100,000 flee massive flooding
More than 100,000 people were evacuated from their homes in southern Malaysia after heavy rains over the weekend caused massive flooding, officials said today.
The evacuations came just weeks after many residents returned home to clean up from flooding in late December and early January that killed at least 17 people and caused more than $28 million in damages, officials said.
One town in the hardest- hit area, Kota Tinggi, has been completely cut off from the rest of Johor state, just north of Singapore. Floodwater as high as 13 feet has engulfed houses, gas stations and roads in the town, the New Straits Times newspaper said.
Several relief centers in the area are overcrowded and cannot take in any more evacuees, an official at the Johor state flood operations center said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
PARIS
Nominee named by ruling party
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy accepted the presidential nomination of the ruling center-right party Sunday, promising to break with the past and setting up a high-stakes campaign that is likely to open a new era in French politics.
The overwhelming vote by the members of the Union for a Popular Movement party culminated a drive by Sarkozy that overcame an intraparty rift with an old guard loyal to President Jacques Chirac, 73, who has been in office since 1995.
Although Sarkozy is one of France’s most popular leaders, he faces a tough challenge from Segolene Royal, a Socialist Party newcomer trying to become the nation’s first female president.
Chirac last week refused to rule out the possibility that he might seek a third term, although polls show that 80 percent of voters do not want him to run and see him as out of touch.
DHAKA, Bangladesh
Leader takes over security forces
Bangladesh’s new interim leader consolidated his power Sunday by taking over the two agencies that control the army, police and paramilitary security forces.
The move by acting leader Fakhruddin Ahmed to take control of the Interior Ministry and Election Commission came days after the president declared a state of emergency in an attempt to quell weeks of deadly unrest over upcoming elections.
Ahmed was appointed Friday after President Iajuddin Ahmed stepped down as leader of a caretaker government. Iajuddin Ahmed retained his title of president, a largely ceremonial position.
More than 4,000 people were detained after the state of emergency was announced, including 1,518 people arrested since Saturday evening, the Interior Ministry said.