New York - The international finance crisis claimed another US bank on Friday, as regional bank National City was taken over by rival PNC Financial Services, in a merger that will create the nation

Berlin - German railways company Deutsche Bahn said Friday it would idle the most modern type of its bullet trains, amid fears that the axles of the ICE T trains are cracking.

It blamed the major disruption in German passenger services beginning Saturday on the manufacturers of the swift electric trains.

The consortium of Siemens, Alstom and Bombardier refused to provide "reliable data" on the safety of the axles, said Bahn chief executive Hartmut Mehdorn.

A cracked axle was blamed earlier this year for a low-speed ICE derailment at Cologne station in which nobody was hurt.

Wiesbaden, Germany  - After months of political manoeuvring, a German Social Democratic (SPD) leader on Friday unveiled details of her legislative takeover bid in the central state of Hesse.

Andrea Ypsilanti said she would invite legislators to elect her as premier on November 4, leading a minority coalition government with the Greens and counting on the votes of the Left party.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) immediately accused Ypsilanti of breaking a pre-election promise not to ally with the Left, which embraces former East German communists and western leftists.

Lusaka - Friday's celebration of Zambian independence took a back seat to campaigning in next week's presidential election, with acting president Rupiah Banda and opposition leader Michael Sata slugging it out to succeed recently deceased leader, Levy Mwanawasa, amid warnings of possible violence.

Zambia's army chaplain Colonel James Phiri used the occasion of the country's 44th anniversary of independence from Britain to appeal to the candidates to denounce violence ahead of the October 30 poll.