| Greetings, QuickTake readers! In this edition: China races to control new virus outbreak, NYPD disbands anti-crime unit, and tons of microplastic is raining down on U.S. national parks.  SCOTUS protects LGBTQ workers The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Monday that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects gay and transgender workers from job discrimination in a landmark decision that grants new freedoms to millions of LGBTQ people. "In Title VII, Congress adopted broad language making it illegal for an employer to rely on an employee's sex when deciding to fire that employee," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion. "An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law." Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented. The ruling extends protections to more than half of the country's 8.1 million LGBTQ workers who live in states that don't protect them from discrimination—but there's a glaring loophole: It doesn't apply to small businesses that employ as many as one in six Americans. Still, it's a defeat for the Trump administration, which argued that Congress didn't intend to cover sexual orientation or gender identity when it enacted the law. On Monday, President Trump said he accepted the "very powerful" outcome, saying "some people were surprised, but they've ruled and we live with their decision." Joe Biden praised the ruling, calling it "another step in our march toward equality for all." $ignificant figures 100. China is racing to control a new coronavirus outbreak of that many infections, providing the biggest test yet of the country's containment strategy since the virus first emerged in Wuhan. 600. The NYPD said it will disband its anti-crime unit, reassigning that many plainclothes officers to community policing, detective work, and other parts of the force, Commissioner Dermot Shea announced Monday. $17 billion. The valuation of Fortnite-developer Epic Games, which also acquired networking app Houseparty, after the company secured a $750-million round of funding. Highly quotable "Nowhere near some kind of second wave." Larry Kudlow said he won't deny some states are "seeing bumps" in Covid-19 cases but added they're "manageable and to some extent to be expected." "I can never get my husband back." Tomika Miller, the widow of Rayshard Brooks who was killed by Atlanta police at a Wendy's drive-thru, pleaded for changes to the criminal justice system to prevent such deaths. "There will never be a truly perfect vaccine." The FDA would consider a Covid-19 shot that prevents symptoms but doesn't stop infections. U.S. regulators, meanwhile, revoked the emergency use of hydroxychloroquine, saying its unproven benefits "do not outweigh known and potential risks." This is not normal Plastic rain. More than 1,000 metric tons of microplastics, equivalent to the weight up to 300 million plastic water bottles, fall on U.S. national parks and protected wilderness each year, new research says.  The future is now Interstellar view. For the first time, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has captured pictures of the sky from 4.3 billion miles away—so far that some stars appear in different positions than we'd see from Earth.  What's good Kung Fu secrets. 96-year-old Ip Chun, 96, the eldest son of Wing Chun master Ip Man, says the key to longevity and his levelheaded personality lies in the martial arts principle of "using gentleness to subdue power."  Now that you're caught up... Tell your friends to sign up to receive our newsletter five days a week. Follow QuickTake on Twitter , YouTube , Instagram, and Facebook . BTW: Uniqlo is rolling out a line of reusable masks as retailers adapt to Covid-19 life. See the details. We want to know: What have you been up to during the Covid-19 lockdown? Share your photos and videos, wherever you are. Submit here. Thanks for reading!
-Andrew Mach | 
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