Voters throughout the South are overwhelming the polls

. Unprecedented numbers of early voters in Florida and other southern states are prompting election officials to add equipment, extend schedules and urge patience. About 150,000 people cast ballots in Florida, a key swing state, on Monday and Tuesday, the first two days of early voting. The Sunshine State is again a focal point of the election, with its 27 prized electoral votes up for grabs - 10 percent of the 270 needed to clinch the election. The state’s disputed election in 2000 gave the presidency to George W. Bush. This year, Republican John McCain and Democrat Obama are locked in head-to-head battle. The excitement over this year’s election has prompted hundreds of early voters to line up to cast their ballots in states nationwide, including in several key battleground states like Florida, Ohio and Nevada. Voters in every state can cast early ballots and results won’t be released until Nov. 4. About a third of the entire electorate is expected to vote early this year. In North Carolina, which also has 15 electoral votes, more than a half-million people have cast ballots, prompting at least one county to add several days to the schedule at a handful of sites. Metro Atlanta polling sites are reporting thousands of voters piling into the centers each day, with two-hour waits in some places. Georgia has 15 electoral votes up for grabs, and early voting there has doubled since that of 2004, officials report. Some 825,000 had cast their ballots by Wednesday, which amounts to about 15 percent of Georgia’s registered voters, The Associated Press reports.

World Lens: Flooding continues to devastate the Caribbean, African immigrants protest killing in Europe and Japanese get crazy on the runway. See these pics and more here.

Rape cartoon featuring African leader causes outrage

 South African officials are not too happy about a cartoon depicting African leader Jacob Zuma unzipping his pants to rape “justice.” Both the cartoonist and the paper where it ran are refusing to apologize, reports Agence France-Presse. The cartoon, which appeared in The Sunday Times, features Zuma, the leader of the African National Congress who is currently facing a corruption case. It shows him opening his pants while men representing the ANC, the South African Communist Party, the ANC Youth League and COSATU hold down a blindfolded woman labeled “justice.” One of them tells Zuma, “Go for it, boss.” The groups immediately slammed the paper. “The cartoon rubbishes the collective integrity of the alliance and constitutes yet another continued violation of the rights and dignity of the ANC president,” they said in a joint statement. In 2006, Zuma was found not guilty of rape and some thought the cartoon was trying to insinuate he was a rapist. The paper denies the claim, though, saying the cartoon was only referring to his corruption case. And the cartoonist, Zapiro, stands strongly behind his work. “I am angry at them, I am outraged … at what Jacob Zuma is trying to do to the justice system and constitutional principles along with his team of lawyers and his political allies,” he said in an interview with a South African radio station. “The central message is that Zuma is about to, poised to, trying to rape [the] justice system. …”

Nine die in Somalia fighting. At least nine people died Wednesday when Ethiopia-backed government troops clashed with rebel forces in the Somali capital of Mogadishu The Associated Press reports. The two sides have fought fiercely throughout the year, but the insurgents, who are Muslim, promised to increase attacks during the holy month of Ramadan. About 100 of them shouted “God is great” as they fired at a military base for both Ethiopian and Somali-government troops. They exchanged fire in a heated battle, leaving at least four civilians killed, the news service reports. Ethiopian troops are in the country to help stabilize the nation’s government; political violence has existed there for more than 15 years. The government succeeded in driving rebels out of the capital in 2006, but attacks in the area have spiked this year.

