Article:
D.A. Lovell Courtesy of D.A. Lovell

 I am not against online activism. In fact, I believe in it and have been moved by its power. From typhoon relief fundraisers to voter-recruitment efforts, I have participated in these Internet-based campaigns and have seen the power that lies in we Americans when we are aligned to create change from behind our computers. It felt good to lend a hand and to know that my contributions made a difference in various campaigns.

 But I think hashtag activism should be used judiciously, especially when it comes to issues affecting the black community, at home and abroad. In some situations, it risks offering users of social media a false sense of accomplishment while obscuring underlying policy and structural issues as well as the full picture of what is taking place on the ground.

 That's why, after a few tweets, I ceased participating in the ongoing #BringBackOurGirls campaign, which is designed to highlight the plight of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram last month. I worried that this was becoming one of those situations in which people feel an unjustified sense of accomplishment.

 The campaign has been going on for weeks, and it's become painfully clear that while the hashtag has elicited attention, the news coverage isn't enough to make a difference to the people at the center of this horrifying story—the Nigerian girls who have not been brought back and who, despite all of the tweets, remain in grave danger.

 The abductions still are an international topic of discussion, but the focus of U.S. reporting on the plight of the girls has declined. In fact, by the time the celebrity attention and major media outlets got on board, more than two weeks had passed since the girls were abducted.

 A popular sentiment in the black community is that, in many cases, we have to work twice as hard for equal results. I think a version of that idea applies here. Certainly, when it comes to pushing for accountability and justice, we have to be especially strategic. Social media activism might not be as powerful as many think it is when it comes to tangible results, when we're dealing with situations that call for more than just raising awareness. My concern isn't that it's wholly ineffective but that it makes us feel as if the job is done, thereby keeping us from taking a course of action that may be more effective in the long term.

 I especially worry about how the #BringBackOurGirls campaign will turn out when I think of some examples from the past: U.S. courts are still systematically breaking down affirmative action, Joseph Kony is still free and George Zimmerman got off.

 Considering these outcomes, I had to make sure I was honest with myself about the fact that a retweet or hashtag might not do much to contribute to the return of the girls.

 But what would help? What are the other options? That's a question I challenged myself to answer. Doing "something else" doesn't have to mean picking up and moving to Nigeria or sleeping outside the embassy in a demand for action. One quick way to make a lasting difference in the conditions that led to this disaster would be to dedicate some time to learning more about the issue of abduction in Nigeria and in other areas of the world, so that comments and tweets are based on personal research, not just recycled demands. ||||| Boko Haram must be quaking in their boots. These ‘Islamic’ militants have razed entire villages to the ground, hacked men to death and killed children as they slept, but now the West has a hashtag campaign.

 #BringBackOurGirls has exploded across social media, powered by a desire to reunite 200 kidnapped Nigerian girls with their parents as well as a strong sense of outrage. Facebook and Twitter are well adapted mediums for protest, yet often the complaints made were not against Boko Haram, but against what was seen as the mainstream media’s wilful ignorance of the girls’ kidnap. A volley of tweets argued that “if these children were white European girls, countries would do something.” They are right. If 200 girls had gone missing in Spain, whether white or black, there would have been far more coverage. Not because of media racism but because such events in Europe are unheard of and therefore in industry terms, more newsworthy. Many of us have been on holiday to Spain and it is a sad fact of humanity that we care more about things we can imagine happening to us.

 The media weren’t ignoring those girls. Reports from the Associated Press and Reuters captured the attention of those who first began campaigning to bring them home. News bulletins didn’t give the issue prominence, but that’s because the media gives their audience what they think they want. All organisations have to shift papers, get clicks and bring in viewers . In February alone, 60 boys were burnt to death as the they slept at a boarding school in Yobe. That same month 150 Christian men were hacked to death and gunned down in a village in central Nigeria. There was no hashtag in February. If readers don’t suggest they are interested in Boko Haram (which given the lack of Western outrage in February, it would be easy to assume), then there will be no primetime coverage.

