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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama beat rival Hillary Clinton in North Carolina on Tuesday, moving a step closer to securing the Democratic presidential nomination after a grueling struggle.

Indiana is to early to call. Returns from 21 percent of the Indiana precincts showed Clinton with 57 percent of the vote to 43 percent for Obama.

The two states, with a combined 187 delegates to the August nominating convention at stake, were the biggest prizes left in the race to pick the party’s presidential candidate for November’s election. After Tuesday, only six contests remain.

A pair of losses would be disastrous for Clinton, the former first lady who is struggling to overtake Obama in the White House race.

Filed under: Clinton, Democrat, Election, Obama