Obama closes in on White House nomination

Barack Obama moved a step closer to clinching the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination today with a strong performance in the last major contests of the US primary season.

The young Illinois senator, who would be America's first black presidential nominee, beat rival Hillary Clinton by 14 points in North Carolina, with 56% to 42% of the vote, and also fought an extremely tight race in Indiana, where the former first lady clinched the win by just two points, with 51% to 49%. In both states, 99% of the results were in so far.