WASHINGTON (AP) -- Researchers commissioned by the nation's Roman Catholic bishops to analyze the pattern of clergy sex abuse have concluded that homosexuality, celibacy and an all-male priesthood did not cause the scandal.
The study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York instead said that the problem was largely the result of poor seminary training and insufficient emotional support for men ordained in the 1940s and 1950s, who were not able to withstand the social upheaval they confronted as pastors in the 1960s. Crime and other deviant behavior increased overall in the United States during this period, when the rate of abuse by priests was climbing.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- For homebuilders, it hardly feels like an economic recovery.
Nearly two years after the recession ended, the pace of construction is inching along at less than half the level considered healthy. Single-family home building, the bulk of the market, has dropped 11 percent in that time.
Builders are struggling to compete with waves of foreclosures that have forced down prices for previously occupied homes. The weakness is weighing on the economy: Though new homes represent a small portion of overall sales, they have an outsized effect on jobs.

The leader of the International Monetary Fund and a possible candidate for president of France was pulled from an airplane and arrested on Sunday in connection with the violent sexual assault of a hotel maid, New York police said.

ATLANTA (AP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that juveniles cannot be sentenced to death, and that they also cannot be sentenced to life in prison without parole for rape and other non-homicide offenses. But what about those juveniles who were convicted of murder?
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is now considering a case that could answer that question. The court heard arguments in the case Wednesday.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google Inc.'s lucrative online advertising system is facing a U.S. Justice Department investigation that is expected to cost the Internet search leader at least $500 million.
The disclosure made by Google on Tuesday in a quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission serves as the latest reminder of the intensifying regulatory scrutiny facing the Internet's most powerful company.

ATLANTA (AP) -- Hate insects? Afraid of germs? Researchers are reporting an alarming combination: bedbugs carrying a staph "superbug." Canadian scientists detected drug-resistant staph bacteria in bedbugs from three hospital patients from a downtrodden Vancouver neighborhood.
Bedbugs have not been known to spread disease, and there's no clear evidence that the five bedbugs found on the patients or their belongings had spread the MRSA germ they were carrying or a second less dangerous drug-resistant bacteria.

ATLANTA (AP) -- Porsche Cars North America said Thursday it plans to consolidate several of its U.S. operations at a new $100 million complex being planned in the Atlanta area, where it already has headquarters.
The German luxury automaker said the complex, to be built near the new International Terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, will include a road course allowing potential customers to take luxury cars for a spin.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Taking a page from the comics, producers of Broadway's "Spider-Man" musical are hoping their battered hero can somehow return from the dead.
"Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," Broadway's most expensive and audacious show, emerges from a three-week hiatus on Thursday night with what the creative team and producers say is a cleaner story, tighter music and more love story.
About a dozen people were waiting for the box office at the Foxwoods Theatre to open to buy tickets Thursday morning and, in a sign that demand may be softer than when the musical first opened its doors in November, tickets for the reimagined show were available for that night's performance.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A federal bankruptcy judge's membership in a country club that has no women or blacks as full-fledged members does not violate the judicial code of conduct, an appeals panel has narrowly ruled.
Several judges strongly dissented, saying it is improper for Judge George Paine II to belong to Belle Meade Country Club because it has a clear record of discrimination.