President stops off on his campaign trip to consider how far the US has come on its civil rights journey

A couple of years ago, on an evening that I was regrettably absent from, a few friends of mine ended up partying with Andrew W.K. If you’re familiar with the 32-year-old rock star/celebrated hedonist/motivational speaker, you’ll know that this is a big deal. A very big deal. Because no-one parties quite like Andrew W.K. The man has made it his mission to party; it’s his religion. Why just live, when you can party?

No prizes for guessing who Nicklaus Lewis is named after. His father Randy Lewis, who condemned the 19-year-old to a lifetime of having his first name misspelled, admitted: "Jack was always my hero."

The humiliation of once-proud Detroit, cradle of the American automobile industry and of the sound that became known simply as Motown, seems to know no end as the city has reluctantly and angrily agreed for the first time to share control of its future destiny with the penny-pinchers from far-away Lansing, the state capital.

'It was like a dance where I knew I could lead her, but she could lead me, too'

In this gruelling Republican primary season, many a battle has been termed make or break, only for hostilities to resume the day after with the balance of forces virtually unchanged. But next Tuesday's contest in Illinois could be the exception.

The chances are that Tiffany Porter will be on the rostrum for the 60m hurdles medal ceremony in the Atakoy Athletics Arena today. Unless Australia's Sally Pearson false-starts or crashes into a barrier, however, the British team captain is unlikely to be singing the national anthem.

The race for the Republican nomination could be on the cusp of a shake-up with aides to Newt Gingrich whispering for the first time that he needs to win in two southern states voting next week or face leaving the field.

Disaster narrowly averted in his native state of Michigan, Mitt Romney was last night preparing to take a reinvigorated fight for the Republican presidential nomination to 10 states voting on ‘Super Tuesday’ next week.

Republican frontrunner accuses rival Santorum of dirty tricks as Super Tuesday draws near

As Republican primary voters go to the polls in Michigan today, the US President Barack Obama will be trumpeting the renaissance of the state's auto industry, born of a taxpayer bailout in the depths of the recession which both current Republican front-runners say should never have been approved.

Blemished by a botched rally in a near-empty Detroit stadium and an unfortunate boast about his collection of cars, Mitt Romney was last night stumbling towards primary contests in two key American states on Tuesday that could determine the future of his quest for the Republican nomination.

Jeb Bush, seen by some as a Republican candidate-in-waiting for the 2016 presidential season, has set aside normal party decorum by lamenting this year's contenders, likening them to a "circular firing squad" scaring away independent voters with right-wing rhetoric that plays on their fears.

As former senator surges ahead of Mitt Romney, President's aides question his 'divisive' policies