MOSCOW — Russia is reporting its largest daily number of new coronavirus infections, more than 70 percent up on the number a month ago as the country faces a sustained rise in cases.The national coronavirus task force on Sunday said 34,303 new infections were recorded in the previous day, compared with the 20,174 reported Sept. 19.The death toll of 999 was barely lower than the record 1,002 deaths reported on Saturday.Russian authorities have tried to speed up the pace of vaccinations with lotteries, bonuses and other incentives, but widespread vaccine skepticism and conflicting signals from... Read More

Actor Letitia Wright denied a report that she has been speaking out against Covid-19 vaccinations during the filming of Marvel’s “Black Panther 2.”Last week, The Hollywood Reporter alleged that Wright was sharing her views about the vaccines in Atlanta on the set of the highly anticipated superhero sequel. Wright denied the report, which cited an unnamed source, in a statement Wednesday on Instagram.“I honestly assert that this was completely untrue,” she wrote. “Anyone who knows me or has worked with me, knows that I work incredibly hard at my craft & my main focus is always to... Read More

WASHINGTON — The White House is set to announce Wednesday that three of the largest U.S. goods carriers, Walmart, FedEx and UPS, will up their efforts to address supply chain shortages resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.The carriers “will make commitments towards moving to 24/7 working during off-peak hours” at key ports in Southern California, senior administration officials said on a call Tuesday evening.President Joe Biden will meet Wednesday with leaders of the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach, California, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to... Read More

The first person in the country charged with fraudulently seeking pandemic business loans was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison, according to authorities.David Adler Staveley, 54, of Andover, Massachusetts, faked his suicide to evade arrest after prosecutors said he tried to scam the government out of $543,000 in coronavirus relief funds.Staveley and his co-conspirator David Andrew Butziger falsely claimed they owned four businesses, including three restaurants, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island.The two men applied for... Read More

People who are vaccinated against Covid-19 are less likely to spread the virus even if they become infected, a new study finds, adding to a growing body of evidence that vaccines can reduce transmission of the delta variant.British scientists at the University of Oxford examined national records of nearly 150,000 contacts that were traced from roughly 100,000 initial cases. The samples included people who were fully or partially vaccinated with either the Pfizer-BioNTech or the AstraZeneca vaccines, as well as people who were unvaccinated. The researchers then looked at how the vaccines affected... Read More

In the middle of the coronavirus pandemic last year, Broadway actor Bianca Marroquín would find herself awake in the middle of the night, trying to make sense of the shuttered theaters that had turned her world upside down. “I would wake up at 2 a.m. with a heavy heart and anxiety. My entire existence had changed,” she said. “I had wanted to do this [performing] since I was 3, and now it was gone. I questioned everything about my life. I missed my stage. Then I thought, was it time for me to move on, to say goodbye?” Now Marroquín is back on stage, starring in “Chicago” on Broadway.... Read More

Two co-hosts of ABC’s “The View” tested positive for the coronavirus in the middle of the show Friday, right before a scheduled interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.The announcement that co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro had tested positive came as the show was already underway. A White House official told NBC News the vice president “had no contact with hosts prior to the show.””I need the two of you to step off for a second,” a producer told the pair just as Harris was about to come on stage.That two remaining co-hosts, Joy Behar and Sara Haines, began... Read More

NEW DELHI — India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, will resume exports and donations of surplus coronavirus vaccines in October after halting them during a devastating surge in domestic infections in April, the health minister said Monday.Mansukh Mandaviya said the surplus vaccines will be used to fulfill India’s “commitment towards the world for the collective fight against Covid-19,” but vaccinating Indians will remain the government’s “topmost priority.”India was expected to be a key supplier for the world and for the U.N.-backed initiative aimed... Read More

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Friday that he would not run in the ruling center-right party’s leadership election this month, indicating he would step down after just a year as the country’s leader.Suga, 72, has struggled with low public approval ratings over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and for pressing ahead with holding the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer over the objections of health experts and much of the public.Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politicsIn a surprise announcement after a meeting of his Liberal Democratic Party,... Read More

Democratic lawmakerson Friday denounced the Supreme Court’s decision that blocked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from allowing renters to stay in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the decision “arbitrary and cruel” in a statement Friday.“The Court’s decision to block the new CDC eviction moratorium is immoral, putting families at risk of being put on the streets, and it is a serious public health threat, as the delta variant continues,” she said.In an unsigned opinion, six justices sided with a group representing... Read More