Briefly

UNITED STATES

Media: Biden says he will run again in 2024

US President Joe Biden said on Monday that he plans to run for president in 2024 but was not prepared to announce it yet. "I plan on running, ...but we're not prepared to announce it yet," he said in an interview with NBC's Today show. Biden has said he intends to be the Democratic candidate. Both Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris have said they will run together. Top White House advisers are set to make final decisions, NBC News reported, citing several sources.

Twitter calls NPR, BBC 'government-funded'

Twitter has backtracked after an uproar for labeling the US radio network NPR as "state-affiliated media "and now calls it "government-funded". Elon Musk's social media network has also applied that new label to the BBC, which is funded predominantly by British households paying a license fee. The change in how Twitter refers to Washington-based National Public Radio happened quietly on Saturday and came after the network complained that the term "state-affiliated" was disparaging and inaccurate. The move against NPR came to light just days after Twitter stripped The New York Times of its verified status on the platform, which like NPR, is often accused of left-leaning bias, particularly by US conservatives.

FRANCE

4 bodies found after building collapses

Four bodies were found in the rubble on Monday following an explosion that collapsed a building in the southern French city of Marseille, as rescuers continued searching for at least four people who are unaccounted for, authorities said. The collapse caused a fire which has complicated rescue efforts and which was continuing to burn on Monday morning.

MEDITERRANEAN

Support service: Boat with 400 migrants adrift

A vessel with around 400 people on board is adrift between Greece and Malta and is taking on water, support service Alarm Phone said on Sunday, after a sharp rise in migrant boats crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa. Alarm Phone said on Twitter they had received a call from the boat, which departed from Tobruk, in Libya, overnight and that they had informed authorities.

Agencies via Xinhua