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 Hashtag activism is a new phenomenon and campaigning in this way has its faults. It can be a brilliant way to bring a campaign to people's attention, but presumably those using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls want to do more than just spread awareness-they want those girls brought home. Getting people like Michelle Obama and David Cameron to hold up a slogan and pull a concerned face is not mission accomplished. We, the people, use a hashtag because we don't have the power that these leaders have. I want influential people to act, not update their status.

 The other problem with hashtag activism is that information spreads very fast on social media and an inaccurate image or tweet goes twice around the world before the truth has time to put on his tie. One of the most powerful posters attached to the #BringBackOurGirls was tweeted by renowned feminist and rapper Chris Brown. It was also used by the US embassy in Madrid, Kim Kardashian and global girls rights activist Becky Makoni. It was a picture of a girl from Guinea Bissou, a country more than 1000 miles away from Nigeria. It was taken by photographer Ami Vitale in 2000, the girl in question, Jenabu Balde, was not kidnapped, and the tear drop running down her face had been photoshopped on. The original picture is here.

 Yet despite being simplistic and at times hypocritical, hashtag activism can work. The media watches Facebook and Twitter to see what issues people care about. Politicians read newspapers: they also want to get votes. If they see a course of action is popular they’ll try and own that issue. France's president offered to host a summit on Boko Haram. Goodluck Jonathan is now willing to accept Western help, and hashtag activism has gone a long way into pressurising him into that decision.

 It’s not just politicians and the media watching social media. Boko Haram might be militants, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t on Twitter. Terrorists want to spread terror and are increasingly using social media due to the accessible, affordable platform it provides. Giving their acts of atrocity airtime may fuel their aims, but the widespread condemnation such campaigns bring may also serve as a foil. Either way, they are listening to what we say. Groups like Al Qaeda and Al Shabab use social media extensively: it’s not beyond the realms of possibility to imagine them employing a social media editor in the future. If hashtag activism really spits in their custard, such an employee may tell his boss ‘this #bringbackourgirls meme, well, it’s going to make our lives hell and it’s just not worth it.’ For all that is wrong with hashtag activism, it is only going to get more powerful in the future. It’s not to be sniffed at.

 The Independent has launched its #FinalSay campaign to demand that voters are given a voice on the final Brexit deal.

 Sign our petition here |||||Summary:

– You've no doubt come across the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, designed to draw attention to the plight of Nigeria's kidnapped girls. DA Lovell has, too, but after a few initial retweets, she's giving it a rest, she writes at the Root. The problem is that hashtag activism like this might raise awareness on a superficial level, but it also gives people "a false sense of accomplishment," writes Lovell. "It makes us feel as if the job is done, thereby keeping us from taking a course of action that may be more effective in the long term." So what's a concerned citizen to do instead? Lovell suggests taking the time to truly educate yourself about what's happening in Nigeria and neighboring countries, or at least start following people and groups that "are doing work on the ground so you know what’s happening even after Twitter moves on to the next trending topic." Problems like this need substantive changes, and a mindless retweet doesn't cut it. At Campare Afrique, Jumoke Balogun sees a bigger problem: All those tweets give the US and other Western governments that much more excuse to expand their military presence in Africa, and "this is not good." But at the Independent, Felicity Morse rounds up the good and the bad and comes down on the side of hashtag activism because of its ability to get the mass media to focus on a neglected subject. It's a force that "is only going to get more powerful in the future," she writes. "It's not to be sniffed at."


Article:
Image copyright AFP Image caption Japanese workers often spend a lot of time with colleagues even after leaving the office

 Death from overwork in Japan is such a longstanding problem it even has its own word, "karoshi".

 Now the government and business groups are trying to get workers to take a small step to reclaim their lives by leaving work early one day a month.

 The scheme, dubbed "Premium Friday", suggests companies make staff go home at 15:00 on the last Friday of the month, starting in February.