Nigeria confiscates cash from Africans for Obama. The Nigerian government seized $630,000 (74m naira) raised by Africans for Obama, a group that backs U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama, reports the BBC. The country’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said that while the group did not break any laws, it will be giving the money back to the people who went to the organization’s fundraising gala dinner in Lagos last month.  Campaigns or political parties from the United States cannot receive contributions from groups overseas and the Obama campaign publically distanced themselves from the organization, according to reports.  Ndi Okereke-Onyuike, who leads the group (and is also chairman of the Nigerian Stock Exchange) insists the media got the group’s motives all wrong. The money, she says, actually was intended to be spent encouraging Nigerians in the United States to vote for Obama. “We never said we were going to donate money for the campaign. We paid for the hall and the entertainers and the surplus; we said it would be spent on advertisements aimed at persuading Nigerians to tell their relatives in America to register to vote,” she said, adding “There is not one Nigerian who doesn’t have a relative or friend in America.” But advertisements for the Aug. 11 gala (where it cost more than $21,000 for an eight-person table) didn’t really say what the group was going to do with the money. And, according to the EFCC, officials had told Okereke-Onyuike to “steer clear of such activities in future.”

South Africa signs oil agreement with Venezuela. South Africa and Venezuela signed a huge and historic oil agreement Tuesday, reports CNN. Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez met up with South African leader Thabo Mbeki to sign a deal involving oil and gas. While both sides are mum about specific details surrounding the agreement, reports speculate that it probably involves Venezuela providing South African oil company PetrosSA crude at lower rates. “It will be a wonderful day, the day when the first Venezuelan tanker will stop by to leave oil for South Africa,” said Chavez. At the news conference announcing the agreement, Chavez applauded unity between the southern nations, saying that with times being hard worldwide, it was necessary for the countries to use a “new strategic agenda, to conduct a true strategic change in international relations.” He also said he would like to examine the African nation’s “gas-to-liquid” technology and is looking to use the nation’s oil storage facilities (capable of holding 45 million barrels). Mbeki said the agreements added to “the further empowerment of the countries of the south.” He also hinted at the motivation behind the agreement saying, “The object is to assist in reducing the costs of energy.”

South Africa suffers over 100 weekend bush fires. Over the weekend, over 100 bush fires sparked across South Africa, leaving at least 20 people dead, reports the BBC.  Fourteen of the deceased died in fires in the KwaZulu-Natal province and three others died when their shack caught on fire in the Eastern Cape, say police. Three people in the Mpumalanga province also perished in the blazes. The fires, which started in the bush, spread and were made worse by strong winds, leaving dozens of people homeless in Cape Town. And a local forecaster is not optimistic about them ending soon. “There are still fires burning on the eastern Highveld, in Swaziland and northern KwaZulu-Natal and there are isolated fires over Limpopo,” said the forecaster. The fires, which have already burned 125,000 acres of land, are unprecedented in the nation. “This particular situation has never been experienced before. Reports are coming in from all over the country,” a spokesman from Johannesburg’s Emergency Services told the BBC.

Plane crashes in Congo. A plane, carrying charity workers, crashed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, reports the BBC. Fifteen people and two crew members were aboard the plane when it crashed. The aircraft lost contact Monday night with ground control after leaving Kisangani, and 10 minutes before reaching the city Bukavu. The plane crashed in pouring rain. A rescue helicopter was not able to land near the crash, so it is unknown whether there are any survivors. Because the country has a bad air safety history, many humanitarian agencies coordinate their own air travel. They used Air Serv, a non-profit.

He says that the media and police are transfixed on finding White females.
Nine months have passed since a 16-year-old Black girl was reportedly kidnapped from her southern California high school, but there has been no massive public outcry from law-enforcement agencies or the media like that afforded missing White females, an NAACP official said Thursday. Find out more about her disappearance and what you can do at BET.com/News. Anyone with information about Chimoa should contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST.

South African dog fights another dog to save boy. In South Africa, a Rottweiler fought off a pit bull who was mauling a little boy, reports the BBC. Two-year-old Tshepang Taeli and his grandmother were walking down the street when the pit bull attacked him, viciously dragging him down the road. Several residents kicked the dog to try to get him off of the child but he would not let go. “I have never felt so much pain in my life. The dog was attacking him and I was trying to release him and I could not,” said the boy’s grandmother. That’s when one neighbor went to get his Rottweiler, Blade, who helped save the boy’s life. “He fought the other dog to free the child. Blade is very protective,” Blade’s owner, Ricky Veludo told a local newspaper. The child was taken to the hospital, where he is now recovering from suffering bites on his face, legs and stomach. Police are investigating the attack.

