KATMANDU: A year after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake tore through Nepal, millions of people remain homeless. Here are some key facts about the quake and the reconstruction effort.
• Death Toll: The death toll from the earthquake and its aftershocks stands at 8,959. Another 22,303 people were injured.
• Homes Destroyed: More than one million houses suffered severe damage. The quake destroyed 776,895 houses completely while 298,998 dwellings need repairs.
• Lost Heritage: 131 historic monuments were reduced to rubble while another 560 structures require repairs. Work on a few sites in the Katmandu valley has begun, but officials say it will be years before Nepal’s rich architectural heritage is restored.
• Health care: 1,227 health centers were damaged during the quake, severing a lifeline for remote, rural communities. Forty centers have been rebuilt so far, with work in progress on another 100 sites.
• Schools: The disaster destroyed or damaged nearly 8,000 schools, leaving almost one million children without classrooms. A handful of buildings have been repaired but most students still have lessons in bamboo and tin shelters.
• Economy: The earthquake caused losses of $7 billion. Nepal’s economy is now expected to grow by just 1.5 percent over the financial year ending in July 2016, the lowest level since 2007, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
• Foreign Aid: International donors, including India, China, World Bank and ADB, promised $4.1 billion to aid Nepal’s recovery. But the National Reconstruction Authority, the body in charge of spending the funds, was only set up in December.
• Funds Released: Although the government has promised around $2,000 to each household for rebuilding homes, only 641 families have received the first instalment of $500.
• Where Are Victims Living Now: The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimates four million people are still living in temporary shelters.
The Himalayan quake: Key facts
The Himalayan quake: Key facts
US moves to legally control tanker and 2M barrels of oil seized off Venezuela’s coast in December
- “The era of secretly bankrolling regimes that pose clear threats to the United States is over,” Bondi said
- The Trump administration has set out to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil
WASHINGTON: The Justice Department has filed a complaint to legally take ownership of a sanctioned tanker and nearly 2 million barrels of petroleum seized off the coast of Venezuela in December, another step by President Donald Trump’s administration to assert power over the country’s oil sector after capturing leader Nicolás Maduro.
It’s the first complaint filed by the US to start the legal process to formally take control of one of at least 10 oil tankers intercepted by American authorities since late last year. The US has accused Venezuela of using a shadow fleet of falsely flagged vessels to smuggle illicit crude into global supply chains.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the era of secretly bankrolling regimes that pose clear threats to the United States is over,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an emailed statement.
“This Department of Justice will deploy every legal authority at our disposal to completely dismantle and permanently shutter any operation that defies our laws and fuels chaos across the globe.”
The seizure of the vessel, named the Skipper, in December was the Republican administration’s first in a series of similar actions and marked a dramatic escalation in Trump’s campaign to pressure Maduro by cutting off access to oil revenue that has long been the lifeblood of Venezuela’s economy.
Maduro was arrested in a US raid last month and was taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges. He has pleaded not guilty, protesting his capture and declaring himself “the president of my country.” Following his ouster, several vessels fled the coast of Venezuela in spite of Trump’s quarantine on sanctioned oil tankers, and US forces have tracked and interdicted some of them as far away as the Indian Ocean.
The Trump administration has set out to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil and oversee where the revenue flows. The US has begun lifting broad sanctions to allow foreign companies to operate in Venezuela in a bid to revitalize the ailing oil industry.
A judge in Washington’s federal court must sign off on the US government’s bid to permanently take ownership of the Skipper and its cargo so the oil can potentially be sold.
The Justice Department alleges the tanker moved oil from Iran and Venezuela throughout the world, flying false flags to hide its illegal activities while providing revenue for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which the US has deemed a foreign terrorist organization.
“Because of the coordinated efforts of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners, a ghost tanker that for years secretly moved illicit oil from Iran and Venezuela around the globe has been taken off the seas,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva, who leads the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in a statement.
“Today’s actions are an important step in making America and the world safer by disrupting the flow of millions of dollars to foreign terrorist organizations,” he said.
