Mitt Romney laid claim to a fiercely contested Republican presidential nomination last night with five more primary triumphs and immediately set the tone for the general election campaign by attacking President Barack Obama over his handling of the economy.

Mitt Romney's expected wins in five US states that held primary votes last night will earn him scores of delegates on his way to becoming the Republican presidential nominee and allow him to concentrate on a campaign against Barack Obama.

Sixteen men and women pleaded not guilty in beard- and hair-cutting attacks against fellow Amish in the US state of Ohio.

It was a Fucking nightmare for the 104 residents of the unfortunately-named hamlet in Austria. Fuckingers, as they are called in Fucking, whose name is apparently derived from Focko, an old Bavarian nobleman, were told yesterday they could not switch to Fugging to avoid ridicule and the theft of road signs (a dozen have been pinched).

Rick Santorum, the standard bearer of the social conservatives, yesterday effectively pulled out of the Republican presidential race, making certain what has long been obvious: that Mitt Romney will be the party's nominee to face Barack Obama in November.

Daughter's health cited as decisive factor as party focuses on battle to oust Obama from White House

Bowing to the inevitable, Rick Santorum quit the presidential campaign today, clearing the way for Mitt Romney to claim the Republican nomination.

Mitt Romney tightened his grip on the Republican presidential nomination last night, sweeping primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington DC, and shifted his focus to the general election with a sharp attack on President Barack Obama.

Rick Santorum won the Louisiana Republican presidential primary this weekend, beating front-runner Mitt Romney in the race to challenge President Barack Obama.

Newt Gingrich said yesterday that there was probably no circumstance that would lead him to pull out of the Republicans' race to challenge President Barack Obama in November.

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 main Republican presidential contenders were last night locked in tight three-way races in primaries in Alabama and Mississippi, where defeat in either could doom the candidacy of the former Speaker Newt Gingrich, setting up a one-on-one contest between front runner Mitt Romney and social conservative Rick Santorum.

Rick Santorum has overwhelmingly won the Kansas Republican presidential caucuses, hoping to blunt front-runner Mitt Romney's momentum in the grinding campaign for the nomination to oppose US President Barack Obama in the November election.

Rick Santorum overwhelmingly won the Kansas presidential caucuses, hoping to blunt front-runner Mitt Romney's momentum in the grinding campaign for the nomination to oppose President Barack Obama in the November election.