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Geopolitics

Death Toll In Iran Twin Quakes Passes 300

IRAN DAILY, TEHRAN TIMES (Iran), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), REUTERS

Worldcrunch

TEHRAN - Iran has raised the death toll from Saturday's twin quakes in the north east of the country to 306, a day after calling off the search for survivors and stepping up the relief effort.

The official toll, presented by Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi in a report to politicians and published on the parliament's website, was a big jump over the last count given on Sunday by Interior Minister Moustafa Mohammad-Najjar, who spoke of 227 dead and 1,380 injured, Al Jazeera reports.

"We have now finished search and rescue operations and we are working to provide shelter and food to the survivors," Mohammad-Najjar told state television.

Iran’s Interior Minister told Iran Daily that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had given orders on Sunday for home reconstruction to begin immediately because of the harsh winter the region will experience at the end of the year.

Iran's Red Crescent has taken over a sports stadium and provided 6,000 tents to some 16,000 people left homeless.

According to the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Tehran, a 6.2 quake on the Richter scale hit the city of Ahar at 4:53 p.m. local time on Saturday, and a 6 magnitude quake struck the city of Varzaqan only 11 minutes later -- followed by multiple aftershocks.

The Tehran Times reports that of the 538 villages in the the northwestern Iranian province of East Azerbaijan, 110 sustained about 40 to 100 percent damage; about 5000 buildings have been damaged.

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Migrant Lives

They Migrated From Chiapas When Opportunities Dried Up, Orchids Brought Them Home

An orchid rehabilitation project is turning a small Mexican community into a tourist magnet — and attracting far-flung locals back to their hometown.

They Migrated From Chiapas When Opportunities Dried Up, Orchids Brought Them Home

Marcos Aguilar Pérez takes care of orchids rescued from the rainforest in his backyard in Santa Rita Las Flores, Mapastepec, Chiapas, Mexico.

Adriana Alcázar González/GPJ Mexico
Adriana Alcázar González

MAPASTEPEC — Sweat cascades down Candelaria Salas Gómez’s forehead as she separates the bulbs of one of the orchids she and the other members of the Santa Rita Las Flores Community Ecotourism group have rescued from the rainforest. The group houses and protects over 1,000 orchids recovered from El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, in the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas, after powerful storms.

“When the storms and heavy rains end, we climb to the vicinity of the mountains and collect the orchids that have fallen from the trees. We bring them to Santa Rita, care for them, and build their strength to reintegrate them into the reserve later,” says Salas Gómez, 32, as she attaches an orchid to a clay base to help it recover.

Like magnets, the orchids of Santa Rita have exerted a pull on those who have migrated from the area due to lack of opportunity. After years away from home, Salas Gómez was one of those who returned, attracted by the community venture to rescue these flowers and exhibit them as a tourist attraction, which provides residents with an adequate income.

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