Republicans Warm Up Ahead Of First Debate

The Republican presidential field will shrink considerably on Tuesday as the 10 party hopefuls for the first formal debate of the 2016 primary season will be announced.

All but three of the 17 major Republican candidates for president took part in a New Hampshire forum on Monday night - widely seen as a warm up for the first debate hosted by Fox News.

But only the top 10 candidates - based on national polls - will be allowed to take part in the 9pm televised debate in Cleveland on Thursday.

The remaining seven candidates will face off earlier in the day on Thursday, at a time when far fewer viewers will be watching.

Billionaire tycoon Donald Trump has enjoyed a rise in recent polls and his place in the debate is virtually assured.

But others including former technology executive Carly Fiorina, Ohio Governor John Kasich, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and former Texas Governor Rick Perry are on the edge.

The forum was staged at St Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, and was part-sponsored by the Union Leader newspaper. Mr Trump said he would not attend because of a dispute with the newspaper.

Each of the candidates was given 30 seconds to speak directly to voters ahead of the first debate.

Among the topics brought up by the candidates was the Iran nuclear programme deal, illegal immigration and President Obama's plans to curb carbon emissions.

The candidates all targeted criticism at Democrats rather than each other, but did not mention Mr Trump during the two-hour forum.

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey on Sunday showed Mr Trump was ahead with 19%, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on 15% and former Florida governor Jeb Bush with 14%.