August 14, 2001

Cendant Plans to Acquire Online Air Fare Discounter Cendant expanded its push into the online travel agency business by agreeing to buy Cheap Tickets for $425 million in cash. Cheap Tickets specializes in deep discount fares, a portion of the travel industry that is growing as the economic downturn has caused business travel to fall off sharply. For Cendant, the deal is meant to expand its rapidly growing array of travel booking services, including Galileo International, the reservation network that Cendant agreed to buy in June for $2.9 billion. [Page C4.]

Brazilian government, in bid to aid Brazil's money-losing, debt-ridden domestic airlines, removes ceilings on ticket prices for flights within Brazil; hopes move will also encourage new entries in domestic market (M)

British scientists are working under less restrictive and more predictable system that allows many forms of research on embryonic stem cells, while American counterparts still await laws governing research involving human embryos; have been allowed for decade to create human embryos for research purposes, and to perform experiments in therapeutic cloning, to generate healthy replacements for diseased tissues from embryonic cells derived from patient's own mature cells; less restrictive approach attributed to less intense lobbying from abortion foes, longer track record of research in area, earlier start in public debate and generally respected regulatory authority; creation of human embryos for research purposes, proposed in 1994 by National Institutes of Health, was specifically rejected by Pres Bill Clinton and widely condemned across US when Virginia clinic disclosed it had created scores of embryos expressly for research; diagrams (M)

Pubmaster says its hostile bid for rival Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries has failed; chief executive John Sands says he wants to add 3,000 pubs to 2,000 company already owns; photo (S)

Ben Ratliff reviews performance by metal band Mudvayne at Ozzfest, traveling metal festival; photo (M)