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The US will suspend green cards for 60 days. President Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order banning the issuance of new permanent residency visas. The government can still approve visas for temporary workers, plus “essential” employees.
The Senate unanimously backed a $484 billion relief package. The latest massive cash injection will top up an earlier program that helps small businesses, but is running out of funds. The House will vote on the bill this week, most likely on Thursday.
Trump jumped on the anti-Harvard bandwagon. He claimed the elite university would pay back the $8.6 million it received. Trump attributed the source of the funds to the cash-strapped relief package for small businesses, rather than separate money for higher-ed institutions.
Some of China’s early coronavirus patients are still testing positive. Doctors in Wuhan say that’s happening to a growing number of people after they recovered from Covid-19. It might reflect testing issues, but if not, it could complicate global efforts to lift lockdown measures.
Facebook made a huge investment in India. The social media giant bought a 9.99% stake in Reliance Jio, India’s biggest telco, for $5.7 billion. Facebook is looking to ramp up collaboration between WhatsApp and JioMart, Reliance’s e-commerce platform.
Millions embraced Pandemic and Chill. Netflix added 16 million new subscribers in the first quarter—double its forecast—thanks to global lockdown measures. Separately, Snapchat posted a surprising growth in active users, which sent its stock price surging in after-hours trading.
A majeure let-down
Force majeure. It sounds like an artistic technique—a foil to deus ex machina, for instance, or the technical name for the final movement of a great symphony. In fact, it’s an obscure legal term that does indeed denote something dramatic: “an event (as war, labor strike, or extreme weather) or effect that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled,” according to Merriam-Webster.
Sometimes referred to as “an Act of God,” these clauses have often historically applied to natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes, though looser definitions have sometimes found merit with courts. Now, with businesses facing some of their worst losses in years, many are wondering whether coronavirus might also fit the bill.
Learn more about disturbances in the force majeure with Quartz’s free Coronavirus: Need to Know newsletter.
Charting the US immigration slowdown
Even before Trump’s tweet announcing his intent to sign an executive order to “suspend immigration,” immigrants were already leaving the US.
The country’s foreign-born population shrank 5% in March 2020, according to US Census Bureau data. It was the largest one-month decline since June 2001, and helped push the US foreign-born population down to 2017 levels—right after Trump signed an executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.
For Quartz members
- Hungry for new connections: The coronavirus crisis has upended the US food system and provided a moment for local food companies to connect with new customers.
- Greece is no stranger to crisis: Athens delivery workers represent one of the few constants in an otherwise uncertain and uneasy climate.
- Forget everything you know: If you want to trap all your current memories in a memory palace and then somehow forget them all at once, try this.
We’re obsessed with softboys
What makes a softboy so tender? He’s sweet-natured, in touch with his feelings, and feels no shame about crying during Little Women (or maybe he even stars in Little Women). He’s not new. But perhaps he reflects Gen Z’s ease with the concept of gender fluidity. Brush the gentle tear from your cheek—it’s the Quartz Daily Obsession.
Surprising discoveries
Cows are getting face masks too—but not for coronavirus. The coverings reduce up to 60% of damaging methane gas.
Adding the word “Covid-19” to the dictionary only took six weeks. The addition was made in record time for the Merriam-Webster team—it normally takes three years or longer.
Kansas City just changed the world. With the push of a button at a vending machine, hungry customers can get chicken wings, rib tips, and other BBQ fare.
One US research ship was built to turn 90 degrees on its head. The “floors are walls and the walls are floors” in the aptly named FLIP vessel, which monitors undersea soundwaves.
Anyone can profit from falling oil prices. You just need a few million to buy a tanker and some oil, and figure out how to put the two together.
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