A witch doctor in Barack Obama’s ancestral village has predicted a win for the local boy.

John Dimo tossed some shells, bones and other items outside his hut in Kogelo, western Kenya to determine who will triumph. Mr Dimo, who says he is 105, pointed to a white shell and declared: “Obama is very far ahead and is definitely going to win.”

In Kogelo, Obama’s late father’s home town, expectations of another victory for Obama are high. Most Kenyans consider Mr Obama, the son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya, as one of their own. (AP)

Memorial for dead fish

Animal activists want a roadside memorial sign to honour fish killed during a container truck crash in California.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said it would remind drivers that fish value their lives and feel pain.

About 1,600lbs of saltwater bass died when the truck taking them to market was in a three-way crash. (PA)

Superstorm reveals bones

Superstorm Sandy revealed a skeleton beneath the town green in New Haven, Connecticut, that may have been there since colonial times.

Police were called after bones were spotted in the upturned roots of a fallen oak tree.

The tree was planted on the green in 1909 on the 100th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s birth. (PA)

Wanted: Dutch poop

Three top Dutch medical schools are asking thousands of travellers to tropical countries to donate stool samples on return for a study into the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.

The combined study, launched by the Academic (AMC), Erasmus and Maastricht medical centres will focus on 2,000 travellers mainly to Asia and Africa, said AMC researcher Jarne van Hattem.

He said there has been a rise in antibiotic resistant intestinal bacterial infections in the Netherlands and researchers wanted to see whether these bacteria hitch a ride with travellers who pick them up in exotic destinations. (AFP)

Exercise before breakfast

Exercising on an empty stomach could be better for you than doing so after a meal, according to a study.

Men who had a workout before breakfast lost more fat than those who did so after the first meal of the day, scientists found.

The study was carried out by Dr Jason Gill and Nor Farah of the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow. (AP)

Amputee climbs skyscraper

An American amputee has climbed 103 stories of a skyscraper using a “bionic” mind-controlled false leg.

Zac Voter, who lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident, scaled around 2,100 steps to the top of Chicago’s Willis Tower. Mr Vawter took part in an annual charity event held by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, where he is receiving treatment.