Zimbabwe police arrest opposition lawmakers

Zimbabwe police arrested more opposition members Wednesday, saying they were connected to the violence before the country’s runoff election in June, reports CNN. Police insist the arrests of Movement for Democratic Change members, five in total, are not politically motivated. “These (parliament members) have been on the police wanted list which we made public. We have been looking for them for a long time since the offenses were committed,” a police spokesman said. But MDC officials are not buying it. They think the government along with longtime leader Robert Mugabe is just trying to cut down on the number of opposition members in parliament. “The arrests are harassment and an attempt to undermine our parliamentary majority,” MDC’s information director said. “We expected that retribution after having shown Mugabe that he is not welcome in parliament.” Mugabe was booed and heckled when he spoke in front of the body Tuesday. He still remains optimistic that a power sharing agreement, between himself and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai can be reached. The two are set to resume talks, mediated by South African president Thabo Mbeki, this week.

Death toll in Somali minibus attack rises fThe death toll in Friday’s attack on two Somali minibuses by Ethiopian troops has risen to 60 after people in the neighborhood discovered 16 more bodies, reports the BBC. The attack happened near Mogadishu when Ethiopian forces were hit by a roadside bomb and retaliated by shooting, according to witnesses. “Ethiopian convoys opened fire into different areas where thousands of displaced people were living; they killed everyone on the road,” Sahra Nor Osma, a witness, told The Associated Press. Ethiopia is in the country supporting Somalia’s transitional government, and trying to rid the country of insurgents. But Mogadishu has been prone to attacks. On the same day of this attack, insurgents fired on President Abdullah Yusuf’s convoy while it was leaving the country for Ethiopia for ceasefire talks. Government troops then fired back, killing five civilians.

Still no Zimbabwe power-sharing deal after summit

This weekend’s Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit came to a close Sunday without a power-sharing deal between Zimbabwe’s president and opposition leader, reports the BBC. South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki hosted the summit (which includes 14 member nations) and is also the lead mediator of the talks between longtime Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. “It’s clearly not possible to say when negotiations will be concluded. It’s a matter of negotiating parties reconvening,” he told reporters following the summit. Other leaders at the summit were optimistic that there is a base for a deal, though. Hundreds of protesters, upset that Mugabe was even invited to the summit, protested outside of the meeting Saturday. They, along with Botswana’s President Ian Khama, who actually boycotted the meeting, don’t think Mugabe should be recognized as president of Zimbabwe after June’s runoff election, which many in the international community called a sham. Days before the runoff, Tsvangirai dropped out of the race because of violence against his supporters.

Blacks in the South have higher HIV rates. Blacks in the South have higher HIV and AIDS rates. Why? Read more at BET.com/Body & Soul.

Be Sickle Smart program hits major cities.

The Be Sickle Smart program is on the road, and likely will be in a city near you. “American Idol” season two Winner Ruben Studdard hosted the Be Sickle Smart Education Day in Jacksonville, Fla., last Saturday to raise awareness of the risk of iron overload, a serious condition that affects people living with sickle-cell disease. Transfusional iron overload is a serious condition that can arise from having 10 or more blood transfusions over one’s lifetime (which is common among people who suffer from sickle-cell disease). If left untreated, iron overload can lead to serious health problems, including liver and heart damage, to name a few. The nationwide Be Sickle Smart campaign is a community-based health education effort leveraging advocacy groups, churches, local media and community leaders to raise awareness of sickle-cell disease and iron overload. The program will continue in Birmingham on Sept. 13 and Chicago on Sept. 18, with other stops planned later for Atlanta, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Philadelphia. More than 70,000 people in America have sickle-cell disease. One in 12 African Americans carries the trait for sickle-cell disease. For more information, go to Ask About Iron.com.