 It has been given renewed impetus by the suicide of a woman who was working more than 100 hours overtime a month at Japan's biggest ad agency, Dentsu.

 Her death was ruled to be a case of "karoshi" and has led to an investigation, an announcement the firm's chief executive will resign and deep concern in Japan at the country's work culture.

 But with around 2,000 deaths a year linked to overwork, few believe the voluntary scheme represents anything more than a small step towards changing attitudes and it is unclear how many companies will take it up.

 Image copyright Premium Friday Image caption Premium Friday has its own logo

 It is not the first time overwork has been seen as a problem nor the first time anyone has tried to do something about it.

 Among other initiatives, the government has in the past tried to make employees take more of the leave they are entitled to - Japan's labour ministry says they only take about half - without much success.

 The number of public holidays in Japan this year increased to 16 in part aimed at forcing people to take breaks.

 The government has also tried to encourage more flexible hours, allowing government workers to start and leave work early in the summer and even switching off the lights in some offices late in the evening, something Dentsu is also now trying.

 Workers are increasingly taking the initiative to go home on time some days too, even announcing it on social media to encourage others to do the same.

 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The death of a Dentsu employee has focused attention on a longstanding problem

 But while this has helped change the idea that working excessive overtime is necessarily a good thing, none has had a made much of a dent in the hours themselves.

 Around 22% of the population work more than 49 hours a week according to 2014 figures from the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training, behind South Korea at 35% but ahead of the US, where 16% of workers put in those kind of hours.

 Why change?

 For the government and business groups, there is an element of self-interest too.

 Japan's economy has stagnated for more than two decades. The situation has been made worse by low consumption spending and a very low birth rate, both of which are aggravated by workers spending most of their waking hours at a desk.

 Productivity and efficiency also suffer from firms having staff perpetually on hand, as companies don't invest in labour-saving technologies.

 Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, told the BBC that private consumption could rise by as much as 124 billion yen ($1bn; £860m) every Premium Friday if "100%" of those eligible headed home at 3pm on those days.

 But he stresses no one knows how many people will take up the idea and that total participation is unlikely, which could mean a much smaller boost to the economy.

 Image copyright AFP Image caption Maybe next time dad can come too - increasing family time is one goal

 Why would companies and workers not take part? Well, being first to make such a change could be painful.

 Companies face higher costs and Japanese workers often feel guilty at leaving their colleagues behind.

 "Japanese workers worry about letting down their colleagues" says Mr Nagahama. "They have a strong sense of working as a team."

 Having employees work less is especially difficult for Japan's many small businesses, which are battling to keep costs down. The fact that many of them are family-run makes an early walk-out even trickier.

 Even with Premium Friday, Mr Nagahama points out some employees may make up the time on other days or even do other jobs in their newly-gained leisure time, which would nullify the point of the scheme.

 It is not even clear if the government ministry behind the idea will be participating, though Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko has reportedly promised that he will not have appointments after 15:00 on those Fridays.

 Image copyright AFP Image caption The rare sight of office workers enjoying themselves while it is still light could become more common

 Despite doubts about the scheme, supporters hope the modest goal of an early finish once a month combined with the backing of government and industry will encourage uptake, and eventually more fundamental change in workplace culture.

 The campaign is also promoting commercial opportunities for restaurants, shops, travel companies and other businesses who could benefit, in the hope that firms will see the benefit of increased leisure time for employees.

 Of course, changing deeply-rooted attitudes to work will be difficult. Many previous attempts have failed. But ironically the effort might be helped by Japanese workers' declining corporate loyalty.

 Cut adrift by years of restructuring from the lifetime employment bargain that bound their fathers to a single firm, younger Japanese people may find that the chance to head to the izakaya (pub) a bit earlier some Fridays is just the nudge they need to adopt a better work-life balance.

 Reporting by Simeon Paterson. ||||| The country that coined the word karoshi (death by overwork) wants companies to let workers finish early on the last Friday of every month so that they can go out and have fun.

