By MIKE GLOVER / Associated Press Writer BOSTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Friday that the work of the military base closing commission should be suspended as he warned of a “terrible disconnect” between President Bush’s approach to shuttering installations and the demands on U.S. forces. The next round of closures are…

By SHARON THEIMER / Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of people have given the maximum $25,000 per year they can send to the national party committees since a law capped their donations. The Republican National Committee has landed the most maximum donors — at least 700 since a ban on corporate, union and…

By NANCY BENAC / Associated Press Writer Former Democratic presidential hopeful Gen. Wesley Clark speaks to the crowd in Memphis after the Tennessee primary election in this Feb. 10 file photo. There are lessons to be learned from the likes of John Edwards, Howard Dean and Clark. (AP Photo) WASHINGTON (AP) — One by one,…

By MARK SHERMAN / Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration and Republican congressional leaders are being forced to take a hard new look at the idea of importing cheaper prescription drugs from foreign countries as an election-year clamor grows for removing prohibitions. Continuing increases in prescription drug prices — the fastest growing…

By IRA DREYFUSS / Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Government and poultry industry officials intend to expand testing for bird flu to cover most of the poultry raised in the United States, possibly this month, an Agriculture Department official said Friday. The $12.5 million program would focus on the most dangerous forms of the…

By JUSTIN POPE / AP Business Writer BOSTON (AP) — The United States needs to better educate its workers and avoid the trappings of protectionism to fully flourish in a global economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday. While trade barriers might slow the frenetic, sometimes troubling pace of competition, “our standard of living…

By LAURAN NEERGAARD / AP Medical Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — So you picked up a 20-ounce soft drink for lunch — do you know how many calories you’re guzzling? A whopping 275, probably, although it can be hard to tell from the labels on today’s bottles. That may change: The government asked food makers Friday…

By LEIGH STROPE / Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — AARP, the advocacy group for people over age 50 that opposes diverting Social Security taxes into private accounts, is irked about a new organization with a similar name — minus one A — that is advocating the changes. The new group, founded by Republicans, is…

By RACHEL KONRAD / Associated Press Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — EBay halted an auction this week and suspended a Taiwanese user who allegedly tried to sell three Vietnamese girls on the Internet site for a starting bid of $5,400. The auction, which began March 2 on eBay’s Taiwan site, did not include a…

By PAUL ELIAS / AP Biotechnology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In laboratories the world over, scientists bent on turning back our biological clocks are looking past harvesting human embryos and cloning in their quest for disease cures. A small but growing group of researchers seeking the proverbial fountain of youth insists its work has…