Associated Press stories, Page 584

NEW YORK — For her 100th book club pick, Oprah Winfrey relied on the same instincts she has drawn upon from the start: Does the story move her? Does she think about it for days after? In a work of fiction, do the characters seem real to her? “When I...

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Lynda Bluestein has terminal cancer and knows she’ll likely die soon, but until Tuesday, she didn’t know if she’d be able to choose how or when and whether her family, friends and dog would be with her when the time comes. The 75-year-old from Bridgeport, Connecticut, reached...

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder, a pioneer for women’s and family rights in Congress, has died. She was 82. Schroeder’s former press secretary, Andrea Camp, said Schroeder suffered a stroke recently and died Monday night at a hospital in Celebration, Florida, the city where she had been residing...

HONG KONG — China will reopen its borders to tourists and resume issuing all visas Wednesday as it tries to revive tourism and its economy following a three-year halt during the covid-19 pandemic. China is one of the last major countries to reopen its borders to tourists. The announcement Tuesday...

SAN DIEGO — President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday aiming to increase the number of background checks to buy guns, promote more secure firearms storage and ensure U.S. law enforcement agencies are getting the most out of a bipartisan gun control law enacted last summer. The Democratic...

Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse rattled the technology industry that had been the bank’s backbone, leaving shell-shocked entrepreneurs thankful for the government reprieve that saved their money while they mourned the loss of a place that served as a chummy club of innovation. “They were the gold standard, it almost seemed...

Dick Fosbury, the lanky leaper who revamped the technical discipline of high jump and won an Olympic gold medal with his “Fosbury Flop,” has died. He was 76. Fosbury died Sunday after a recurrence with lymphoma, according to his publicist, Ray Schulte. Before Fosbury, many high jumpers cleared their heights...

The NFL’s competition committee will consider making roughing-the-passer penalties and personal-foul penalties subject to video review. The two potential rule changes were among nine the league announced Monday in its 2023 playing rules, bylaw and resolution proposals submitted by clubs. The Los Angeles Rams proposed the change that would allow...

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Proposed tax relief for Kentucky’s bourbon makers was fast-tracked Monday in advancing in the state House, but local leaders living near some of the world’s best-known distilleries were in no mood to toast the industry victory. The measure aims to phase out a property tax on the...

WASHINGTON — A judge is set to hear arguments this week in a lawsuit that poses a threat to the nationwide availability of medication abortion. The upcoming hearing became public Monday after reporting raised concerns that the case with major implications could unfold with little public oversight. The intensely watched...

ATLANTA — Georgia Tech moved quickly to put a new leader in charge of its struggling men’s basketball program, hiring longtime NBA guard Damon Stoudamire as the new Yellow Jackets coach Monday. The 49-year-old Stoudamire comes to the ACC school from the Boston Celtics, where he had been an assistant...

WASHINGTON — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell was released from the hospital Monday after treatment for a concussion and will continue to recover in an inpatient rehabilitation facility, a spokesman said. McConnell’s office said his doctors discovered over the weekend that he had also suffered a “minor rib fracture” after...

DECATUR, Ga. — An environmental activist who was fatally shot in a confrontation with Georgia law enforcement in January was sitting cross-legged with their hands in the air at the time, the protester’s family said Monday as they released results of an autopsy they commissioned. The family of Manuel Paez...

The San Francisco 49ers made a big addition to their stellar defense, agreeing to a four-year, $84 million contract with star defensive tackle Javon Hargrave. A person familiar with the deal said the sides reached agreement on Monday on the first day teams were allowed to negotiate with free agents...

The intensity of extreme drought and rainfall has “sharply” increased over the past 20 years, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Water. These aren’t merely tough weather events, they are leading to extremes such as crop failure, infrastructure damage, even humanitarian crises and conflict. The big...