President Barack Obama, locked in a tight re-election bid, is skipping campaign events in battleground states to visit victims of superstorm Sandy in New Jersey, a state he’s confident of winning.

The superstorm ravaging the US East Coast laid waste to the campaign strategies of President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney with just a week remaining in their intensely close race for the White House.

A conservative US Senate candidate sparked anger after telling TV viewers that it was “really rare” for women to become pregnant when they were raped.