In today’s top news, analysts say Obama is set up for an electoral win in Tuesday’s presidential election, Jay-Z will perform at an Obama event in Ohio Monday and Chris Rock tells undecided white voters, “Barack Obama is a white president you can trust.”
Some analysts say Obama is set up for an electoral win in Tuesday’s presidential election. [CBSNews]

Jay-Z will perform at an Obama event in Ohio Monday. [BET]

Chris Rock tells undecided white voters, “Barack Obama is a white president you can trust.” [Politico]

California residents found absentee ballots in the trash. [NECN]

Celebrities gathered to honor comedian Eddie Murphy. [USAToday]

A$AP Rocky says his fashion choices champion homosexual acceptance. [BET]

Juvenile’s son, Young Juve, was arrested for fighting a woman outside an Orlando nightclub. [BET]

African firms are making a bid to take over mobile gaming. [CNN]

Somalia gets its first female foreign minister, Fauzia Yusuf Haji Adan. [BBC]

South Sudan expelled a U.N. human rights official accusing her of producing “unjustified” reports. [AJE]

In today’s top news, 13 have been charged in the hazing death of FAMU band member Robert Champion, Trayvon Martin’s social media posts may be used at George Zimmerman’s murder trial and Rapper 2 Chainz will educate voters about felon’s voting rights for “Respect My Vote!” campaign.

Thirteen charged in the hazing death of FAMU band member Robert Champion. [BET]

Trayvon Martin’s social media posts may be used at George Zimmerman’s murder trial. [Miami Herald]

Rapper 2 Chainz to educate voters about felons’ voting rights for “Respect My Vote!” campaign. [BET]

Newt Gingrich suspends his presidential campaign. [BET]

Beyoncé wins writing award from the New York Association of Black Journalists. [NYDN]

Singer Omarion joins Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group. [BET]

A student files a $20 million claim against the DEA for being left in a holding cell for four days. [NBC]

Facebook privacy problems are on the rise. [MSNBC]

Jobless numbers see biggest dip in the last year. [Reuters]

Dozens are killed in a raid on a cattle market in northern Nigeria. [BBC]

In today’s top news, a new study stresses the importance of mobilizing Black voters, more Black families are turning to home schooling and Afghan president Hamid Karzai calls for U.S. troops to leave the country’s villages.

A new study stresses the importance of mobilizing Black voters. [BET]

More Black families are turning to home schooling. [BBC]

Afghan president Hamid Karzai calls for U.S. troops to leave the country’s villages. [MSNBC]

Carol’s Daughter is planning to launch an online destination dedicated to natural hair. [BET]

Death investigation of Florida teen Trayvon Martin has been sent to the State Attorney’s Office. [BET]

Survey shows three out of ten adults aged 25 to 34 are living at home with parents. [TODAY]

Study links cadmium and other estrogen-like pollutants to higher rates of breast cancer. [LATimes]

Mississippi college band yells racial remark at a Latino basketball player during a game. [CNN]

Houston mother to be reunited with her son who was kidnapped eight years ago. [AP]

Uganda gay group sues U.S. evangelical minister for allegedly sowing hatred. [BBC]

Cholera Deaths Skyrocket in Zimbabwe. At the end of last week, the death toll from Zimbabwe’s cholera epidemic was 1,564, up from 484 earlier this month. Just since August, there have been 29,131 suspected cases of the waterborne illness. The surge of cholera is due to the nation’s crumbling health, sanitation and water services, reports the BBC.  It could take six months to take control of the outbreak, according to the United Nations. “The overall case fatality rate has risen to 5.7 percent – far above the 1 percent that is normal in large outbreaks – and in some rural areas it has reached as high as 50 percent,” the World Health Organization said in a statement. Many people don’t have any access to health care because facilities have closed. The news doesn’t get better when it comes to food aid; children’s charity, Save the Children, says about 5 million in the nation need food aid. Critics of longtime Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe blame him for the country’s problems, including having the world’s highest inflation rate. Progress on a power-sharing deal with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has slowed because of disagreements over which party will control important cabinet positions.

Guyana to Cast Ballots. A bill passed in the South American nation’s parliament Monday, paves the way for local elections in Guyana after more than 14 years. The Local Authorities (Election) Amendment Bill passed with a 29-22 vote. The law allows the minister of local government to authorize local councils to hold elections (which have been postponed 12 times now) for mayor, or any other elected position, reports the BBC.  The move was rejected by opposition members who accused the ruling Peoples Progressive Party of trying to gain influence over local government. The minister of local government, Khellawan Lall, said that some municipalities were not operating and having meetings for years because there was no majority (quorum) there to hold an election. He added that local government needed “new blood” along with a new approach to doing things, reports Caribbean Net. Lall blamed the recent problems with flooding in cities on the lack of local leadership. “Flooding was exacerbated due to neglect and inappropriate dumping of garbage,” he said, adding that officials were instead using the Council to further their own political aspirations while showing “no evidence of management of municipalities.” Elections are scheduled for every three years, under the new law.

