Storm Sandy: New York marathon cancelled after protests

This year’s New York City marathon has been cancelled in the aftermath of the super storm Sandy, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced.
 
In a statement, he said: “We would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it.”
 
Plans to press ahead with Sunday’s event had prompted widespread anger in cyclone-ravaged parts of the city, BBC reports.Ninety-six US deaths, 40 of them in New York, have been blamed on Sandy.
 
The storm had already killed 69 people as it swept across the Caribbean.
 
Across the US East Coast, some 3.5 million homes and businesses – 1.2 million in New York state alone – still have no electricity, four days after the storm made landfall.
 
Petrol shortages have also caused forecourt confrontations from New Jersey to Connecticut – one motorist was arrested after pulling a gun during an argument at a petrol queue.
 
In a bid to ease the fuel crunch on Friday, the US waived a law that normally bans foreign oil tankers from entering its north-eastern ports.
 
The Obama administration also ordered the purchase of up to 12m gallons (45m litres) of petrol and up to 10m gallons of diesel for areas affected by Sandy.
 
On Friday evening, musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Christiana Aguliera and Billy Joel performed in an hour-long televised benefit for those affected by the storm.   Read more... (245 words)

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