Joint Ventures

American Airlines and British Airways agreed Thursday to create an alliance that would let them operate as a single carrier on transatlantic routes and counter new competitors. The airlines said they would seek antitrust clearance to coordinate prices, capacity, schedules and routes and share revenue on flights between Europe and North America. The move marks the third bid since 1996 for closer ties between AMR Corp.'

After the success of this summer's blockbuster "Iron Man," Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios have extended their distribution deal for five more movies. Under the agreement, Paramount will take a smaller distribution fee from Marvel -- 8% rather than the 10% it had received for releasing "Iron Man" -- in exchange for gaining worldwide distribution rights to the pictures. Paramount, which released the action movie in the U.S.

Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. agreed to delay an Internet- advertising partnership while U.S. regulators investigate whether the deal would hamper competition. The companies agreed to a brief delay while discussions with the Justice Department continue, Yahoo and Google said Friday. Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said in August that the partnership would start in early October.

General Motors Corp. and Chrysler are discussing possible alliances or a merger, after GM had previously discussed a working alliance with Ford Motor Co., according to two people familiar with the companies. A partnership between Ford and GM has been discarded for now, but Ford is exploring the possibility of the sale of part or all of its stake in Mazda Motor Corp., according to a third source.

Now that Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann have broken off their troubled relationship, known as Sony BMG, the Japanese company hopes to harmonize its consumer electronics and its music, a duo that has been badly out of sync. The music business combination four years ago made Sony BMG the world's No. 2 record label, generating savings and preempting other industry consolidation. But the venture's cost-cutting didn't keep pace with falling CD sales, and the two companies' digital strategies didn't mesh.

The dreamy-eyed dogs in "Roadside Romeo" are classic Disney animation, but the song-and-dance numbers in Walt Disney's first co-production in India are pure Bollywood. The film, co-produced with Yash Raj Films, one of India's top movie studios, represents Disney's largest step yet in its bid to enter the Indian market. First-time director Jugal Hansraj was told to make a movie rooted in Indian nuances. "They wanted a film that could be a Bollywood film if it were not an animation film," he said.

Marines and soldiers who suffered disfiguring injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan are receiving advanced plastic and reconstructive surgery at UCLA Medical Center under a partnership between the center and the military's top hospital for burn victims. So far, five Marines and four soldiers have undergone surgery at UCLA. One was injured in Afghanistan, the others in Iraq. More patients are scheduled to arrive in coming weeks.

The Happiest Place on Earth will soon know where in the world you are. Walt Disney Co. has struck a deal with Verizon Wireless that will allow it to remain in wireless contact with its theme park visitors -- even when they step outside the turnstiles in Anaheim and Orlando, Fla.

Kuwait's government on Sunday scrapped a $17.4-billion joint venture with U.S. petrochemical giant Dow Chemical after criticism from lawmakers that could have led to a political crisis in this small, oil-rich state. The Cabinet, in a statement carried by the state-owned Kuwait News Agency, said the venture, known as K-Dow Petrochemicals, was "very risky" in light of the global financial crisis and low oil prices. The move came just days before the Jan. 1 start-up date for the joint venture.

Ted Turner, the cable television billionaire and owner of vast tracts of land in the West, is forming a venture with a solar energy company targeting California markets. "Our future depends on changing the way we use energy," Turner said. "We've got to move away from fossil fuels and develop long-term energy solutions that work. Using clean energy technologies, such as solar power, is the right thing to do, and it represents a tremendous business opportunity."