In brief: Doctor arrested in India sterilization deaths

NEW DELHI – A senior medical official in India said the doctor who conducted sterilization procedures after which 13 women died has been arrested.

Dr. S.K. Mandal, the chief medical officer in central Chhattisgarh state where the surgeries were performed, said the surgeon was arrested late Wednesday after he had gone into hiding.

According to Mandal, the suspect, Dr. R.K. Gupta, had performed over 80 sterilization surgeries in six hours. That’s a breach of government protocol, which prohibits surgeons from performing more than 30 sterilizations a day.

Saturday’s surgeries were part of a free government-run sterilization campaign aimed at curbing a booming population. The women were sent home that evening but dozens became ill. Thirteen died and 16 others were fighting for their lives.

Earthquake shakes Kansas, Oklahoma

CONWAY SPRINGS, Kan. – An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8 shook parts of Kansas and Oklahoma on Wednesday, the largest since a series of temblors began rattling Kansas a little more than a year ago.

The quake’s epicenter was near the town of Conway Springs, about 25 miles southwest of Wichita, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It came at 3:40 p.m., less than a day after a magnitude-2.6 earthquake was recorded near the southern Kansas town of Anthony.

Kansas Emergency Management spokeswoman Sharon Watson said the only reported damage was from an uprooted tree that cracked a home’s foundation. No damage was reported in Oklahoma, said Keli Cain, a spokeswoman at the state’s Department of Emergency Services.

Town’s tobacco ban hearing too rowdy

WESTMINSTER, Mass. – Only a handful of people were able to speak on a proposal that could make the tiny Massachusetts town of Westminster the first in the nation to ban all sales of tobacco products when boos and shouts from the crowd shut down the public hearing Wednesday night.

Sixty or more residents were registered to share their opinions. Some among the audience of several hundred toted signs opposing the ban.

But amid shouts of “America!” and “Freedom Now,” Board of Health chairwoman Andrea Crete gaveled the hearing to a close just 25 minutes into it instead of taking comments.

“The crowd’s getting out of control and the room’s filled to capacity,” she said. “We don’t want any riots.”

She said the board would accept written testimony until Dec. 1 and would vote later.