NAACP lawsuit to be heard today. The Virginia NAACP lawsuit that charges the state officials with not being ready to handle the onslaught of voters expected to hit the polls to cast their ballots on Tuesday will be heard in federal court today. State officials say they are prepared to handle voters, who have increased by 11 percent over the number registered for the last presidential election. They say they have added equipment and poll workers. The lawsuit seeks to increase election equipment in areas where heavy turnout is expected.

Pre-election dirty tricks break out nationwide.  Everything from confusing flyers and e-mails to disturbing phone calls are among the dirty tricks being tried to keep folks from voting or to confuse them, usually through intimidation or misinformation. Much of it has a racial tone. Complaints have surfaced in predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Philadelphia, where fliers have circulated, warning voters they could be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets or if they had criminal convictions, reports The Associated Press. In Virginia, bogus fliers with an authentic-looking commonwealth seal said fears of high voter turnout had prompted election officials to hold two elections – one on Tuesday for Republicans and another on Wednesday for Democrats. Tuesday is the official national Election Day for all voters. Read about the other dirty tricks going on across the nation here.

NAACP puts voting readiness lawsuit on hold. The NAACP says it would seek an immediate hearing on the lawsuit it filed to challenge wither the state of Virginia, an important battleground state in the upcoming election, has done enough to prepare for the potential onslaught of new voters expected to show up on Nov. 4, reports Virginia’s NBC29. The Virginia chapter of the venerable civil rights group filed the lawsuit earlier this week, asking that the state to increase the number of voting machines in places where heavy turnout is expected and lengthen the amount of time voters get to vote by another two hours. The nation’s first Black governor, L. Douglas Wilder, who is now the mayor or Richmond, Va., had also asked the state to extend voting ours by three hours. However, Gov. Kaine has said that the stat has adequately prepared for the increased number of voters expected to hit the polls for the presidential election on Tuesday. “We’ve taken big precincts, which maybe had too many people, and divided them into smaller precincts so the lines would be shorter,” Kaine said. The NAACP did not say why the organization changed its mind and decided not to ask for a hearing on its lawsuit Thursday or why it decided not to withdraw their complaint all together. While the NAACP did not make a statement, the organization reported is not planning to pursue the lawsuit any further until they find out how things go on Election Day. Get more election headlines here.

U.S. soldiers deaths in Iraq War at all-time low. Finally, some good news about the Iraq War. U.S. deaths are at an all-time low over a month-long period, according to Pentagon figures. In fact, October could well be the first month in which no U.S. service members were killed in combat in Baghdad.  All told, as of Thursday, the Pentagon had reported 13 U.S. troops killed in combat and non-combat incidents this month in Iraq. If the number holds, thought, the number of deaths would tie July for the lowest monthly U.S. death toll of the 5½-year-old war. The war has claimed 4,189 U.S. service men and women since it started.

Zambians cast their ballots for president. Voters in Zambia headed out to the polls Thursday to elect a new president, a successor to late President Levy Mwanawasa, who died of a stroke in August, reports Reuters. Although the campaign season has been generally peaceful, Patriotic Front opposition leader Michael Sata has accused the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy of rigging the vote. “I have never seen this type of panicking and this is because they have rigged the election,” said Sata as he was casting his ballot in the nation’s capital Lusaka. “They have rigged the election in favor of Rupiah Banda. It is the first time that the army commander, who is supposed to protect people, is predicting violence.”  Rupiah Banda, who is currently serving as acting president, has a lot of experience. The nation’s election monitoring group, the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP), has said that there were a few issues with voter identification and verification. But they also said that while an army chief threatened people who misbehaved after voting, it did not amount to a threat to all citizens. “For sure, it was unnecessary for the army commander to issue threats, it does intimidate, it does create fear in some ordinary citizens,” an FODEP official said.

Charity leaves Niger after lack of government response. The charity Doctors Without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres) is set to pack up its bags and leave Niger, a region where they say they are desperately needed, reports the BBC. The charity was suspended from working in the country months ago but just recently decided to throw in the towel on charity work in the nation. “As we have not received a response from Niger authorities and in view of government statements, the French section of Medecins sans Frontieres cannot help but leave the country,” the group said in a statement. But Niger’s government says MSF is making the problem of malnourished children in the nation seem bigger than it really is; they also say the charity refuses to work with the government. And the country’s health minister said that the child hunger is something they are equipped to take care of;  a statement that charity officials couldn’t disagree with more. “Maradi is one of the regions in Niger most affected by malnutrition. Since MSF’s activities in southern Maradi were halted, and despite an increase in admissions into other health centers and MSF projects in the surrounding areas, thousands of children are not receiving treatment,” said the president of MSF’s international board, Christophe Fournier. “It is shocking that a government, after having allowed innovative programs to be established, would ignore the needs of thousands of children.”

But the question is: Will it be enough to defeat a surging McCain.

Obama raises a record $66 million in August. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s supporters decided last month that they had better make sure their candidate has the cash to compete against his Republican rival. Get more at Pamela on Politics.

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