Ms Davidson, who was newly elected to the Scottish Parliament in May, is expected to make a formal announcement about her bid on Monday.

BBC: Scottish Tory leadership favourite 'to split party'

The announcement follows a revised bid from Agility Trains, a consortium led by Hitachi, for the new inter-city express programme (IEP) which will see most of the old inter-city 125 trains replaced.

BBC: Rail electrification statement

Soon after his official announcement, he told CNN that his bid would be based on a consistent conservative record.

CNN: Santorum's decision came down to odds and his daughter

Mr de Villepin approved the deal only after it became clear that Suez was vulnerable to a hostile Italian bid, holding a press conference on a Saturday to make the surprise announcement.

ECONOMIST: France

Monday's announcement by the board of Alitalia that it was accepting a bid by Air France-KLM provoked howls of outrage from politicians and union leaders over the fire sale price being offered, as well as the impact the sale would have on the economy of Milan, the Italian capital of business.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The announcement came four days before the close of Vodafone's hostile takeover bid for Mannesmann.

BBC: Vodafone seals Mannesmann merger

But it will be a hard slog, and made harder by last week's announcement from the Reverend Jesse Jackson that he will not make a third bid for the Democratic nomination.

ECONOMIST: Can the black vote hold up?