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Putin critic Alexei Navalny "poisoned" in Russia, aide says

Aug. 20, 2020 04:34AM EST
 Dan Ackermann

Alexei Navalny, a prominent Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption lawyer, is in a Russia hospital after being poisoned with a toxin believed to have been mixed in his tea, his press secretary Kira Yarmash tweeted late Monday.

Why it matters: Navalny is the face of Russia's domestic opposition to President Vladimir Putin and has been jailed dozens of times as a result of his activism. Navalny was hospitalized in July after his doctor said he was poisoned with "undefined chemical substances." Yarmash said he felt ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow and the plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, where he was taken to hospital, per a Twitter translation.

Editor's note: This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.

Why the startup world needs to ditch "unicorns" for "dragons"

When Aileen Lee originally coined the term "unicorn" in late 2013, she was describing the 39 "U.S.-based software companies started since 2003 and valued at over $1 billion by public or private market investors."

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The big picture: “Our current infrastructure is not adequate when it comes to these kinds of weather extremes,” Joshua Rhodes, a University of Texas energy expert, tells Axios.

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"We must go further": 70% of adults in European Union are fully vaccinated

About 70% of adults in the European Union are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said Tuesday.

Why it matters: The milestone makes the E.U. one of the world's leaders in inoculations, after an initially lagging vaccine campaign, the New York Times notes.

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What Elizabeth Holmes jurors will be asked ahead of fraud trial

Jury selection begins today in USA v. Elizabeth Holmes, with the actual jury trial to get underway on Sept. 8.

Why it matters: Theranos was the biggest fraud in Silicon Valley history, putting both hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of patients' health at risk.

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