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Death toll from Malaysia floods climbs as clean-up efforts continue

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Malaysia last week experienced its worst floods since 2014, caused by days of torrential rain that overflowed rivers, killing at least 46 and forcing tens of thousands to flee.

The death toll from Malaysia’s worst floods in years has risen to 46, with five people still missing, as work crews continue a massive clean-up.

Majority of the fatalities were in Selangor and Pahang states, Inspector General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said on Saturday.

“There are still five people missing. We hope they will be found soon,” he told a press conference.

He said 54,532 people were still in more than 300 evacuation centres across seven states and 68 roads remained closed due to flooding.

Work crews used backhoes and lorries to remove items strewn across the streets outside people’s homes, Acryl Sani said as he called for caution because some rivers remained swollen.

READ MORE: Malaysia floods kill over dozen people, displace thousands

Worst floods in recent years

Days of torrential rain caused rivers to overflow last weekend, swamping cities, cutting off major roads, and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had earlier urged the government to hold a public inquiry following the widely criticised flood response.

Poor coordination between government agencies and the delayed deployment of the military “turned the response to the natural disaster into a human, governance disaster”, he said.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has admitted there were “weaknesses” but pledged improvements in future.

The Southeast Asian nation is hit by floods annually during the monsoon season, from November to February, but those throughout the weekend were the worst since 2014.

Global warming has been linked to worsening floods. Because a warmer atmosphere holds more water, climate change increases the risk and intensity of flooding from extreme rainfall.

READ MORE: Deaths and displacements as floods ravage Malaysia

Source: AFP / TRT

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Russia says NATO preparing for potential conflict in Eastern Europe, Black Sea

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NATO’s activities in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region are focused on preparing its allies for a potential confrontation with Russia, said the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday, citing militarization activities in the region.

The Romanian authorities have previously announced their readiness to invest 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) into modernizing the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in Constanta County. The base is set to expand into a military town capable of accommodating the families of 10,000 military personnel, with plans to create urban infrastructure, said the ministry.

Construction has begun in the southern part of the future military town, where access roads and a robust power grid are currently being built. The modernization of the air base could make it the largest North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) base in Europe by 2040. The U.S. military has been using this base since 1999, it said.

“The expansion of the Romanian air base is yet another proof that the North Atlantic bloc continues its unrestrained militarization of Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The ministry added that “the forced enhancement of coalition capabilities is also taking place in Poland and the Baltics.”

“Such activity by NATO members is provocative, exacerbates military tension along our borders and creates additional security threats to Russia. All this is aimed at preparing the bloc’s allies for a potential collision with our country,” the ministry said.

“We will monitor the developments in Romania, assess the emerging risks and take them into account during military planning,” the ministry added.

Source(s): CGTN

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Usable reserve will exceed USD 100 million by the end of this month: MMA

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Immigration Controller Mohamed Shamman, on Thursday, revealed over 900 undocumented immigrants have been deported as part of efforts to decrease the number of foreigners living in the Maldives unlawfully.

Speaking at a joint press conference held by Local Governance Ministry, Home Ministry, Maldives Immigration and Department of National Registration on Thursday – Shamman said two to three major operations are conducted every week to identify undocumented immigrants.

“We are removing them based on the capacity available at the detention centre. After their removal – the deportation of such individuals from the Maldives is proceeding at a fast pace,” he said.

Speaking further, Shamman underscored that there is a large number of foreigners involved in black market sale of US dollars in the Maldives – which he detailed is carried out near ATMs and through Viber groups.

Seven foreigners unlawfully selling US dollars in the black market were detained on March 15th in an operation carried out by Immigration’s Risk Intelligence and Legal Affairs and Enforcement and Compliance Division.

Shamman noted that some of these detainees have been deported already. Underscoring that some of the detainees lacked the necessary documentation – he said the documents have been requested from the embassy.

“As soon as the documents are received, they will be deported,” he added.

Source(s): sun.mv

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Over 900 undocumented immigrants deported: Immigration Controller

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Immigration Controller Mohamed Shamman, on Thursday, revealed over 900 undocumented immigrants have been deported as part of efforts to decrease the number of foreigners living in the Maldives unlawfully.

Speaking at a joint press conference held by Local Governance Ministry, Home Ministry, Maldives Immigration and Department of National Registration on Thursday – Shamman said two to three major operations are conducted every week to identify undocumented immigrants.

“We are removing them based on the capacity available at the detention centre. After their removal – the deportation of such individuals from the Maldives is proceeding at a fast pace,” he said.

Speaking further, Shamman underscored that there is a large number of foreigners involved in black market sale of US dollars in the Maldives – which he detailed is carried out near ATMs and through Viber groups.

Seven foreigners unlawfully selling US dollars in the black market were detained on March 15th in an operation carried out by Immigration’s Risk Intelligence and Legal Affairs and Enforcement and Compliance Division.

Shamman noted that some of these detainees have been deported already. Underscoring that some of the detainees lacked the necessary documentation – he said the documents have been requested from the embassy.

“As soon as the documents are received, they will be deported,” he added.

Source(s): sun.mv

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