Recently in National Category

Bernard Madoff's eldest son was found dead in his Manhattan apartment Saturday.

Mark Madoff, 46, was found dead on the second anniversary of the day his father was arrested for the ponzi scheme that effected people around the world, according to the New York Times.

Madoff was discovered hanging from a ceiling pipe in his SoHo apartment by his wife's father, Mark London, a prominent lawyer, according to the Star Tribune.

Madoff's "2-year-old song was asleep in an adjoining bedroom," Deputy Police Commissioner Paul J. Browne said to the New York Times.

Stephanie, Madoff's wife, was in Florida with their other son, when she became concerned about her husband after receiving an e-mail from him Friday night, according to the Star Tribune.

Martin Flumenbaum, Madoff's lawyer, said in a statement, "Mark Madoff took his own life today. This is a terrible and unnecessary tragedy," according to the New York Times.

A bus carrying University of Massachusetts students crashed Friday in Vermont on its way to Canada.

A group of three buses were traveling through Vermont for a ski trip, when one of the buses traveling in the group veered right on Interstate 91, and slid down a deep embankment around 4 p.m., according to the Boston Globe.

Of the 45 people on the bus, only 17 were injured, according to the Star Tribune.

The students were all released from the hospital by 9 p.m., according to the Boston Globe.

Stephanie Dasaro, a spokeswoman for the Vermont State Police, said it is unclear how the crash occurred, and a crash reconstruction team was at the scene investigating, according to the Star Tribune.

Witches and wizards flocked to the box office this weekend to make "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One" a box-office best for the Harry Potter franchise.

The latest film, which is the first of the two-part goodbye, has been estimated to have grossed around $125.1 million, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Many analyst had projected a high opening weekend, but the lastest film from the J.K. Rowling series beat out "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," which grossed $103 million when it opened in 2005, according to the USA Today.

The "Deathly Hallows" opened late Thursday night with midnight showings on 3,700 theaters across the country, according to Entertainment Weekly.

The film grossed $61.2 million on Friday alone, which made it the fifth best opening day ever, according to Entertainment Weekly.

The year-long marketing campaign by Warner Brothers led to the film earning $330 million globally this weekend, according to the New York Times.

The Carnival cruise ship Splendor was stranded Monday in the Mexican Riviera after a fire broke out in the engine room.

The fire started around 6 a.m. and left the 3,299 passengers stranded 55 miles off the coast of Baja California, Mexico without Internet, cell phone and ship-to-shore phone services, according to Time magazine.

The U.S. Navy delivered bread, canned Spam, canned fruit, canned milk and Pop Tart from the USS Ronald Reagan, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The cruise ship was pulled by six tug boats to port, and arrived in San Diego Thursday around 8:30 a.m., according to USA Today.

Carnival offered passengers a full refund, reimbursement for travel expenses and a free cruise of equal value, according to the Los Angeles Times.

President Obama said Wednesday that he is taking responsibility for the Democratic Party's losses on election night after Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives.

"Over the last two year, we've made progress but clearly too many Americans haven't felt that progress year," the president said. "As president, I take responsibility for that," according to ABC News.

However, the president did not suggest, while speaking in the East Room of the White House, that his policies were moving the country in the wrong direction, according to the New York Times.

Both parties agree that it is time to work together to turn the economy around for the people, according the New York Times.

"It's not just what the American people are demanding, it's what the expect for us," Obama said, according to ABC News.

Federal officials announced Friday that a shooter who has targeted three U.S. Military sites may be a marine or have an issue with the Marine Corps.

The FBI said that the shooter, who has shot at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, the Pentagon and a Marine Corps recruiting center, does not want to hurt anyone because the events were carried out overnight while the facilities were empty, according to the Washington Post.

The FBI also believes the shooter may be targeting the Marine Corps as an institution because of a "personal crisis," but the shooter could also be a Marine, according to USA Today.

The shooter's identity is still unknown, but the FBI is trying to coax the person to contact them to resolve whatever is causing him or her to target these buildings, according to the Washington Post.

John Perren, acting assistant director for the FBI's Washington Field Office said the shooter may feel he or she has been wronged by the Marine Corps either professionally or personally, according to the Washington Post.

A University of California - Santa Barbara student was killed Friday by a shark while boogie boarding at Surf Beach in California.

Lucas Ransom, 19, was boogie boarding Friday when a shark bit his leg around 8:50 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Times, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Matthew Garcia, Ransom's friend, was feet away from him when he was attacked, and he saw the water turn red, according to the Pioneer Press.

Garcia headed to shore to get help, after looking for Ransom in the surf, according to the Pioneer Press.

Ransom lost his leg in the attack and authorities are patrolling the coast for the body part, according to the Los Angeles Times. However, Ransom's boogie board was found with a segment bitten off.

The federal government will enforce marijuana laws in California even if the state becomes the first to legalize marijuana.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the federal government will enforce the federal Controlled Substance Act even if California's Proposition 19 is legalized, according to the Pioneer Press.

Holder said the legalization of marijuana would impede the government's efforts with state and local law enforcement, because drug traffickers usually distribute marijuana, as well as cocaine and other drugs, according to the Pioneer Press.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said in the Los Angeles Times, "You can't make a law in contradiction to federal law as a state."

The United States would violate international drug treaties if Californians approve the proposition, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, called on the Obama administration last week to campaign against the initiative.

The man who attempted to bomb Times Square was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

Faisal Shahzad, 31, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to ten bombing-related counts in June, according to the Washington Post.

Shahzad placed an SUV with 3 homemade bombs in Times Square, which he attempted to detonate, according to the Los Angeles Times. However, the bombs were not properly wired, and they did not detonate.

Shahzad was arrested on May 3 at John F. Kennedy International Airport when he boarded a plane to Dubai, according to the New York Times.

U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum said that it was necessary for Shahzad to be sentenced to life, according to the Washington Post, because it will protect the public from people that want to follow Shahzad.

A travel alert may be issued by the Obama administration for American citizens traveling in Europe because of the recent terror plot by al-Qaida.

A travel alert may be issued Sunday by the State Department for American citizens traveling to Europe because of the recent terror plots planned by top al-Qaida leaders, according to the Star Tribune.

The travel alert would be for citizens to exercise caution while traveling in Europe, according to the Telegraph. However, the alert is not intended for citizens to cancel their plans abroad.

The alert would not mention specific locations in Europe, according to the Guardian.

U.S. and European officials have said that the threat by al-Qaida is not specific, according to the Star Tribune, but it is credible.