Floods kills 98 in Thailand, cause widespread damage

Monsoon rains, floods and mudslides in Thailand have killed at least 98 people since July, including a French tourist, authorities said on Friday, posing a test for the new government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Flooding in 29 of Thailand’s 76 provinces has destroyed or damaged more then 300,000 homes, authorities said, briefly sinking parts of resort city Pattaya in waist-high water and causing the evacuation of 79 elephants from a farm in Ayutthaya.