TB patient who refused treatment is arrested in Calif.

TB patient who refused treatment is arrested in Calif.

FRESNO, Calif.

A California man who disappeared after refusing treatment for tuberculosis, which can be contagious and spreads by coughing or sneezing, was found and arrested on charges of refusing to comply with health officials, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Eduardo Rosas Cruz, 25, was arrested late Monday in Kern County, San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Stephen Taylor said. Before Rosas Cruz can be sent back to San Joaquin County, he has to be medically cleared, which could take weeks, Taylor said.

Authorities last week obtained an arrest warrant for Rosas Cruz, saying he was diagnosed with tuberculosis in March after going to San Joaquin General Hospital’s emergency room with a severe cough.

Medical staff at the hospital told him to stay in a Stockton motel room, where a health worker would deliver his medication and watch him take it. But he left, officials said.

Enola Gay crew member dies at 93

ATLANTA

The last surviving member of the crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, hastening the end of World War II and forcing the world into the atomic age, has died.

Theodore VanKirk, also known as “Dutch,” died Monday of natural causes at the retirement home where he lived in Stone Mountain, Ga., his son Tom VanKirk said. He was 93.

VanKirk flew nearly 60 bombing missions, but it was a single mission in the Pacific that secured him a place in history. He was 24 years old when he served as navigator on the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the first atomic bomb deployed in wartime over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.

Senate bill targets NSA surveillance

WASHINGTON

Sen. Patrick Leahy on Tuesday introduced a bill to end the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone records, a proposal that goes further than a similar House measure and has drawn support from civil- liberties groups, the White House and Republicans.

The bill represents the latest step in fulfilling a January promise by President Barack Obama to end the NSA’s collection of domestic calling records. If enacted, it would represent the most- significant change to come in the wake of the leaks of once-secret surveillance programs by former NSA systems administrator Edward Snowden.

The measure was co-sponsored by Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

Top doctor dies from Ebola disease

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone

A leading doctor who risked his own life to treat dozens of Ebola patients died Tuesday from the disease, officials said, as a major regional airline announced it was suspending flights to the cities hardest hit by an outbreak that has killed more than 670 people.

Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan, who was praised as a national hero for treating the disease in Sierra Leone, was confirmed dead by health ministry officials there. He had been hospitalized in quarantine.

Appeals court blocks Miss. abortion law

JACKSON, Miss.

Mississippi’s effort to close its last abortion clinic was overturned in federal appellate court Tuesday. Advocates for the law said women with unwanted pregnancies could always travel to other states, but the judges said every state must guarantee constitutional rights, including abortion.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to block Mississippi’s 2012 law requiring abortion doctors to obtain admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.

Associated Press