Rachel Treisman

The 2020 U.S. Open kicked off on Monday absent one of its most iconic hallmarks: the crowd.

Instead, the courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, N.Y., were mostly silent as spectators were kept away from the stadium because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The prohibition on in-person fans is part of New York's efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.

A man was fatally shot during a night of confrontations between Trump supporters and counterprotesters in Portland, Ore., on Saturday, the latest high-profile incident in a city that has seen nightly demonstrations for three consecutive months. On Sunday, city leaders denounced the violence while President Trump criticized their ability to contain it.

President Trump announced on Sunday that the Food and Drug Administration has issued emergency use authorization to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma from people who have recovered from the virus.

Joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn for what he called a "truly historic" announcement, Trump described the treatment as safe and effective.

In a back-to-school season unusually fraught with uncertainty, two high school teachers in Albany, Ga., are going viral for their creative approach to raising students' morale.

Callie Evans and Audri Williams, teachers and cheerleading coaches at Monroe Comprehensive High School, rapped about virtual learning and the COVID-19 pandemic in a music video that has garnered thousands of likes and comments in two days.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill made it one week into the fall semester before scrapping plans for in-person instruction.

It's an experience that other large campuses should learn from, Mimi Chapman, chair of the UNC-Chapel Hill faculty, told NPR's All Things Considered on Tuesday.

Updated Tuesday at 4:11 p.m. ET

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published on Monday is the latest to confirm that the coronavirus disproportionately impacts communities of color in the U.S.

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Belarus on Sunday in what appeared to be their largest demonstration yet against the widely-disputed reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko.

The Department of Justice accused Yale University of violating federal civil rights law by illegally discriminating against Asian American and white applicants in its undergraduate admissions process.

Those are the findings of a two-year investigation conducted in response to a complaint by a coalition of Asian American groups. The Justice Department notified university officials in a letter on Thursday.

Updated at 6:56 p.m. ET

The Big 12 Conference is moving ahead with its football season, announcing that fall sports will continue – with teams following safety precautions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference hopes to hold its title game in December, as it normally would.

If you're tired of binge-watching TV during the pandemic, Mother Nature has an alternative. All you have to do is go outside between about 2 a.m. Wednesday and dawn local time, lie on your back and look up at the sky. The meteors and fireballs of the Perseid meteor shower should be streaking.

Democrats on Sunday slammed President Trump's executive actions aimed at providing economic relief during the coronavirus pandemic, saying the measures are both ineffective and unconstitutional.

Trump signed three memoranda and one executive order at his Bedminster, N.J., golf resort on Saturday amid stalled negotiations with Congress over a new COVID-19 relief package.

White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said on Sunday that the U.S. is in a "new phase" of the pandemic, urging people to follow public health guidance as cases continue to climb in many parts of the United States.

"What we're seeing today is different from March and April," Birx said on CNN's State of the Union. "It is extraordinarily widespread — it's into the rural as equal urban areas."

As Texas contends with the ongoing aftermath of one hurricane on Sunday, Hawaii is bracing for the impact of another.

Hurricane Hanna slammed into South Texas on Saturday, making landfall twice as a Category 1 storm. While it was downgraded to tropical storm status early Sunday morning, its relentless rainfall continues to pose a threat.

Newly enrolled international students whose colleges and universities are operating entirely online this fall won't be allowed to enter the U.S. after all.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed on Friday that its guidance granting visa flexibility to nonimmigrant students only applies to those who were actively enrolled at American schools on March 9.

Total coronavirus deaths in the U.S. have surpassed 140,000, reaching somber new heights as surging cases continue to break records in parts of the country and around the world.

A joint mission between NASA and the European Space Agency has yielded the closest photos of the sun ever taken. And with their release on Thursday, these swirly snapshots are newly available to the public.

There will be no Rose Parade on New Year's Day in 2021, marking the first cancellation of the annual spectacle since World War II.

Organizers of the colorful Pasadena, Calif., tradition announced on Wednesday that they would be unable to host the parade in accordance with the state's reopening timeline and "after thoughtful consideration of the restrictions and guidelines in place as a result of COVID-19."

Updated at 2:14 p.m. ET

The family of George Floyd has filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Minneapolis and the four former police officers involved in the Black man's killing on Memorial Day. Civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump, along with co-counsel Antonio Romanucci, announced the lawsuit at a news conference Wednesday in Minneapolis.

Updated at 6:34 p.m. ET

In a swift reversal, the Trump administration has agreed to rescind a directive that would have barred international college students from the U.S. if their colleges offered classes entirely online in the fall semester.

With coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continuing their rise in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday he is reimposing restrictions on many indoor businesses statewide, effective immediately.

Restaurants, wineries, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, zoos, museums and card rooms must suspend their indoor operations, and bars must close altogether.

More than one month after embarking on what he calls a march for "change, justice and equality," Terry Willis on Sunday completed a 1,000-mile walk from his hometown of Huntsville, Ala., to the site of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis.

Willis, a 35-year-old business owner, said he feels obligated as a Black man and father to help create a better future for his son.

Florida reported 15,299 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, marking the largest single-day increase of any state since the start of the pandemic.

Sunday's number exceeds New York's peak of more than 12,200 new cases in one day back in April, when it was the epicenter of the outbreak.

Texas reported more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, smashing its previous record for single-day increases and becoming latest state to reach this grim milestone.

Florida did so earlier in this month and New York in April.