US Election 2016: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump rack up more wins

Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump have each won the most states on the biggest day of the race for the US presidential nominations.

The count is still on but Mr Trump has so far won seven states, compared to only two taken by his closest rival, Ted Cruz, and one by Marco Rubio.

Speaking in his home state of Texas, Mr Cruz urged other Republicans to quit the race and join him against Mr Trump.

Democrat Bernie Sanders had wins in four states.

Super Tuesday saw 11 states voting, from Massachusetts in the east to Alaska in the north-west. A 12th state, Colorado, held a caucus - won by Mr Sanders - but does not actually select its delegates until April.

It is a pivotal day because it allocates nearly a quarter of the 2,472 Republican delegates and some 20% of all delegates for the Democrats.

On 8 November, America is due to elect a successor to Barack Obama, a Democratic president standing down after two terms in office which have seen the Republicans take control of both houses of Congress.

Mrs Clinton, a former secretary of state, and Mr Trump, a property tycoon, entered Super Tuesday as favourites to win the vast majority of states for their respective parties.

In a victory speech, Mrs Clinton appeared to already be looking towards a potential presidential race against Mr Trump, saying: "The stakes in this election have never been higher and the rhetoric we're hearing on the other side has never been lower."

Donald Trump insisted that he was a "unifier" who could put internal fighting in the Republican party behind him.

"Once we get all this finished, I'm going after one person - Hillary Clinton," he told reporters in Florida, where he has been campaigning ahead of the state's vote later this month.

The billionaire insisted he had "expanded the Republican party", referring to higher turnout from a broad demographic in states that have already voted.

Super Tuesday states won so far:

• Donald Trump (Republican): Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Vermont
• Ted Cruz (Republican): Texas, Oklahoma
• Marco Rubio (Republican): Minnesota
• Hillary Clinton (Democrat): Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Texas, Massachusetts
• Bernie Sanders (Democrat): Vermont, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Colorado

 Source: BBC