May 4, 2004

French Finance Min Nicolas Sarkozy's efforts to keep industrial giant Alstom from going bankrupt are welcomed by European Commission, which is overseeing rescue attempt to ensure that it does not breach European Union rules on government aid; Sarkozy meets with European competition commissioner Mario Monti to consider ways of preventing Alstom from going under; photo (M)

European Commission warns 16 national collectors of music royalties on behalf of composers and lyricists from around Europe that agreement they have with each other for online music distribution might violate European antitrust regulations (S)

Treo all-in-one wireless phone offers e-mail, Web-surfing and camera in one neat package; at $600, device is pricy and does not include monthly charges for service, nearly $60 per month for voice and data, but is ideal for true geek; drawings (special section, Wireless Living) (M)

Jennifer Steinhauer Political Memo discusses New York City Mayor Michael R Bloomberg's $200 million budget allotment for public hospital system and recent initiatives he has taken to improve city's hospitals; Bloomberg administration has increased cancer screenings, modernized hospitals and clinics and improved overall quality; photo (M)

Soaring demand for weight-loss surgery has created concern that big business of curing obesity is not matched with enough facilities or doctors adequately trained in procedures; only 20,000 weight-loss surgeries were done in 1995 compared with 103,000 in 2003; Dr Gordon L Jensen of Vanderbilt Center for Human Nutrition reports surge in patients experiencing complications from surgery or individuals who have not been given proper post-surgical information about eating habits and adjustments; increase in children and teenagers having weight-loss surgery is also of concern because of lack of information about long term consequences; National Institutes of Health has started study on procedure and American Society for Bariatric Surgery is beginning process of identifying centers of excellence for operations; 10 to 20 percent of patients undergoing weight-loss surgery need additional surgery for complications; risks of surgery discussed; photos (L)