SAN FRANCISCO – Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) Tuesday posted a drop in quarterly profit but topped Wall Street expectations despite the costs of free and discount shipping programs. Shares rose 9 percent in after-hours trade as the company also forecast third-quarter sales above some analysts’ targets. Second-quarter net income …

WASHINGTON – Despite a boost from the majority leader, there is not enough Senate support now to override a threatened veto if Congress tries to ease restrictions on embryonic stem cell research (search), a key proponent said Sunday. A favorable Senate vote is considered more likely now that Majority Leader …

ASPEN, Colo. – Friends and family of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson (search) are preparing to pepper the sky with the late writer’s ashes. His cremated remains will be shot into the air Aug. 20 from a cannon installed on a 150-foot-high tower behind his home in Woody Creek. The …

EAGLE, Colo. – A 16-year-old boy whose foot was trapped under a huge boulder for more than 12 hours suffered swelling but no broken bones — and he hopes to be playing high school football this fall. “That was the big surprise. Nothing was broken,” William McCann said from his …

CHICAGO – A federal judge has ruled the Pentagon can no longer spend millions in government money to ready a Virginia military base for a national Boy Scout event typically held every four years, the American Civil Liberties Union (search) announced Thursday. U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning’s June 22 order …

As the hours tick down to Saturday’s stroke-of-midnight release of the latest Harry Potter book, some parents are concerned that the kids lining up outside bookstores will be faced with a story as black as night itself. “It’s scary for younger kids, when you have animals turning into people and …

Like millions of women going through menopause, actress Cheryl Ladd (search) quit taking hormone pills after research showed risks of breast cancer, stroke and heart attack. But after months of horrible hot flashes and disrupted sleep, the star of the 1970s TV series “Charlie’s Angels” says she was so miserable, …

WASHINGTON – A full transcript of the Democrats’ response to President Bush’s July 19, 2005, remarks announcing Judge John G. Roberts as his Supreme Court nominee: LEAHY: Everybody ready? The president has announced his choice. Now the Senate has to rise to the challenge and do its work. To fulfill …

NEW YORK – A judge on Thursday sentenced a Yemeni cleric who bragged about his ties to Usama bin Laden to 75 years in prison, the maximum penalty in a case that was shaken when the star witness set himself on fire outside the White House. “Your honor, what have …

A chemical in the brain normally associated with feelings of happiness and pleasure may also raise the risk of depression. Researchers say they’ve found a new way in which prolonged exposure to the chemical messenger dopamine may play a role in depression as well as drug addiction. If confirmed by …