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AP’s Lisa Dwyer reports on new plans to phase out the use of fluoride tablets.“Proposals like this stand to hurt rural America, not make them healthier,” American Dental Association President Dr. Brett Kessler said. “More than ever, at this critical time in American health care policy, it is vital that we slow down to properly study the full implications of actions like this on the health of the nation.”

— the first U.S. state to ban fluoride from drinking water — recently made fluoride supplements available without a prescription. As more state and local governments begin, the need for supplemental fluoride is expected to grow.Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1962, the agency set guidelines for how much should be added to water.

, a former environmental lawyer,a “dangerous neurotoxin” tied to a range of health dangers. Last month, he announced a task force to scrutinize fluoride’s use, while at the same time saying he would order the CDC to stop recommending that it be added to tap water.

A report last year by the federal government’s National Toxicology Program concluded that drinking water with more than twice the CDC’s recommended level was associated with lower IQs in kids. The study was based on research conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Mexico.

“Ending the use of ingestible fluoride is long overdue,” Kennedy said in a statement Tuesday. “This decision brings us one step closer to delivering on President Trump’s promise to Make America Healthy Again.”But in Africa, where

for his engagement with the continent’s crises, many Catholics simply want a pope who will be a faithful leader for everyone.“For us, it does not matter whether he is African, white, or Black. What matters is having a good, holy pope who can unite Catholics across the world,” said Luka Lawrence Ndenge, an emergency officer with the Catholic charity Caritas in the remote town of Wau in South Sudan.

The father of two said he believes an African can rise to the papacy, especially as “we already have African cardinals who are fully capable.”Bishop Tesfaselassie Medhin, primate of Adigrat in the Ethiopian region of Tigray, said he hopes the next pope will be as compassionate as Francis, who repeatedly called attention to war in Tigray in 2021 and 2022.