Recently in National Category

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney held a private, low-key lunch Thursday at the White House, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.

This was the first meeting between the two since the final Presidential debate in October. Officials say the meeting is a step towards the two men working together.

The two men ate turkey chili and grilled chicken salad and traded ideas on how to preserve the nation's status as a whole leader, the White House said. It was Romney's first appearance in the public eye after a three week hiatus following the election.

His role within the Republican party is still unclear, the Wall Street Journal says.

Although the meeting did spark some curiosity among the media, it turned out to be more of a publicity stunt than anything substantive, says the Washington Post.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the two were swapping stories about the campaign trail and said the president previously had stated an interest in Romney's managerial knowledge.

President Obama also met former election challenger John McCain after the 2008 race.

According to stories by CNN and Reuters, a Bangladesh man has been indicted on charges of attempting to blow up the New York Federal Reserve.

The plot was meant to be put into place last month, Reuters said. He was allegedly going to use a 1,000 pound bomb, according to court papers made public Thursday.

Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, a Bangladeshi national, was arrested by federal authorities in a sting operation in October. He was accused of attempting to detonate the bomb with a cell phone. The bomb was inert, CNN said.

The non-working bomb was reportedly given to Nafis by an undercover federal agent as part of a sting.

Nafis was allegedly inspired by al Qaeda. He came to the United States in January on a student visa under the pretext of attending college at Southeast Missouri State University, prosecutors said in the CNN report.

Nafis told authorities the plan was all his own and his sole reason for coming to the United States.

Reuters and NBC News reports that CIA Director David Petraeus announced his resignation Friday.

According to both reports, Petraeus cited an extramarital affair and "extremely poor judgment" in making his decison. NBC News first reported that the director informed the CIA workforce with a letter.

In the letter, Petraeus wrote: "Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and a leader of an organization such as ours."

In a statement, President Barack Obama said that he accepted Petraeus' resignation and commended him on his work in the CIA and for leading U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Petraeus was appointed CIA director in April 2011, replacing Leon Panetta, who moved to the Pentagon to become defense secretary. Intelligence sources said that Michael Morell, the agency's long-time deputy director, would serve as acting CIA chief for the immediate future.

Police detained two men after shots were fired that wounded four people at a Halloween Party at the University of Southern California Wednesday night, according to CNN and the Los Angeles Times.

The shooting occurred during an argument between two men outside of the house party. Neither the victims nor the men detained are students at the university, according to Capt. David Carlisle of the university's department of public safety.

One of the men arguing was critically wounded but it is in stable condition after a three hour surgery to repair seven bullet wounds, according to the LA Times report. The other three wounded victims suffered non-life threatening injuries, said CNN.

The critically wounded victim is Geno Hall, the 2009 Los Angeles City Football Player of the Year, according to the LA Times.

According to both reports, it is still unknown as to why shots were fired.

A nanny allegedly killed the two children she was taking care of and then stabbed herself Thursday in an upper-west side New York City apartment, according to a news story in the Huffington Post.

Yoselyn Ortega, 50, is accused of stabbing and killing 6-year-old Lucia Krim and 2-year-old Leo Krim in the bathtub of the family's apartment.

Police said that the mother, Marina Krim, walked into the bathroom to find her dead children in the bathtub as Ortega was laying on the floor with self-inflicted wounds, as reported by CNN.

Marina Krim left her children in the care of Ortega Thursday while she was taking her other child to a swimming lesson. Ortega and the children were supposed to meet Krim at a dance studio at 5:30 p.m.; when they did not show, Krim went home to see what was going on.

According to CNN, Ortega is currently in stable, yet critical condition in a New York City hospital and was under police surveillance on Friday. Police have yet to charge Ortega with anything, said New York City Police Chief Ray Kelly.

The Huffington Post story referenced interviews with Ortega's sister with the New York Post, where she said that her sister Yoselyn "snapped." According to the story, Ortega had been having financial troubles and was seeing a psychiatrist. Her neighbor said he felt that "she was losing her mind," according to the Huffington Post story.

CNN reported that Ortega had been the nanny for the Krim's since the birth of Leo two years ago. The Krim's had even gone to visit Ortega's family in her native Dominican Republic.

According to both reports, there has yet to be a definitive motive behind Ortega's actions. The Huffington Post referenced an interview with a CBS news correspondent who said "she may have been planning this for weeks."

Federal prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit against Wells Fargo Tuesday, according to The Huffington Post.

Wells Fargo reportedly "lied about the quality of loans certified for a federal insurance program", ultimately costing the country $190 million in claims. The bank concealed the quality of 6,320 loans in total, even after its own risk department conducted reviews.

This lawsuit continues a troubling trend of high-profile banks failing to disclose their mistakes.

"As the complaint alleges, yet another major bank has engaged in a long standing and reckless trifecta of deficient training, deficient underwriting and deficient disclosure, all while relying on the convenient backstop of government insurance," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

Citigroup, Flagstar Bank, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, and FBC have all repaid the Federal Housing Administration, a divison of the Department of Housing and Development, $1 billion collectively because in similar cases to that of Wells Fargo.

Essentially in Wells Fargo's situation, the bank's brokers issued loans that should not have qualified and the bank then lied about it to the government. The bank apparently gave bonuses to brokers who had a large number of approved loans.

According to a Wells Fargo spokesman, the bank is proud of its long-standing relationship with the FHA and will "vigorously defend itself against this action."