Scott Neuman

A pair of missiles hit an Iran-flagged oil tanker steaming off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, causing an explosion and oil spill, Iranian officials said Friday.

Iran's state-run IRNA identified the tanker as the Sabiti, and Iranian state television says the explosions damaged two storage tanks and caused an oil spill that is now reportedly under control.

The Iranian media reports did not assign responsibility for the incident.

Updated at 6:30 a.m. ET

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed "for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation" in resolving the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea, the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo said Friday.

The most powerful typhoon in decades to be on course to hit Tokyo is expected to rake the coast of Japan's main island of Honshu this weekend, bringing strong winds and up to 2 feet of rain.

Super Typhoon Hagibis has strengthened to a Category 5 storm and although it's expected to weaken to Category 4 before making landfall, it would still bring extremely rough seas and winds up to 135 mph to the region.

Apple has removed from its App Store a smartphone app used by Hong Kong pro-democracy activists to crowdsource the location of protesters and police, after Chinese state media suggested the tech giant was aiding "rioters."

Apple initially rejected the app last week, saying that it "encourages an activity that is not legal," and allows users to "evade law enforcement," according to its developers.

Nonetheless, HKmap.live did briefly become available in the App Store before Apple announced Wednesday that it was being removed.

Updated at 2:20 p.m. ET

Turkish forces began crossing the Syrian border on Wednesday, launching an operation in Kurdish-dominated areas of the country's north, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced.

The Turkish offensive jeopardizes Kurdish-led forces who have been a key U.S. ally in the bloody fight against ISIS. Turkey says those same forces are linked to militant groups who stage attacks in a separatist movement against the Turkish government.

The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded jointly to John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino for the development of lithium-ion batteries.

"Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized our lives and are used in everything from mobile phones to laptops and electric vehicles," the Nobel Committee said. "Through their work, this year's Chemistry Laureates have laid the foundation of a wireless, fossil fuel-free society."

Hong Kong's leader has issued a veiled warning that Beijing could intervene with force to quell the territory's violent anti-government protests, but after months of unrest, she said she still believes "we should find solutions ourselves."

The Commerce Department has issued a list of 28 state security bureaus and tech companies in China that it says are being used to suppress the country's Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities – a move that blocks them from doing business with U.S. firms.

The Houston Rockets' general manager apologized on Sunday for a tweet expressing support for Hong Kong protesters that has sparked a harsh backlash from China's official basketball association.

"I did not intend my tweet to cause any offense to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China ...," Daryl Morey tweeted on Sunday. "I have had a lot of opportunity since that tweet to hear and consider other perspectives."

Three scientists who made important discoveries about how cells sense and adapt to different oxygen levels have won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, in the first announcement of Nobel winners for 2019.

Rip Taylor, the comedian who became a fixture of 1970s game shows with his outrageous antics, flamboyant style and signature confetti-throwing, has died at age 88.

His publicist, Harlan Boll, confirmed Taylor died Sunday in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Taylor's career spanned more than 40 years and encompassed Broadway, Las Vegas, film and television.

Born Charles Taylor in Washington, D.C., he got his start as a stand-up comic playing clubs in the Catskills after he'd served in the Army during the Korean War.

Updated at 1:05 p.m. ET

The White House announced late Sunday that Turkey is ready to launch an offensive in northern Syria and that U.S. forces will stand aside, renewing fears that America is abandoning Kurdish allies who stood on the front line in the years-long fight against ISIS.

A two-paragraph statement released by White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said that President Trump and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had spoken by telephone and that "Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation in northern Syria."

Updated at 10:01 a.m. ET

Senior U.S. diplomats debated the propriety of a White House strategy aimed at pressuring Ukraine for political investigations in exchange for assistance and engagement with President Trump, new documents show.

The Democratic chairmen of three House committees investigating President Trump released dozens of text messages late Thursday from top State Department officials handling European and Ukrainian affairs.

A London court has finally put to rest one of the many disputes between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan.

It goes back 71 years, to just after the partition of British colonial India into two independent states, India and Pakistan. At the time, the region was dotted with princely fiefdoms ruled by Hindu maharajahs and Muslim nizam — autonomous royals who lived in ornate palaces and amassed huge fortunes in cash and jewels.

