Emergency alert test going out to mobile phones nationwide By COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — About 225 million electronic devices across the United States will wail and buzz Wednesday afternoon as the Federal Emergency Management Agency conducts an emergency alert test. A tone will sound at 2:18 p.m. EDT, similar to that of an Amber Alert or flood …

80,000 people died of flu last winter in US By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government estimates that 80,000 Americans died of flu and its complications last winter — the disease’s highest death toll in at least four decades. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, revealed the …

2 million US teens are vaping marijuana By CARLA K. JOHNSON, AP Medical Writer A school-based survey shows nearly 1 in 11 U.S. students have used marijuana in electronic cigarettes, heightening health concerns about the new popularity of vaping among teens. E-cigarettes typically contain nicotine, but many of the battery-powered devices can vaporize other substances, including marijuana. Results published Monday …

Dispute over 3D-printed guns raises many legal issues By LISA MARIE PANE, Associated Press A little-known dispute over 3D-printed guns has morphed into a national legal debate in the last week, drawing attention to a technology that seems a bit of sci-fi fantasy and — to gun-control advocates — a dangerous way for criminals to get their hands on firearms that …

Exxon profit surges, just not enough By DAVID KOENIG, AP Business Writer DALLAS (AP) — Rising oil prices pushed second-quarter profit at Exxon Mobil Corp. up 18 percent to $3.95 billion, but the results Friday fell short of Wall Street expectations, and the shares fell in morning trading. The price of benchmark international crude is up more than 50 percent from …

Oil prices spike after Saudi halts shipments after attack By DAVID RISING, Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oil prices rose to a 10-day high Thursday after Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company announced it was temporarily halting crude shipments through a strategic Red Sea shipping lane after Yemen’s Shiite rebels attacked two tankers in the strait the previous day. …

Mexico’s president-elect will propose amnesty law By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN, Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — The security advisers for President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Friday that amnesty legislation aimed at lessening violence will be developed with the input of crime victims and presented to Mexico’s congress. Alfonso Durazo, proposed as the new administration’s public security minister, said the amnesty law …

Drug spoon sculpture placed outside drugmaker headquarters STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — An 800-pound, nearly 11-foot-long steel sculpture of a bent and burned drug spoon was placed Friday in front of the Connecticut headquarters of drugmaker Purdue Pharma as part of an art protest against the opioid crisis. Artist Domenic Esposito and art gallery owner Fernando Alvarez dropped the sculpture at …

#MeToo cases in the spotlight as Southern Baptists convention By DAVID CRARY and RYAN TARINELLI, Associated Press DALLAS (AP) — The Southern Baptist Convention opened its annual national meeting Tuesday in an anxious mood as the denomination’s all-male leadership grapples with the fallout of multiple sexual misconduct cases. One order of business is a draft resolution co-signed by dozens of SBC …

Justices side with Colorado baker on same-sex wedding cake By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday for a Colorado baker who wouldn’t make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in a limited decision that leaves for another day the larger issue of whether a business can invoke religious objections to refuse service to gay …