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AP – AstraZeneca PLC announced a supply partnership with India’s Torrent Pharmaceuticals on Thursday, its first such link with a generic drugmaker as it seeks to boost its presence in emerging markets and counter patent losses on blockbuster medicines.

The major trade unions in Greece went on a national strike to protest the government’s austerity measures Thursday. It’s the second general strike in a month. The latest polls show Greeks deeply divided over the plan to restore the economy and restore confidence in the Euro.

AP – Oil company BP PLC said Thursday it will pay $7 billion to acquire exploration rights in Brazil, Azerbaijan and the Gulf of Mexico from Devon Energy Corp.

AP – German salt and fertilizer company Kali+Salz AG said Thursday that its fourth-quarter net income plunged 93 percent to euro16 million ($22 million) as the downturn significantly affected demand in global agricultural markets.

Reuters – General Motors Co will pay back roughly $8 billion in debt to the United States and Canada before June and could go public in a way that would allow taxpayers to make a profit on the bailout, Chief Executive Ed Whitacre said on Wednesday.

AP – Talks between British Airways and a cabin crew union aimed at averting a strike have broken down with no agreement, the airline said Wednesday, again raising the possibility of a walkout by thousands of employees.

Reuters – General Motors Co will pay back roughly $8 billion in debt to the United States and Canada before June, its chief executive said on Wednesday, more quickly than the automaker had promised.

AP – German publisher Axel Springer AG said Wednesday that net income fell 45 percent in 2009 to euro314 million ($427 million), with a drop in demand for newspapers and magazines mitigated only partially by new Internet revenues.

AP – Turkey says it and the International Monetary Fund have mutually agreed to call off talks for a loan.

AP – British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia have offered to give away takeoff and landing slots at London and New York airports to soothe European Union antitrust worries, EU regulators said Wednesday.