Johnson & Johnson and two Ohio counties have reached a tentative $20.4 million settlement that removes the corporation from the first federal lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, scheduled to begin later this month.

Updated at 10:20 a.m. ET

A year after journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents in Turkey, the writer's fiancée attended a commemoration at the consulate where he was slain while she waited unknowingly outside.

Hatice Cengiz, who is a Turkish citizen, gathered with activists and friends for a ceremony that began at precisely 1:14 p.m. (6:14 a.m. ET) Wednesday outside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, marking the moment that Khashoggi entered the building.

Updated at 9 a.m. ET

A pro-democracy protester in Hong Kong was shot by police Tuesday — a sign of an escalating official response to months of mass demonstrations. The shooting took place as Beijing marks the 70th anniversary of modern China.

Firearms manufacturer Colt says it is suspending production of its popular AR-15 semi-automatic assault-style rifle for the civilian market, saying it will concentrate instead on fulfilling contracts from the military and law enforcement.

Updated at 3 p.m. ET

Millions of young people raised their voices at protests around the world Friday in a massive display meant to demand urgent action on climate change. Scores of students missed school to take part, some joined by teachers and parents.

Some of the first rallies began in Australia, and then spread from Pacific islands to India and Turkey and across Europe, as students kicked off what organizers were calling a Global Climate Strike.

The United Arab Emirates said Thursday that it would join a U.S.-led maritime coalition aimed at protecting international shipping in and near the Strait of Hormuz following alleged Iranian attacks on oil tankers there.

The UAE joins neighbors Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, along with the United Kingdom and Australia, in the effort to protect vessels in the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf and the narrow Strait of Hormuz waterway that separates the gulfs and acts as a transit point for a fifth of the world's oil exports.

Emergency sirens wailed on Hawaii's Oahu and Maui islands Wednesday evening, warning of a tsunami, but the alert turned out to be a mistake. The error sparked anger from residents who recalled a similar false warning last year of an imminent ballistic missile attack.

Within minutes of the alarm going off shortly after 5 p.m. local time (11 p.m. ET), authorities were trying to calm the public by getting out word of the mistake.

Three former Japanese utility executives responsible for the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant when it was smashed by a tsunami in 2011 were acquitted Thursday of negligence in connection with multiple reactor meltdowns at the station.

Israel's second election in less than six months looks unlikely to clear up its political impasse, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again falling short of a majority in parliament and forced to scramble for allies to retain power.

Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party is projected to win 30 to 33 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while the centrist Blue and White party led by former military chief Benny Gantz looked likely to get 32 to 34 seats.

Updated at 11:45 a.m. ET

President Trump said Wednesday his administration is revoking a waiver that allowed California to set its own standards for automobile emissions — a move that could derail a years-long push to produce more fuel efficient cars.

In a series of tweets Wednesday, Trump said the action will result in vehicles that are safer and cheaper, and that "there will be very little difference in emissions between the California standard and the new U.S. standard."

Veteran journalist Cokie Roberts, who joined an upstart NPR in 1978 and left an indelible imprint on the growing network with her coverage of Washington politics before later going to ABC News, has died. She was 75.

Roberts died Tuesday because of complications from breast cancer, according to a family statement.

Updated at 9:04 p.m. ET

The polls are closed in Israel and partial results will not be released until early Wednesday morning. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party faced voters for the second time in just five months in an unprecedented contest that has the potential to end his decade-long grip on power.

Opinion polls ahead of Tuesday's vote showed the race between Netanyahu's Likud and the Blue and White, led by former army chief Benjamin "Benny" Gantz, were once again a dead heat.

Updated at 5:22 p.m. ET

The price of oil saw a massive price spike Monday following what are believed to be drone strikes on Saudi oil facilities over the weekend that has shut off more than half of the kingdom's daily exports, or about 5% of the world's crude production.

Benchmark Brent crude briefly surged almost 20% in early trading before settling closer to 10%, up $6 to $66.28 per barrel. It rose again in the early afternoon, topping $70 for an increase of some 15%. The U.S. benchmark West Texas crude rose more than 10%.