 In an effort to curb excessive work hours and to spur consumption, the government and business groups will launch the Premium Friday campaign on Feb. 24.

 Although it’s unknown how many companies will participate, the nation’s biggest business lobby, Keidanren, is encouraging its more than 1,300 member companies to take part.

 One indication of just how tough it is to get change in Japan’s rigid work practices: the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which is pushing the idea, hasn’t decided yet if its officials will get to join in.

 However, METI chief Hiroshige Seko said, “I’m giving my secretaries a strict order not to put in any appointments after 3 p.m.” on the first Premium Friday.

 There’s a clear relationship between leisure time, holidays and spending, said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. If most workers, including those at small and medium-size firms participate, private consumption could rise by about ¥124 billion on each Premium Friday, according to his calculations.

 That may provide some boost to private consumption, which makes up about 60 percent of the economy.

 However, Nagahama said he is concerned workers at smaller companies may have difficulty leaving early, or that they will simply have to make the time up on other days, limiting the campaign’s impact.

 Japanese workers typically use just half of their annual paid leave entitlements. In part to work around this problem and enforce time away from work, Japan has 16 annual public holidays, more than countries including the U.S. and France. ||||| Japan’s work culture is notoriously punishing. This is, after all, the country that coined the phrase karoshi, or death by overwork.

 A much trumpeted labor initiative doesn’t look as though it’s going to change things very much, either. Beginning Feb. 24, the Japanese government and participating business groups will launch the “Premium Friday” campaign to let people leave the office a couple of hours early — but not every Friday. Just the last Friday of each month, Bloomberg reports.

 The scheme is not mandatory, either, so it is unclear how many enterprises will actually take part. The Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) has encouraged its members to sign up, but they comprise a mere 1,300 companies. (There are well over 2.5 million registered businesses in Japan according to figures from 2006.)

 Even the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which is promoting “Premium Friday,” has not signaled if its staff will participate.

 “Premium Friday” comes at a time when karoshi is back in the spotlight. Earlier this week, the head of Japan’s biggest ad agency Dentsu (dentsu-inc) resigned over the suicide of Matsuri Takahashi, a young employee who leaped to her death in December 2015 after becoming depressed from overwork.

 “Death by overwork should never happen. I ask executives to take effective measures to redress (the situation.)” said Keidanren chairman Sadayuki Sakakibara following Takahashi’s suicide, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reports.

 For more on death by overwork, watch Fortune’s video:

 According to 2014 figures from the Japan Institute For Labor Policy, Japan has the highest percentage of workers working over 49 hours per week among the G-7 nations. However data from the Japan Productivity Center indicates that the country also has the worst productivity among the group.

 “Japan is still a country where working long hours is considered a virtue,” said Kazunari Tamaki, a lawyer who specializes in karoshi told Japan’s Kyodo. “But we need to focus on improving efficiency within fixed hours to boost productivity.”

 Unfortunately, with schemes like “Premium Friday” that’s unlikely to happen any time soon. |||||Summary:

– Workers in Japan put in notoriously long hours, and the country appears to be paying a price: stressed out workers and resulting health problems, including suicide. As the Japan Times notes, there's even a word for it: "karoshi," or "death by overwork." Now Japan is designating the last Friday of every month as "Premium Friday," with employees encouraged to sign out at 3pm—and maybe do a little shopping to jump-start their weekend and possibly a lagging economy, reports the London Times. The move isn't mandatory for companies, but the nation's biggest business lobby is on board and encouraging its members to take part when it launches on Feb. 24. It doesn't help that most workers in Japan tend to use only half their allotted paid time off, and that an estimated one in eight work 50 hours or more—the highest percentage among G-7 nations. So it remains unclear whether Premium Friday will be a sufficient break for the overworked, or even attainable for those who must squeeze in their work at other times. Fortune is skeptical, calling it an "essentially meaningless" scheme. It quotes a critic who says the bigger issue to focus on is efficiency to cut down on those long work weeks, which are "still considered a virtue." Another problem is that Japan has lots of small, family-run businesses where shortened hours could be a problem, notes the BBC. (A Japanese CEO resigned after a young woman's suicide.)


