Bobby Allyn

New Mexico has announced a plan to make public college and university free for all residents in the state, a proposal considered one of the most ambitious attempts to make higher education more accessible.

Updated 1:35 p.m. ET

A Pennsylvania state senator has stepped down following his arrest on charges of possession of child pornography.

Sen. Mike Folmer submitted his letter of resignation on Wednesday to Republican colleagues in Harrisburg, according to leadership in the state chamber.

Updated at 7:17 p.m. ET

The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Edward Snowden alleging that his newly released memoir, Permanent Record, violates nondisclosure agreements he signed with the federal government. Justice Department lawyers say the U.S. is entitled to all of Snowden's book profits.

The civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in Virginia names the former National Security Agency contractor and his New York-based publisher, Macmillan.

Veteran journalist Cokie Roberts, who joined an upstart NPR in 1978 and left an indelible imprint on the growing network with her coverage of Washington politics before later going to ABC News, has died. She was 75.

Roberts died Tuesday because of complications from breast cancer, according to a family statement.

Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday night, just days after striking a settlement with more than 2,000 local governments over its alleged role in creating and sustaining the deadly opioid crisis.

Updated at 5:10 p.m. ET Monday

Talks between General Motors and union officials representing tens of thousands of striking autoworkers restarted Monday in hopes of driving both sides to an agreement on issues including workers' wages, health care and profit-sharing.

After several hours, union officials representing nearly 50,000 workers acknowledge negotiations remain in neutral.

Embattled Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown is expected to practice with the team on Wednesday, a day after Brown's former trainer accused him of rape in a federal lawsuit.

In a combative press conference, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the accusations "are what they are" and that "I won't be entering into a discussion about that right now," adding that the team is taking the latest controversy involving Brown "one day at a time."

This summer, a young girl from Arkansas wrote a Northeastern Pennsylvania toy company out of frustration.

"My name is Vivian. I am six years old. Why do you not make girl army men?" wrote Vivian Lord to BMC Toys.

To Jeff Imel, the president of BMC Toys, which makes the iconic Green Army Men figurines, it was a worthy question and one he had mulled over for years.

"It was a heartfelt letter," Imel told NPR. "And it reminded me of being a kid and always wanting that toy that you couldn't get in the gumball machine," he said. "So I really looked into it."

In the Bahamas, the damage Hurricane Dorian wreaked on roads, airports, communication grids and other infrastructure is presenting a logistical nightmare for emergency responders and aid workers trying to get basic supplies to the neediest storm victims.

Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander lifted both his arms aloft then bent to his knees with the clenched fists of a victorious warrior before his teammates thronged him from all sides.

Verlander was not just not marking any old win. The right-hander tossed a no-hitter Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Updated at 3:22 p.m. ET

The death toll from a mass shooting carried out by a gunman in the West Texas cities of Midland and Odessa has risen from five to seven, and 22 others remain injured, officials said on Sunday.

Authorities said a man armed with an "AR-type weapon" was killed by police just moments before heading toward a crowded movie theater, preventing what investigators said could have been an even deadlier rampage.

The pope was running late.

For seven excruciating minutes, thousands of gatherers on Sunday in St Peter's Square in Vatican City were anxiously waiting for Pope Francis to show up for his weekly address, which usually starts, like clockwork, exactly at noon. Questions and worries that something may be seriously amiss made many onlookers fret.

But finally, the window of the Apostolic Palace swung open and a smiling 82-year-old pontiff sent relief across the crowd.

Deaths caused by motorists running red lights have risen to a 10-year high, a newly released study finds.

At least two people are killed this way every day in the U.S., according to the study of government data by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

The study looked at fatalities from 2008 to 2017, the most recent year data are available. Drivers blowing through red lights killed 939 people in 2017. That's an increase of 31% from a low in 2009, when 715 people were killed.

Updated at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday ET

The College Board is dropping its plan to give SAT-takers a single score that captures a student's economic hardship. The change comes after blowback from university officials and parents of those taking the college admissions exam.

Twelve years after Meek Mill was arrested as a 19-year-old in North Philadelphia on gun and drug charges, his criminal case has officially ended. On Tuesday, Meek pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor firearm charge in Philadelphia. Prosecutors then dismissed all remaining counts against him and the judge imposed no further penalty.

Updated at 4:46 p.m. ET

Portions of a Missouri law banning abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy were blocked by a federal judge just a day before the legislation was to go into effect.

U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs issued the order halting the law, whose provisions also call for physicians who perform an abortion after eight weeks to face possible prison time and have their license suspended or revoked.

In closing arguments in a death penalty trial, the prosecution told an all-white jury that a black defendant was "a big black bull."

In the case of a different black man, prosecutors justified excluding a black juror because he drank alcohol by calling him a "blk wino," whereas a potential white juror who drank was considered "ok" and a "country boy."

Updated at 11:45 a.m. ET

Joe Walsh, a conservative talk-radio host and former Tea Party congressman, is launching a long-shot primary challenge to President Trump. He's the second Republican to officially announce a run against Trump, who has a strong approval rating among his party's base.

Walsh, 57, supported Trump during his 2016 campaign but in recent months has been offering a bitter critique of the president, calling Trump a liar and bully who is unfit for office. Walsh has also attacked Trump from the right.

A disgruntled cook who threatened to carry out a mass shooting and had assembled an extensive stockpile of high-powered firearms, ammunition and tactical gear has been arrested, authorities in Long Beach, Calif., said.

Police arrested Rodolfo Montoya, 37, at his Huntington Beach residence Tuesday after he told a co-worker at the Long Beach Marriott that he was planning to "shoot up fellow employees and people coming into the hotel," said Police Chief Robert Luna during a news conference.

The Trump administration's proposal to push millions of people out of the federal food stamp program would punish some of the country's neediest, including children, seniors and people with disabilities, according to mayors of 70 American cities who have sent a letter to an administrator for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

A man in Miami seemed to be trying to clear his name this week when he presented himself to police as someone who had his gun stolen recently, but the event took a surprising turn when police realized he was the man they suspected in a high-profile shooting over the summer.

Miami-Dade police Det. Lee Cowart told NPR that when Carlints St. Louis walked into a Florida police station saying his gun had gone missing it was "the icing on the cake" after authorities had been homing in on him in recent weeks.

Updated at 3:32 p.m. ET

New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill announced Monday that the police department is terminating the officer involved in the fatal 2014 altercation with Eric Garner, ending a five-year battle over the officer's status.

Officer Daniel Pantaleo used a chokehold on Garner, which is banned by the city's police department, O'Neill said.

Updated at 12:45 p.m. ET

The Trump administration is extending a reprieve for Huawei Technologies and U.S. companies working with the telecom giant by 90 days, the Commerce Department announced Monday.

Britain would face gridlock at ports; shortages of medicine, fuel and food; and a hard border with Ireland if it left the European Union with no deal, according to a leaked government document.

The shooting of six police officers in Philadelphia earlier this week has provoked the region's top federal prosecutor to take swipes at the city's district attorney.

Antonio Basco's wife of 22 years was killed in the mass shooting at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart this month, and her passing means that Basco has no relatives left.

Basco, who runs a mobile car wash business in El Paso, told the funeral home planning the service for his late spouse, Margie Reckard, that he wanted to invite members of the public to attend her visitation.

Since then, the funeral home has been inundated with support from people who never knew Basco or his wife.

Updated at 5:05 p.m. ET

The Dayton mass shooter had his friend buy him body armor, a gun accessory and a 100-round magazine allegedly used in the massacre this month. Prosecutors say the friend stored the items in his apartment to hide them from the shooter's parents, according to federal charges unsealed on Monday.