On her way to pick up her New York City Marathon bib number Friday, longtime New Yorker Lauren Mandel was having second thoughts of running in the iconic race. Just four days after Superstorm Sandy hit her city, she was wracked by a knot in her stomach as she got closer to the convention center serving as the hub for race participants. "Walking past ... generators heating up tents for people to eat pasta tomorrow night when there are people who haven't eaten a hot meal in five days" left her with the feeling: "This is so inappropriate and this is so wrong," she said. Those feelings of outrage echoed across the city and nationwide since Wednesday, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the race would go on as scheduled.

US-Mars-Rover-Atmosphere

Drumroll please. The results are in. The rover Curiosity, equipped with the most sophisticated tools ever sent to the Red Planet, has returned the initial measurements of the composition of the Martian atmosphere. And they are ...

US-Coastal-Migration

Last month a small pocket of marshland in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey was saved from development. The local online newspaper, the Sandpaper.net, celebrated the preservation of Grassle Marsh -- named for a leading authority on the larvae of surf clams - and its populations of kingfishers and fiddler crabs. This week, Little Egg Harbor -- on the shore of Ocean County - was pulverized by 'superstorm' Sandy. Homes were turned into debris fields; boats were tossed into the marshes or piled on top of each other. One quiet ceremony, one catastrophic storm. Both symbolize a national dilemma -- as the headlong migration to America's coastlines clashes with rapidly changing climate patterns and more powerful storms.

SPORT-NHl-Winter-Classic-Canceled

The National Hockey League on Friday put its annual outdoor Winter Classic game on ice -- the latest casualty of the NHL's lockout of its players.

POLITICS

POL-Election-Challenges

When Superstorm Sandy rocked the Eastern Seaboard earlier this week, uncertainty over Tuesday's election began to creep into the minds of those who have spent months organizing it. Though polling places up and down the East Coast were still without power Friday, Sandy's impact is most noticeable in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, scene of widespread flooding, power outages and hurricane-force winds.

POL-Election-Monitors

The Justice Department Friday announced that it is dispatching more than 780 federal observers and monitors to 23 states to watch for potential problems which would violate voting rights protected by federal law.

Election-Observers

For the past decade, international election observers have traveled to the United States to witness how Americans conduct their presidential election. They are back again this year but officials in the battleground state of Iowa and in Texas have warned that the observers could face criminal charges if they try to show up at polling stations on Tuesday. Observers, however, told CNN it's a tempest in a teapot -- they're not going to break the law.

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Launching their final campaign bursts in a close and contentious race, President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney argued Friday over who will bring real change to a nation still mired in a sluggish economy.

POL-Romney-Home-State

Mitt Romney trails in states with personal ties, including Michigan, where he was born, and Massachusetts, where he served as governor.

POL-CNN-Ohio-Poll

With four days to go until the presidential election, a new poll indicates the race for arguably the most important battleground state remains very close.

POL-Clinton-Pennsylvania

Add one more high-profile name to the list of those making surprising, last-minute stops to Pennsylvania just days before Election Day: Former President Bill Clinton.

POL-Final-Stretch-Ads

In final stretch, campaigns and allies drop $93 million for battleground ads

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