LOS ANGELES, Calif. - A Los Angeles doctor was sentenced Friday to 14 years in federal prison for bilking patients out of more than $1 million by promising them that an herbal supplement she hawked could cure late-stage cancer and other diseases.

WASHINGTON - Legislation cleared the House on Friday that would place stricter requirements on the federal agency overseeing Wall Street to assess the costs and benefits of its regulations before they are issued.

ROME - Italy's new cross-party government has adopted its first measures to help the economy. They include suspending a tax on primary residences and allocating funds to extend a short-term layoff scheme.

ATHENS, Greece - Greece's deep, six-year recession is likely to end in 2014, but growth will be weak and unemployment will remain above 20 per cent for another three years, the country's international debt inspectors said.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama picked a senior White House budget official to become the acting head of the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday, the same day another top official announced plans to leave the agency amid the controversy over agents targeting tea party groups.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - The first few months of the year were tough for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

SEATTLE - It's one thing to legalize marijuana. It's another to figure out how to sell it, grow it, regulate it, test it and tax it.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Total U.S. money market mutual fund assets fell $1.04 billion to $2.582 trillion for the week that ended Wednesday, according to the Investment Company Institute.

SALT LAKE CITY - Real-estate developers are breaking ground on downtown Salt Lake City's first new hotels since a Hyatt Place was built in 2009.

WASHINGTON - One more time, with feeling! The Republican-led House voted yet again Thursday to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law, knowing full well that won't stop it.

Wal-Mart's 1Q profit, sales disappoint

MONTREAL - Alcoa will eliminate about 500 jobs by permanently closing two potlines this summer at its smelter in Baie-Comeau, Que., while also delaying construction of more efficient facilities at the smelter for three years.

TORONTO - The Toronto Stock Exchange closed higher Thursday despite a pullback on Wall Street amid a round of disappointing reports that suggested the U.S. economy is not recovering as much as some would like to believe.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Weak sales from Wal-Mart and discouraging economic reports resulted in a down day on the stock market.