Washington - Scott McClellan, the former White House spokesman and once a close confidant of President George W Bush, has said he will vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on November 4.

McClellan, who has since fallen out with Bush after sharply criticizing the president in his memoirs this spring, said Obama was best placed to change the way Washington does business, according to excerpts of a CNN interview to be broadcast on Saturday.

McClellan served as White House press secretary from 2003 to 2006. He had been a part of Bush's media team since his days as governor of Texas in the 1990s.

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

Washington - US stock indices posted steep drops on opening Friday, plunging more than 4 per cent on continued uncertainty over the state of the global economy.

The weak opening in New York followed sharp falls in Europe, Asia and the Middle East earlier in the day on fears of a recession following the widening financial crisis.