Two major studies released Saturday provide evidence that medications derived from fish oil are effective in protecting people from fatal heart attacks, strokes and other forms of cardiovascular disease.

The large, multiyear research efforts tested different formulations and quantities of drugs made with Omega-3 fatty acids on two groups of people: one that suffered from cardiovascular disease or diabetes and another that represented the general population. Both studies found that people who took the drugs every day enjoyed protection against some heart and circulatory problems compared with those given a placebo.

In a look at another commonly consumed supplement, vitamin D, researchers found no effect on heart disease but saw a link to a decline in cancer deaths over time.

The research was released Saturday at the American Heart Association’s 2018 Scientific Sessions in Chicago and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

One of the studies unveiled Saturday, named by the acronym REDUCE-IT, determined that people with cardiovascular disease who were already taking statins stood less chance of serious heart issues when they were also given two grams of the drug Vascepa twice a day.

The other fish oil study, called VITAL, looked at the effect of a different formulation of Omega-3 fatty acids in a drug called Lovaza. The results suggested that people given the drug were 28 percent less likely to suffer heart attacks than those given a placebo and 8 percent less likely to have a variety of cardiovascular events.

Erdogan: U.S., Saudis, others heard tapes of writer’s killing

ANKARA, Turkey — Officials from the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Saudi Arabia have listened to audio recordings related to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey’s president said Saturday, in the first public acknowledgment of the existence of tapes.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that Saudi Arabia had to “act fairly” and disclose those responsible for the Oct. 2 killing of The Washington Post journalist to rid itself of “suspicion.”

CIA Director Gina Haspel is reported to have heard the audio recordings of the killing.

In another matter, Erdogan said seven soldiers were killed and 25 others injured in an explosion Friday at an ammunition depot at a base in Hakkari province, bordering Iraq and Iran, in southeast Turkey.

Saudi coalition in Yemen, under pressure, ends U.S. refueling

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said Saturday it had “requested cessation of inflight refueling” by the U.S. for its fighter jets after American officials said they would stop the operations amid growing anger over civilian casualties from the airstrikes.

The decision by the U.S. to pull out also comes amid outrage by U.S. lawmakers from both political parties over the Oct. 2 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

It wasn’t clear what impact the U.S. withdrawal from air refueling operations would have.

Saudi Arabia has faced criticism over its campaign of airstrikes in the coalition’s war in Yemen, targeting Shiite rebels known as Houthis who hold the capital, Sanaa.

Congo: 198 Ebola deaths worst outbreak in country’s history

KINSHASA, Congo — Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak is the worst in the country’s recorded history with 319 confirmed and probable cases, the health ministry said.

The virus has killed 198 people since the outbreak was declared Aug. 1 in the volatile east, the ministry said. Those dead include 163 confirmed Ebola cases, with 35 probable deaths. Nearly 100 people have survived Ebola.

This is Congo’s 10th outbreak since 1976, when the hemorrhagic fever was first identified in Yambuku, in the Equateur province, the ministry said.

Armed groups vying for control of Congo’s mineral-rich east have staged regular attacks in Congo’s Ituri and North Kivu provinces, complicating the response by health officials who are also meeting community resistance.

Plane crash kills 4 after pilot suffers heart attack

GUTHRIE CENTER, Iowa — A small plane crashed in central Iowa, killing all four people on board, after the pilot apparently had a heart attack and a student pilot was going to attempt an emergency landing, authorities said Saturday.

The plane dropped off radar Friday night about 4 miles from Guthrie Center airport, the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Searchers found the wreckage Saturday morning in a cow pasture southwest of Guthrie Center, which is about 115 miles southwest of Le Mars, where the plane had taken off.

The 1979 Piper single-engine plane was headed to Osceola, south of Des Moines, when the Des Moines Air Traffic Control requested an emergency landing for it at the Guthrie Center airport, the sheriff’s office said.

Elvis to Scalia: 7 to receive nation’s top civilian honor

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has announced his first recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and they include the wife of a major Republican Party donor, the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history, Elvis Presley and Babe Ruth.

Trump will also posthumously recognize the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016.

Medals are going to Miriam Adelson, a doctor and wife of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a Republican donor; Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, who is retiring after more than 41 years in the U.S. Senate; former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach and Alan Page, who began a legal career after leaving the NFL.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest honor for a civilian.

In Jordan: The death toll from flash floods rose to 12 Saturday and the kingdom’s main tourist attraction, the ancient city of Petra, was closed for cleanup after the biggest deluge in the area in decades. Friday’s floods struck several areas, and rescuers continued the search for missing people around the Wala reservoir.

In Somalia: Police said Saturday that the death toll from Friday’s bombings outside a hotel in Mogadishu has risen to 53 with over 100 injured. Police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said many of the injured suffered horrific wounds, raising fears that death toll could rise. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.