LONDON (AP) — Two weeks after organizers scrubbed Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna amid a foiled terror plot, the singer issued her first statement on the cancellations.

“Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,” she wrote in a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday. “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows.”

She thanked authorities — “thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives,” she wrote — and said she waited to speak until the European leg of her Eras Tour concluded to prioritize safety.

“Let me be very clear: I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows,” she wrote.

In the wake of the cancellations, Swift’s representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press and other news organizations and her social media pages had gone dormant.

“In cases like this one, ‘silence’ is actually showing restraint, and waiting to express yourself at a time when it’s right to. My priority was finishing our European tour safely, and it’s with great relief that I can say we did that,” she added.

Concert organizer Barracuda Music had said it canceled the three-night Vienna run that would have begun Aug. 8 because the arrests made in connection to the conspiracy were too close to showtime. Authorities said a 19-year-old suspect had planned to target spectators outside the Ernst Happel Stadium with knives or homemade explosives, hoping to “kill as many people as possible.” Austrian officials said they appeared to have been inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida.

That suspect and another 17-year-old were taken into custody on Aug. 6, the day before the shows were announced as canceled. A third suspect, 18, was arrested Aug. 8. The 19-year-old’s lawyer has said the allegations were “overacting at its best,” and contended Austrian authorities were “presenting this exaggeratedly” in order to get new surveillance powers.

Tens of thousands of Swifties from around the world had traveled to Vienna for the shows.

Swift’s Instagram post also commemorated the end of the European leg with a tribute to her five nights at London’s Wembley Stadium, which she said factored into her decision to wait to speak out and ultimately “felt like a beautiful dream sequence.”

“I decided that all of my energy had to go toward helping to protect the nearly half a million people I had coming to see the shows in London,” she wrote the day after her last Wembley concert. “My team and I worked hand in hand with stadium staff and British authorities every day in pursuit of that goal.”

The shows in London, the next stop scheduled after Vienna, also came on the heels of a stabbing at a Swift-themed dance class that left three little girls dead in the U.K. In a statement issued after the Southport attack, Swift said she was “just completely in shock” and “at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.” News outlets reported that Swift met with some of the survivors backstage in London.

The record-smashing tour is on hiatus until October, when it resumes in Miami.

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. government report expected to stir debate concluded that fluoride in drinking water at twice the recommended limit is linked with lower IQ in children.

The report, based on an analysis of previously published research, marks the first time a federal agency has determined — “with moderate confidence” — that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. While the report was not designed to evaluate the health effects of fluoride in drinking water alone, it is a striking acknowledgment of a potential neurological risk from high levels of fluoride.

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

“I think this (report) is crucial in our understanding” of this risk, said Ashley Malin, a University of Florida researcher who has studied the affect of higher fluoride levels in pregnant women on their children. She called it the most rigorously conducted report of its kind.

The long-awaited report released Wednesday comes from the National Toxicology Program, part of the Department of Health and Human Services. It summarizes a review of studies, conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Mexico, that concludes that drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter is consistently associated with lower IQs in kids.

The report did not try to quantify exactly how many IQ points might be lost at different levels of fluoride exposure. But some of the studies reviewed in the report suggested IQ was 2 to 5 points lower in children who’d had higher exposures.

Since 2015, federal health officials have recommended a fluoridation level of 0.7 milligrams per liter of water, and for five decades before the recommended upper range was 1.2. The World Health Organization has set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water of 1.5.

The report said that about 0.6% of the U.S. population — about 1.9 million people — are on water systems with naturally occurring fluoride levels of 1.5 milligrams or higher.

“The findings from this report raise the questions about how these people can be protected and what makes the most sense,” Malin said.

The 324-page report did not reach a conclusion about the risks of lower levels of fluoride, saying more study is needed. It also did not answer what high levels of fluoride might do to adults.

The American Dental Association, which champions water fluoridation, had been critical of earlier versions of the new analysis and Malin’s research. Asked for comment, a spokeswoman late Wednesday afternoon emailed that the organization’s experts were still reviewing the report.

Fluoride is a mineral that exists naturally in water and soil. About 80 years ago, scientists discovered that people whose supplies naturally had more fluoride also had fewer cavities, triggering a push to get more Americans to use fluoride for better dental health.

In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan became the first U.S. city to start adding fluoride to tap water. In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. Though fluoride can come from a number of sources, drinking water is the main source for Americans, researchers say.

Officials lowered their recommendation for drinking water fluoride levels in 2015 to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, that can cause splotches on teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids.

