| Greetings, QuickTake readers! In this edition: NASCAR drivers back Bubba Wallace after noose found, Apple unveils iOS 14 updates to iPhone and Apple Watch, and how TikTok foiled Trump's Tulsa rally.  Trump orders freeze on work visas President Trump ordered a ban on new green cards and work visas through the end of the year on Monday, in a move the White House said would protect U.S. workers reeling from job losses amid the pandemic. "Under the extraordinary economic contraction from the Covid-19 outbreak, certain nonimmigrant visa programs pose an unusual threat to the employment of American workers," Trump proclaimed. The order freezes new H1-B and H-4 visas, used by technology workers, L visas for intracompany transfers, and most J visas for work- and study-abroad programs. It also pauses some H2-B visas, used by seasonal workers. It won't affect immigrant workers already holding those visas. As the U.S. faces a 13.3% unemployment rate, the White House said the order will prevent foreign workers from filling 525,000 jobs. Critics accused the Trump administration of exploiting the pandemic to curb immigration, and tech industry leaders said it'd deal a lasting blow to the economy. "Making it more difficult for bright minds to work in the U.S. only benefits our competitors abroad who will attract their talents to build and develop cutting-edge, job-creating goods and services," a tech trade group said. Twitter and Amazon called the order "short-sighted," saying immigrant tech labor could speed U.S. economic recovery from the pandemic. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted he was "disappointed" and that "we'll continue to stand with immigrants and work to expand opportunity for all." $ignificant figures 183,000. The WHO reported the biggest single-day increase of Covid-19 cases globally over 24 hours on Sunday, including 54,771 new infections in Brazil, 36,617 in the U.S., and 15,400 in India. 2,000%. Siri will come equipped with 20 times more facts in iOS 14, Apple said, unveiling the update that adds a new iPhone home screen, an Apple Watch hand-washing tracker, and EV routes and bike directions in Maps. 2 million. How many people traditionally take part in the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which will go on this year, but only for "very limited numbers of people" due to coronavirus, Saudi Arabia said. Highly quotable "Please quarantine politicizing Covid." The WHO warned that using the pandemic for political gain will only result in "more body bags," telling world leaders that the greatest threat now is the "lack of global solidarity." "We will rid this type of behavior from our sport." The FBI is probing the discovery of a noose found in the Talladega Superspeedway garage stall of Bubba Wallace, NASCAR's only black full-time driver. "Any suggestion testing has been curtailed is not fact." White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump was joking when he said at the Tulsa rally, "I said to my people, slow the testing down please." This is not normal Scorching. Verkhoyansk, a Siberian town located above the Arctic Circle with the world's widest temperature range, hit a new high of 3°C (100.4°F) amid a heatwave that's contributing to severe forest fires.  The future is now Turnout prank. TikTok users and K-pop fans say they tricked the Trump campaign by getting users to reserve tickets to his Tulsa rally—and not show up—resulting in a crowd of only 6,000 out of an expected 1 million.  What's good A song for saplings. Barcelona's El Liceu opera house reopened and staged a concert for its first audience in three months: 2,292 plants—in a show created by artist Eugenio Ampudia as a prelude to its new season.  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: A "Godzilla dust cloud" from the Sahara Desert is blanketing the Caribbean some 5,000 miles away and ruining air quality. See it in motion. We want to know: What have you been up to during the Covid-19 lockdown? Share your photos and videos, wherever you are, here. Thanks for reading!
-Andrew Mach | 
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