INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- An Indiana woman who saved her two children by binding them together with a blanket and shielding them with her body as a tornado ripped apart their house lost parts of both her legs, which were crushed by the falling debris, her husband says.

Elections officials in several states are concerned that the closing of mail-processing centers and post offices could disrupt vote-by-mail balloting this year, a potential problem that has led some members of Congress to call for a delay until after the November elections.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- While other candidates for Congress have been wooing voters and donors, former Rep. Charles Djou of Hawaii has spent the past six months in Afghanistan where he was responsible for interrogating suspected Taliban fighters.

CANTON, Ohio (AP) -- Mitt Romney's allies are hoping Super Tuesday's powerful imprint on the Republican presidential nomination will bring clarity, at long last, to the fractious contest and rouse Republicans behind their front-runner. But that's strictly up to voters across the nation, weighing in on the most consequential day of the campaign to date.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new study shows that federal judges are handing out widely disparate sentences for similar crimes 30 years after Congress tried to create fairer results, but the differences don't line up with the party of the president who appointed the judges, despite any impressions that Republicans or Democrats may be tougher or softer on crime.

EAST BERNSTADT, Ky. (AP) -- The stories from tornado survivors across the South and Midwest were remarkable: schoolchildren took cover under desks, people hunkered down in a church basement or hid out in a bank vault. One family even piled on top of one another for protection.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama said Sunday that United States will not hesitate to attack Iran with military force to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon, but he cautioned that "too much loose talk of war" recently has only helped Tehran and driven up the price of oil.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated his concern Thursday that chronic long-term unemployment threatens to reduce the nation's supply of skilled workers.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Tattoos have long served as fashion statements, but a small number of Americans are now relying on them for a more practical, potentially lifesaving purpose: to warn first responders about important medical conditions.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A woman who calls herself the "Black Madam" could face charges in the death of a London tourist who received illegal buttocks-enhancement injections last year in a Philadelphia hotel, police said Thursday.