GM posted a more modest rise of 11.5%, as it benefited from customers abandoning Toyota over the Japanese firm’s recall problems.

“We got what we thought was our fair share of Toyota sales,” said Mike DiGiovanni, GM executive director.

Toyota reported a fall in sales of 8.7% for the first full month since it announced major recalls in January.

The world’s biggest carmaker has now recalled more than 8 million cars over concerns about accelerator pedals and brake systems.

The fall in sales was not as big as the company had feared. “I’m surprised that we sold as many vehicles as we did,” said Bob Carter, a Toyota group vice president.

Executives from the company were facing questions from the US Congress on Tuesday regarding the safety issues that led to the recalls.

Mrs Merkel was speaking ahead of a meeting in Berlin with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

Mr Papandreou faces increased pressure at home as Greece’s two main unions called a new general strike.

The strike, on 11 March, is to protest against austerity cuts the unions say are “anti-popular” and “barbaric”.

Public sector workers are currently striking, and rock-throwing protestors outside parliament have clashed with police, who used tear gas to disperse them.

On Wednesday, Mr Papandreou revealed further tax rises and spending cuts that have gone down very badly with public sector workers, but could reduce the risk of Greece needing help.

Members of the Socialist-led Greek parliament are set to approve the austerity measures on Friday.

The ECB also signalled it would scale back the special lending measures introduced during the financial crisis.

ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet said that economic recovery in the euro area was “on track but will remain uneven”.

Worries remain about Greece’s ability to tackle its debt burden despite its announcement of new austerity plans.

But Mr Trichet dismissed suggestions that Greece could leave the euro as “an absurd hypothesis”.

“As president of the ECB I am making a very positive judgement on the decisions Greece has taken, they are convincing in our eyes.”

Earlier on Thursday, the Bank of England kept the UK’s key interest rate on hold at 0.5%, for the 12th month in a row.

Mr Li’s bid would be a joint venture between holding company Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI) and Hongkong Electric, which is 40% owned by CKI.

Last October EDF said it wanted to “evaluate ownership options” for its UK electricity distribution business.

EDF Group is seeking to raise at least 5bn euros (£4.5bn; $6.8bn) to reduce its debt levels.

There are thought to be three other potential buyers for EDF’s UK electricity distribution business.

EDF Energy operates about 100,000 miles of cable across London, the South East and eastern England, supplying some eight million homes and around a fifth of the UK’s energy.

Other parts of EDF Energy, including its power generation and supply businesses, are not for sale.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made the disclosure on Thursday and suggested securities regulators also wanted the information.

“We are looking into a number of questions related to Goldman Sachs and other companies in their derivatives arrangements with Greece,” Bernanke said in response to a question from U.S. Senate banking Committee Chairman Sen. Christopher Dodd before testifying to the group for a second day on the state of the U.S. economy.

Bernanke said the Securities and Exchange Commission similarly was “interested” in Wall Street’s activities in helping Greece do derivatives deals.

He stopped short of saying an official inquiry of Goldman Sachs’ activities was under way by either the Fed or SEC. The SEC had no immediate comment when contacted.

“Obviously, using these instruments in a way that potentially destabilizes a company or a country is counterproductive,” Bernanke said. “We’ll certainly be evaluating what we learn from the activities of the holding companies that we supervise here in the U.S.”

Goldman Sachs spokesman Michael DuVally said, “As a matter of policy, we don’t comment on legal or regulatory matters.”

United, the third-largest U.S. airline by traffic, hadn’t ordered new aircraft for 11 years. In December, United unveiled plans to order an equal number of planes from Boeing and rival Airbus, a subsidiary of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. (EAD.FR, EADSY).

The Boeing order is valued at $4.2 billion at average list prices, but airlines often pay less when placing big orders. The planes should be delivered just as United begins to retire is Boeing 747 and 767 models flying internationally.

The Dreamliner was plagued by costly delays for years, but it finally made its first flight in December. Boeing’s commercial aerospace division also suffered from a drop in demand as airlines quit ordering planes during the recession and the subsequent plunge in travel demand.

But in the fourth quarter, United Airlines noted a strong recovery in international passenger traffic, especially on transatlantic routes, as it posted a narrower loss. The Dreamliner, thanks to improved fuel efficiency, will allow airlines like United to add new, nonstop city routes.

In a statement, Bharti said the two companies would now enter into talks which would last until 25 March.

The offer does not include Zain’s operations in Morocco or Sudan, Bharti said.

Zain operates in 15 African countries including Nigeria and Chad. About 60% of Zain’s customers are in Africa.

Zain has a total of 65 million customers, but Africa contributes only 15% to the group’s net profit.

“This acquisition is a long-term strategic necessity for Bharti to grow its revenues abroad with the domestic market saturating,” telecom analyst Harit Shah at Karvy Stock Broking told the AFP press agency.

The announcement follows the breakdown in September of a $25bn deal between Bharti and South Africa’s MTN.

Last summer, Zain turned down a bid by French telecom group Vivendi, said to be worth between $10bn and $11bn, saying the offer was not high enough.

GM did not comment on why the sale to China-based Tengzhong had collapsed. Reports have said Beijing had refused to approve the purchase.

GM agreed to sell the brand last year, as it offloaded famous names it owned and went into bankruptcy protection.

It said it was “disappointed” the deal could not be completed.

“GM will now work closely with Hummer employees, dealers and suppliers to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner,” said John Smith, vice-president of corporate planning and alliances.

The firm added it would continue to honor Hummer warranties, and provide service support and spare parts to current owners around the world.

Provisional numbers from the Office for National Statistics suggest the number of people from these countries fell by a third in the year to June 2009.

There were 68,000 new arrivals from the new European Union states, compared with 100,000 in the year to June 2008.

Overall, the figures show more people entering the UK annually than leaving.

Officials said that just over half a million people came to the UK in the year to June 2009 – and about 370,000 left, meaning a net increase of the population of about 147,000.

The statistics also show that the number of asylum seekers has fallen significantly for the second quarter.

In the three months until the end of 2009, there were 4,765 asylum applications, down 30% on the same period of 2008.

The number of unauthorised migrants who were either deported or voluntarily left the UK in 2009 was 64,750 – about 3,000 less than in the previous year.