"I am stunned," a former VOA director says about Trump appointee Michael Pack's move to rescind a rule protecting the newsroom from political interference. "It removes the one thing that makes [VOA] distinct from broadcasters of repressive regimes."

With one week until Election Day, Americans have already cast a record-breaking 66 million early ballots — putting the 2020 election on track for historic levels of voter turnout. Some states are already quickly approaching their 2016 vote totals.

The Trump administration issued an executive order barring any discussion in federal workforce diversity trainings of concepts such as systemic racism and unconscious bias. One week later, USAID suspended all diversity and inclusion training.

On Friday, the U.S. recorded the most new coronavirus cases in a single day — more than 83,000. The country is now logging an average of nearly 70,000 new cases a day, and health experts worry this surge could last longer than in the spring or summer.

A Virginia judge has ruled that Richmond's 60-foot-tall statue of Robert E. Lee can be removed under the governor's order. It's the only Confederate statue still standing on the city's Monument Avenue.

San Francisco is preparing to deploy new unarmed mobile units comprised of paramedics, peer support counselors and mental health professionals — not police officers — to respond to most calls for people in psychiatric or substance abuse crises.

Is the news stressing you out? Here's what you can do: • Notice your habits. When do you get most anxious? • Ground yourself in the present moment. How does your body feel? • Put the phone down, or turn off the news. Do something you find calming.

Singer-songwriter Katie Pruitt's new album, "Expectations," documents her journey from her Southern Catholic upbringing to adulthood, as an out lesbian who's "staying true to who I am." Watch her perform a set at her special quarantine Tiny Desk: