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A gunman who authorities say had past psychiatric problems was captured alive after taking four people hostage Wednesday in a bank in the southern French city of Toulouse, claiming he was acting for religious reasons.

U.S. builders started work on more single-family homes in May and requested the most permits to build homes and apartments in three and a half years. The increase suggests the housing market is slowly recovering even as other areas of the economy have weakened.

Stocks advanced on Tuesday, putting the S&P 500 on track for its fourth straight gain on increased hopes for central bank stimulus measures ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

Fears of an imminent Greek exit from Europe's joint currency receded Sunday after the conservative New Democracy party came first in a critical election and pro-bailout parties won enough seats to form a joint government.

Inflation in the euro zone fell to its lowest level in more than a year in May, giving the European Central Bank more leeway to stimulate the flagging 17-nation economy as the intensifying debt crisis takes its toll on confidence.

Despite being abandoned to homelessness by her parents, Dawn Loggins worked as a high school custodian by day and studied hard by night to become the first person from her school to ever be admitted to Harvard.

The bureau says that murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault all went down in 2011.

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the United States fell 15.9 cents to $3.624 in the past three weeks due to a drop in crude oil, which took a hit from fears over Europe's economy and a stronger dollar, the Lundberg Survey showed. The national average for regular gasoline as of June 8 was down more than 11.62 cents from the year-earlier level of $3.74 a gallon, according to the survey of some 2,500 gasoline stations in the continental United States.

Stocks closed out its best week of the year Friday, as investors played things close to the vest before the weekend when Spain is expected to request aid for its troubled banks.

U.S. wholesale businesses restocked faster in April, responding to a strong gain in sales. The increase could be a good sign for economic growth in the April-June quarter.