapore. “Adding the sustainability label helps widen further the investor base.”Spreads on both parts of the deal tightened during marketing, and the sustainability Sukuk sold at 50 basis points over Treasuries compared with initial price guidance of around 90 basis points. The deal resulted in the lowest-ever yield and spread for a U.S.-dollar Sukuk issuance by Malaysia, the finance ministry said.Malaysia is an infrequent issuer in overseas bond markets, last selling dollar debt in 2016. Its existing U.S. currency notes have a longer duration than Asian credit more broadly, which made them vulnerable to a selloff last quarter as yields spiked. They’ve since recouped some losses as interest rates retreated.Like governments around the globe, Malaysia has been tackling the impact of the pandemic, and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin unveiled a 20 billion ringgit ($4.9 billion) stimulus package last month that included discounts on power bills, tax breaks and cash aid to the poor.Malaysia’s gross domestic product may expand 6% to 7.5% in 2021, its central bank said last month. That’s potentially slower than its earlier projection of 6.5%-7.5% growth, but still ahead of many of its neighbors.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.