Is L.A. driving the trans fat bandwagon off a cliff?
Vital Signs: Cities and states are helping you cut the fat from your diets. Cities like Los Angeles are going as far as to stop fast food restaurants from opening in poor communities to lessen the number of unhealthy restaurants there. But do we really need that kind of help in the fat fight, or is the city going too far? Vital Signs has more.

All parties report progress in reaching a deal.

A negotiated political settlement that addresses the problems besetting Zimbabwe could be agreed to as soon as this week, The Standard of Kenya is reporting. The negotiators representing the three parties at the talks resume their negotiations in Pretoria, South Africa, on Sunday. Two weeks ago when the leaders of Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC signed a Memorandum of Understanding, they committed themselves to concluding the talks within two weeks. Tomorrow (Monday) marks the last day of the two-week timeline the parties set themselves to reach an agreement. But The Standard was told that while an agreement might not be reached within the next couple of days, the deal will not be too far off the deadline the parties committed themselves to as they were inching toward a final agreement. While there was some groundwork to be covered, the parties to the negotiations were in agreement that there were no insurmountable obstacles to a final settlement, according to The Standard. The optimism on a final agreement being reached this week is indicated in the statements of the three leaders and the arrival here of the chief mediator, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. After Mbeki’s visit, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told reporters that he was “fairly satisfied” with the talks, while acknowledging there were “sticking points.” Professor Arthur Mutambara, who heads the other MDC formation, has used pretty much the same language, saying his side remains committed to finding a settlement to the impasse. President Robert Mugabe spoke of the “talks progressing well” and pledged his party’s total commitment to the “speedy conclusion and successful outcome of the talks so that we can focus on the recovery of our economy.” Tsvangirai and Mutambara are in South Africa, but there was no immediate indication suggesting their presence there signaled imminent conclusion to the talks.

ANC leader fights corruption charges.

Lawyers for Jacob Zuma, president of the African National Congress, urged judges Monday to declare Zuma’s prosecution on corruption charges unlawful. Zuma contends the case against him is about politics, not actual crimes. He says it’s aimed at harming his chances to become his party’s presidential nominee next spring. Zuma could spend at least 15 years in jail if found guilty of accepting bribes from a company that won a contract for a multi-billion-dollar arms deal.

At least 133 people die in Indian stampede. At least 133 people were killed in a stampede Sunday as panicked worshippers tried to flee a crowded mountaintop Hindu temple in northern India, officials said. The stampede, which occurred on the second day of a nine-day religious festival at the Naina Devi Temple in Himachal Pradesh state, was triggered by a rumor of a landslide on the hill above the crowd, according to Deputy Police Commissioner C.P. Verma. Along with the deaths, 40 people were injured, Punjab Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla and police told CNN’s India affiliate IBN. The dead were taken to a hospital in neighboring Punjab state for autopsies, authorities said. While some victims were crushed to death, others fell to their deaths when a railing along the narrow path to the temple broke under the weight of the throng of panicked worshippers, Verma said.

Somalia fighting claims 27. More than 27 people were killed in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu on Sunday, including at least 20 women who died when a hidden landmine exploded, Radio Garowe reported. Another 42 women were wounded in Mogadishu’s Waberi district after the blast tore through a location where dozens of women were helping clean city streets, AllAfrica.com reports, Medina Hospital director Mohamud Yusuf Hassan said. “Some of the victims have grave injuries, and we are doing our best,” Mohamud told reporters, adding that four of the victims died at the hospital. Mohamed Dheere, Mogadishu’s embattled mayor, quickly blamed al Shabaab insurgents for the deadly explosion, but an Islamist spokesman rejected the accusations. Speaking to reporters at Medina Hospital, the mayor sent his condolences to the families of the deceased while strongly condemning the attackers. Somali insurgents readily claimed responsibility for a deadly battle along Industry Road today, where at least seven people were reported dead. The fighting, which erupted in Yaaqshiid district, pitted allied Somali-Ethiopian government forces against insurgents and led to the country’s rebel Islamic Courts movement.