8 Things You Need To Know This AM — Aug 08 2016

1. Major News: The entire Russian team was banned from competing in the Paralympic Games as punishment for a doping operation.

The International Paralympic Committee’s blanket ban on Russia is in sharp contrast to the earlier decision by the IOC to allow individual sports to decide whether Russians could compete in the Olympics. (Time)

2. World News: Iran confirmed it executed an Iranian nuclear scientist who gave the U.S. intelligence about the country's nuclear program.

The official IRNA news agency quoted a spokesman for Iran's judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, confirming the execution of Shahram Amiri, an Iranian nuclear scientist caught up in a real-life U.S. spy mystery. (NBC News)

3. Lawyer Up: A jury awarded a former Chipotle employee $550,000 in damages after finding her boss fired her for being pregnant.

The last straw came when Garcia told David she had to leave early to go to a prenatal doctor's appointment. He ignored her, and she went anyway. The next day, he fired her in front of her fellow employees. (Read More)

4. Real Talk: Leslie Jones' Olympics live-tweet game is so strong that NBC invited her to Rio.

The Ghostbusters star has been livening up the Rio 2016 festivities by live-tweeting the Olympic Games, all while draped in an American flag. Even NBC, which broadcasts the games, has noticed, with one producer extending an invite for Jones to come down to Brazil. (Read More)

5. Here At Home: There's a national shortage of injectable estrogen at the 40-mg dosage — which is most frequently prescribed to trans women.

Doctors have had increasing problems obtaining the 20-mg dosage of Delestrogen and its generic counterpart, estradiol valerate, the injectable estrogen hormones used by trans women. (Read More)

6. In-The-Know: Planned Parenthood will register voters at its clinics as part of a new nonpartisan campaign.

Planned Parenthood announced the voter registration campaign — called My Vote, My Voice —which will have volunteers in 45 states set up "action tables" outside of clinics. The volunteers will educate people about their state's voter-ID laws while helping them register to vote. (Read More)

7. Icebreaker: A new study suggests that people who behave more altruistically have more sex.

Here's the thing about those results, though — the researchers were relying on the participants for an accurate account of their sexual history and their good deeds, which means there may be some over-reporting going on. (Read More)

8. A-List: Barack Obama celebrated his 55th birthday with a few friends, like Beyoncé, Nick Jonas, and John Legend.

Family and friends is an understatement. Celebrities, like Nick Jonas, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé and Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar, Al Roker, Ellen DeGeneres, Sarah Jessica Parker, Usher, John Legend, and Jennifer Hudson joined Obama for his special night. His political comrades, like Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch also celebrated with the commander-in-chief. (Read More)