Scalise’s doctor hopes for an ‘excellent recovery’

Scalise’s doctor hopes for an ‘excellent recovery’

WASHINGTON

Congressman Steve Scalise can hope to make an “excellent recovery,” his trauma surgeon said Friday, even though the lawmaker arrived at the hospital Wednesday at imminent risk of death after getting shot at a congressional baseball practice.

In his first public comments since the shooting, Dr. Jack Sava of MedStar Washington Hospital Center said it’s a “good possibility” that the Louisiana Republican will be able to return to work in his full capacity.

Sava declined to put a timeline on when that would happen or when Scalise, 51, would be able to leave the hospital. The doctor described how a bullet from an assault rifle entered Scalise’s hip and traversed his pelvis, shattering blood vessels, bones and internal organs along the way.

Anger erupts over possible flaws at burned tower

LONDON

Grief turned to outrage Friday over a deadly high-rise tower fire in London amid reports that materials used in the building’s renovation could have fueled the inferno that left dozens dead and missing as it decimated the public-housing block.

Engineering experts say outside insulation panels installed on the 24-story Grenfell Tower may have helped the fire spread rapidly from one floor to the next. The Guardian newspaper reported Friday that contractors installed a cheaper, less flame-resistant type of paneling in the renovation that ended in May 2016.

Tensions were high Friday two days after the overnight fire gutted the huge housing block, killing at least 30 people and leaving dozens missing and hundreds homeless.

Scuffles broke out near the Kensington and Chelsea town hall offices as demonstrators chanting “We want justice!” surged toward the doors.

7 reported missing after US Navy ship collision off Japan

TOKYO

Seven crew members are missing and one injured after a U.S. Navy destroyer collided early this morning with a merchant ship off the coast of Japan, the country’s coast guard reported.

Footage from the Japanese TV network NHK showed heavy damage to the mid-right side of the Navy ship and a person in a stretcher being lifted to a helicopter.

The U.S. 7th Fleet said on its Facebook page that the number of injuries is still being determined.

Coast guard official Takeshi Aikawa said seven crew members are unaccounted for, and one had a head injury. Further details of his or her condition were not known.

Relatives of crew members were awaiting news of their loved ones.

Southwest US preps for 120 degree temps

LOS ANGELES

When bracing for 120 degrees, it’s all about the water.

Drinking it, splashing in it to stay cool, and drinking it some more. A lot more.

That’s what officials were urging and residents were planning Friday as a potentially record-shattering heat wave started enveloping the Southwest United States and threatened to bring temperatures of more than 120 degrees to parts of Arizona and California next week.

People in places such as Palm Springs and Phoenix are used to seriously high temperatures, but 120 degrees becomes all the talk around the water cooler. And with the health dangers of heat and dehydration, that’s where authorities hope they keep coming back.

Associated Press