DealZone

Australian miner OZ Minerals said its shareholders approved the sweetened $1.4 billion deal by  Chinese state-owned Minmetals’ to buy most of the indebted miner’s assets. For today’s headlines, click here.

And in the newspapers:

* Turquoise, the European equity system owned by nine investment banks, was forced to close on Wednesday morning because of a technical problem, Financial News said.

* The New York Times Co has hired Goldman Sachs to manage the possible sale of The Boston Globe, and plans to request bids in the next couple of weeks, The Boston Globe reported.

* Sprint Nextel Corp and Level 3 Communications Inc  are in early talks about forming a joint venture including Sprint’s long-distance network, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. 

* James Simons, the mathematics professor-turned-investor who founded the multibillion dollar hedge fund Renaissance Technologies LLC, has delayed his retirement plans, the WSJ said, citing people familiar with the discussions.

* Chinese automaker Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp (BAIC) is interested in acquiring Ford Motor Co‘s <F.N> Volvo car unit, the WSJ said, citing three people familiar with the situation.

* The company managing Britain’s stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland  and Lloyds Banking Group could sell an “exchangeable bond” in the two banks, according to the Daily Telegraph.

* Rio Tinto Ltd  offered a share in a planned iron ore alliance with BHP Billiton to Chinalco as a peace offering following the collapse of Rio’s $19.5 billion deal with the Chinese firm, the Australian Financial Review said.

* The European Central Bank fears another banking crisis in 2010 if the recession drags on, said ECB financial stability expert Dejan Krusec, cited on the website of the Daily Telegraph. 

* French pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis denied it had presented a major U.S. acquisition plan to its board, following a report in the edition of Les Echos newspaper due to appear on Thursday.

* Troubled French niche car and equipment maker Heuliez has found a potential buyer, Les Echos reported in its Thursday edition, without saying where it got the information.