| Greetings, QuickTake readers! In this edition: Trump makes $765 million deal with Kodak, Virgin Galactic shows off spaceship cabin, and when you can expect Biden to announce his VP pick.  Barr's heated Judiciary testimony Attorney General William Barr offered a full-throated defense on Tuesday of the aggressive federal response to protests around the country and denied he has politicized the Justice Department during his tenure. Testifying before the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee for the first time since he took office, Barr sought to justify the use of force on protesters in front of the White House in June and in Portland, Oregon. "In the wake of George Floyd's death, violent rioters and anarchists have hijacked legitimate protests to wreak senseless havoc and destruction on innocent victims," Barr said. Democratic Rep. David Cicilline countered that Barr was trying to diminish protesters' democratic rights "for the sole purpose of generating footage for Trump campaign commercials." Barr also denied Chairman Jerry Nadler's assertion that he had "aided and abetted" Trump's worst impulses and "twisted the DOJ into a shadow of its former self" by attempting "to secure favors for the president." Among his most controversial decisions cheered on by Trump in recent months, Barr recommended a more lenient sentence for Roger Stone and dropped the prosecution of ex-Trump adviser Michael Flynn. "I agree the president's friends don't deserve special breaks, but they also don't deserve to be treated more harshly than other people," he said. Later, Barr echoed Trump's claims that mail-in voting is susceptible to fraud. When asked if it's ever appropriate for a president to accept foreign assistance in an election, Barr replied, "it depends on the assistance." $ignificant figures 12. Former Malaysian PM Najib Razak was sentenced to that many years in jail and fined $49.4 million after he was found guilty on all seven charges in a case linked to the 1MDB scandal. 186. Florida reported a record number of new deaths Tuesday, bringing the total to 6,117. Hospitalizations also rose by a record 585 to a cumulative 24,917, the health department said. $765 million. Trump said the government is giving Kodak a loan worth that much to launch Kodak Pharmaceuticals that will help produce key ingredients in generic medicines to fight Covid-19 in the U.S. Highly quotable "I'm going to have a choice the first week in August." Joe Biden said Tuesday he'll announce his pick for a vice presidential running mate next week in a speech outlining his economic agenda to fight racial inequality. "We'll make sure hajj ends with zero cases." Organizers are pandemic-proofing this year's pilgrimage to Mecca by allowing in a maximum of only 10,000 people, who have been tested and are self-isolating in hotel rooms. "It violates our rules on sharing misinformation on Covid-19." Twitter temporarily suspended Donald Trump Jr.'s account for posting a video of people touting the drug hydroxychloroquine as an effective treatment. This is not normal Death sentence. Despite longstanding protection efforts, Cameroon's Ebo Forest will open up to logging, which conservationists say could wipe out a rare population of endangered lowland gorillas and tool-wielding chimps.  The future is now Atmosphere ambience. Virgin Galactic unveiled its SpaceShipTwo cabin interior that has 12 windows for riders to gaze at Earth and was specifically designed to let customers experience out-of-seat weightlessness.  What's good Bridging the tech gap. A Nepalese tech firm is repurposing its fleet of waiter and chat robots to build ventilators and nursing assistants in Kathmandu to deliver supplies to the most remote parts of the world.  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: The limited-edition baseball card of Anthony Fauci throwing the first pitch at the MLB opener has become Topps Now's bestselling card ever. Thanks for reading!
-Andrew Mach | 
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