WASHINGTON (AP) — Both the White House and Pentagon said Monday they would look into why President Joe Biden and other top officials weren’t informed for days that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been hospitalized. A Pentagon spokesman pointed to one reason: A key staffer was out sick with the flu.

Even as the Biden administration pledged to look into what rules or procedures weren’t followed, it maintained its silence about why Austin has been hospitalized for a week. Late Monday, the Pentagon issued an update saying Austin “is recovering well.”

GENEVA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.N. experts in international law on Tuesday condemned the killing of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri and other fighters in drone strikes on Lebanon, saying this amounted to the crimes of extrajudicial killings and murder.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it assassinated Arouri but his demise came a month after Israel's domestic security agency Shin Bet vowed to hunt down Hamas in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar even if took years, following Hamas's cross-border rampage from Gaza into Israel on Oct. 7.

WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - NASA is set to delay its next few missions to the moon under a key program as technical hurdles mount with the various spacecraft it intends to use to get there, according to four people familiar with NASA's plans.

The U.S. space agency is expected to announce the plans on Tuesday after spending months tracking progress with contractors and considering changes to the Artemis program, a multi-billion dollar effort that includes returning the first astronauts to the moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972.

ISTANBUL, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Public transport fares in Türkiye's largest city, Istanbul, have been increased as of Tuesday, sparking public outrage.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Transport Coordination Centre (UKOME) announced an 18 percent increase in public transport fares and a 28 percent increase in taxi fares.

The minimum fare for the shortest trip in a taxi rose to 90 liras, or 3 U.S. dollars, and a full-fare ticket jumped from 15 liras to 17.70 liras.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday called on Israel to take greater steps to protect civilians, allow more aid into Gaza and work with moderate Palestinian leaders, saying regional countries would only invest in the reconstruction of Gaza if there is a “pathway to a Palestinian state.”

HELSINKI, January 9. /TASS/: Helsinki will not reopen checkpoints on the border with Russia after January 14, Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen told MTV3.

When asked if Finland’s eastern border would remain closed, Rantanen said: "This is the way it should be." The minister argued that there was no change in the migrant situation on the border with Russia, so "there is a risk that Russia will continue such activities if the border is opened."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Alaska’s bid to revive a proposed copper and gold mine that was blocked by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The justices did not comment in turning away the state’s attempt to sue the Biden administration directly in the high court over its desire to revive the proposed Pebble Mine in the state’s Bristol Bay region.

A year ago, the EPA stopped the mine proposal, citing concerns with potential impacts on a rich aquatic ecosystem that supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Monday that the administration will review what rules or procedures weren’t followed when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did not disclose his hospitalization for days to President Joe Biden and top officials at the Pentagon and the National Security Council.

“We’ll do what’s akin to a hot wash and try to see if processes and procedures need to be changed at all or modified so that we can learn from this,” John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, said Monday when asked whether Biden wanted a review of what happened.

TOKYO, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The death toll has climbed to 168 in Japan's Ishikawa on Monday after a series of earthquakes of up to 7.6 magnitude struck the central prefecture and its vicinity last week, as heavy snow and rain have hampered rescue operations.

The number of people currently unaccounted for surged to 323 in the hardest-hit prefecture as of 2 p.m. local time, while at least 565 people suffered injuries due to the quakes, according to local authorities.

NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa (AP) — When Donald Trump launched his 2024 presidential campaign after a disappointing midterm election for Republicans, his trajectory was something of a mystery. But seven days before Iowa’s kick-off caucuses, his standing among the GOP faithful is hardly in doubt.

Voters, campaign operatives and even some of the candidates on the ground here overwhelmingly agree that the Republican former president is the prohibitive favorite heading into the Jan. 15 caucuses — whether they like it or not.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — President Joe Biden wants Americans to grasp what he sees as the extraordinary stakes of this year’s presidential election. As part of that effort, he’s revisiting some of the nation’s worst traumas to highlight what can happen when hate is allowed to fester.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has opened his third day of meetings on an urgent Mideast diplomatic mission to prevent Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza from exploding into a broader regional conflict.

Blinken was meeting Monday with United Arab Emirates leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed before traveling to Saudi Arabia for talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at enlisting the key Arab leaders in a push to not only keep the war contained but also prepare for post-conflict Gaza’s future.