Obama's grandmother dies

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama announced on Monday, on the eve of the presidential election, that his grandmother Madelyn Dunham had died from cancer, aged 86.
"It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer," Obama said in a joint statement with his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng.
"She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility.
"She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances.
"She was proud of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and left this world with the knowledge that her impact on all of us was meaningful and enduring. Our debt to her is beyond measure."
Obama took a day-and-a-half away from the campaign trail late last month to visit Dunham in his native Hawaii after saying she may not live until the election on Tuesday.
Dunham, whom he affectionately knew as "Toot," helped raise Obama, who barely knew his Kenyan-born father, and she was the last surviving close older relative, after his mother died from cancer over a decade ago.