Poisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's condition has improved enough to allow doctors at Berlin's Charite hospital to take him out of an induced coma. In a statement, the hospital said, "He is responding to verbal stimuli. It remains too early to gauge the potential long-term effects of his severe poisoning."

Navalny, a fierce, high-profile critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was flown to Germany last month after falling ill on August. 20 on a domestic flight in Russia. German chemical weapons experts say tests show the 44-year-old was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent, prompting the German government last week to demand that Russia investigate the case. Berlin’s Charite hospital said in a statement. ”It added that the decision to publicly release details of his condition was made in consultation with Navalny's wife. News of his gradual recovery came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office indicated that she might be willing to rethink the fate of a controversial German-Russian gas pipeline project — a sign of Berlin's growing frustration over Moscow’s stonewalling about the Navalny case.