Separately, the Environmental Protection Agency has maintained a longstanding requirement that water systems cannot have more than 4 milligrams of fluoride per liter. That standard is designed to prevent skeletal fluorosis, a potentially crippling disorder which causes weaker bones, stiffness and pain.

But more and more studies have increasingly pointed to a different problem, suggesting a link between higher levels of fluoride and brain development. Researchers wondered about the impact on developing fetuses and very young children who might ingest water with baby formula. Studies in animals showed fluoride could impact neurochemistry cell function in brain regions responsible for learning, memory, executive function and behavior.

In 2006, the National Research Council, a private nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., said limited evidence from China pointed to neurological effects in people exposed to high levels of fluoride. It called for more research into the effect of fluoride on intelligence.

After more research continued to raise questions, the National Toxicology Program in 2016 started working on a review of the available studies that could provide guidance on whether new fluoride-limiting measures were needed.

There were earlier drafts but the final document has repeatedly been held up. At one point, a committee of experts said available research did not support an earlier draft’s conclusions.

“Since fluoride is such an important topic to the public and to public health officials, it was imperative that we made every effort to get the science right,” said Rick Woychik, director of the National Toxicology Program, in a statement.

Malin said it makes sense for pregnant women to lower their fluoride intake, not only from water but also from certain types of tea. It might also make sense to have policy discussions about whether to require fluoride-content on beverage labels, she said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Disney is no longer asking a Florida court to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit on the grounds that the victim’s family had signed up for its streaming service Disney+.

The company filed a notice in Orange County court on Tuesday to withdraw the motion, which had drawn swift backlash when it became public.

Josh D’Amaro, chairperson of Disney’s theme park division, said in a statement emailed earlier to The Associated Press that the entertainment giant will waive its arbitration rights and allow the suit, brought by the husband of a New York doctor who suffered a fatal allergic reaction after eating at a restaurant in Disney Springs, to proceed in court.

“At Disney, we strive to put humanity above all other considerations,” he said in the Monday night statement. “With such unique circumstances as the ones in this case, we believe this situation warrants a sensitive approach to expedite a resolution for the family who have experienced such a painful loss.”

Disney had previously argued that Jeffrey Piccolo could not sue the company because he agreed to settle any lawsuits against the company out of court when he signed up for a one-month trial subscription to Disney+ back in 2019.

Brian Denney, Piccolo’s Florida-based lawyer, said Tuesday that his client will continue to “pursue justice on behalf of his beloved wife” and hopes that their ordeal has helped raised awareness of the challenges people with food allergies face.

He also noted that others seeking to take Disney to court risk facing a similar legal challenge as the arbitration provision remains in many of the company’s terms and conditions.

“The right to a jury trial as set forth in the Seventh Amendment is a bedrock of our judicial system and should be protected and preserved,” Denney wrote in an email. “Attempts by corporations like Disney to avoid jury trials should be looked at with skepticism.”

In a response filed earlier this month, Denney had argued that it was “absurd” to believe that the more than 150 million subscribers to Disney+ have waived all rights to sue the company and its affiliates in perpetuity because of language “buried” in the fine print.

The company, in its bid to have the lawsuit dismissed, argued Piccolo had not agreed just to the arbitration terms in his Disney+ trial, but also again when he signed up for an account on Disney’s website and app in order to purchase the couple’s tickets for their ill-fated theme park visit.

Both sides had been slated to make their case before a judge in Orlando on Oct. 2. That hearing was cancelled Tuesday.

Arbitration allows people to settle disputes without going to court and generally involves a neutral arbitrator who reviews arguments and evidence before making a binding decision, or award.

Disney, in a follow-up statement to The Associated Press last week, said that it was merely defending itself against Piccolo’s attempt to include the company in his lawsuit against Raglan Road, the Irish pub in Disney Springs where the family dined.

Spokespersons for the restaurant didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday. Disney Springs is owned by Disney, which leases some of the spaces in the outdoor dining, shopping and entertainment complex to other companies.

Piccolo’s lawsuit claims the family had decided to eat at Raglan Road in October because it was billed on Disney’s website as having “allergen free food.”

Piccolo’s wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, a physician with NYU Langone’s office in Carle Place, New York, had a severe allergy to nuts and dairy products, and the waiter had assured them her food was prepared without allergens, the lawsuit states.

But less than an hour after finishing their dinner, Tangsuan had difficulty breathing, collapsed and died at a hospital, despite self-administering an EpiPen, according to the lawsuit.

The medical examiner determined she died as a result of “anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system,” the lawsuit states.