WORLD BRIEFLY Biden says Israel-Hezbollah conflict could turn
Thousands are pouring into Syria
NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden said Wednes- day that fighting between Is rael and Hezbollah threatens to become an “all-out war” as his top diplomat and other advisers worked behind the scenes pressing for a temporary cease-fire to calm an escalating conflict that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days.
NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden said Wednes- day that fighting between Is rael and Hezbollah threatens to become an “all-out war” as his top diplomat and other advisers worked behind the scenes pressing for a temporary cease-fire to calm an escalating conflict that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. administration was “intensely engaged with a number of partners to de-escalate tensions in Lebanon and to work to get a cease-fire agreement that would have so many benefits for all concerned.”
Blinken and other Biden advisers have spent the past three days at and on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting of world leaders in New York lobbying other countries to support the plan, according to U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic conversations.
Americans hope such a cease-fire could lead to lon ger-term stability along the border between Israel and Lebanon. Even ahead of this week’s escalation in Lebanon, months of Israeli and Hezbollah exchanges of fire across the border drove tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides of the border.
U.S. officials said the spe – cifics of the proposal were not yet complete. The Biden administration efforts came as the mounting hostilities between Israel and Iranbacked Hezbollah militants in Lebanon rekindled fears of a broader war in the Middle East.
JDEIDET YABOUS, Syria
(AP) – Families fleeing the escalating conflict in Lebanon poured into Syria in growing numbers on Wednesday, waiting for hours in heavy traffic to reach the relative safety of another war-torn country.
U.N. officials estimated that thousands of Lebanese and Syrian families had already made the journey. Those numbers are expected to grow as Israel targets southern and eastern Lebanon in an aerial bombardment that local officials say has killed more than 600 people this week, at least a quarter of them women and children. Israel says it is targeting Hez- bollah fighters and weapons.
Amin said some of the people arriving from Lebanon had visible injuries suffered from recent attacks.
Fluoride in drinking water poses enough risk to merit new EPA action
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water because high levels could pose a risk to the intellectual development of children.
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids, but he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the EPA to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be.