Following comments he made earlier in the day on his radio show, GLAAD has been in dialogue with Carson Daly and his team, who have now provided us with the following statement:

 "We live in a time where gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals find courage every day to overcome adversity, stand up to bullying and find equality. I'm truly saddened that my words today suggested otherwise. I've long been a supporter of gay, lesbian, and transgender rights, and I'm saddened that my comments, however unintentional, offended anyone, specifically members of the LGBT community. The fact that I have hurt anyone is devastating. I'm not that guy. I'm proud to be an ally of the LGBT community and will continue to fight with them."

 Daly's original comments and tweeted apology can be seen here.

 While it’s up to the public to judge the sincerity of Daly’s sentiments here, GLAAD looks forward to taking him up on his offer to fight with us for the full equality of LGBT Americans. ||||| Carson Daly Gay People Wouldn't Have Stopped Crazy JetBlue Pilot

 Carson Daly -- Gay People Wouldn't Have Stopped Crazy JetBlue Pilot

 does not believe gay people would have been able to restrain the pilot who freaked out on a recentflight ... suggesting gays are simply not brave enough to handle dangerous situations.It all went down on Daly's L.A. radio show this morning ... when he was talking about the flight and said, "Most of the people were on their way to some sort of security conference in Las Vegas ... it was like a bunch of dudes and well trained dudes ... thank god."He laughingly continued, "With my luck, it would be like ... 'this is the flight going to [the gay pride parade] in San Francisco ... I mean, that would be my colleagues."Then, changing his voice to sound like a gay stereotype, Carson said, "Uh, we're headed down to Vegas for the floral convention."Carson has released a statement on Twitter ... saying, "This morning on my radio show I attempted to make fun of myself & offended others by mistake. I sincerely apologize." ||||| Getty Images

 Carson Daly took to his radio show today to sound off on the JetBlue Airways pilot charged with interfering with a flight crew after sprinting through the cabin of a Las Vegas-bound flight screaming about terrorists and 9/11 -- but his comments may ruffle a few feathers among the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

 Noting that passengers wrestled Captain Clayton Osbon to the ground prior to an emergency landing, Daly said, "On this particular flight, most of the people were on their way to some sort of security conference in Las Vegas...so it was a bunch of dudes, and well-trained dudes."

 As TMZ is reporting, Daly then suggested that gays would not brave enough to handle such a dangerous situation: "If that were me...with my luck, it would be like, 'This is the flight going to the [gay] pride parade in San Francisco.'" He then added, "Uh, we're headed down to Vegas for the floral convention."

 A number of bloggers pointed out that the media personality seems to have forgotten about Mark Bingham, the openly gay man who reportedly joined several passengers in storming the cockpit of United Airlines Flight 93 after it was hijacked during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

 Later, Daly tweeted an apology for the remarks:

 @carsonjdaly

 Carson Daly This morning on my radio show I attempted to make fun of myself & offended others by mistake. I sincerely apologize.

 UPDATE: He also apologized in a statement to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD): |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Carson Daly apologized last night for implying that gay people wouldn't have been able to take down the JetBlue pilot who melted down on a recent flight. On his show yesterday morning, Daly noted how lucky it was that many of the passengers on the flight were "well-trained dudes" on their way to a security conference. Unfortunately, he went on: "With my luck, it would be like, 'This is the flight going to [the gay pride parade] in San Francisco. I mean, that would be my colleagues." Then, making his voice sound—as TMZ puts it—"like a gay stereotype," Daly continued, "Uh, we're headed down to Vegas for the floral convention." He later apologized on Twitter, posting, "This morning on my radio show I attempted to make fun of myself & offended others by mistake. I sincerely apologize." He also gave a statement to GLAAD, reiterating that he is "an ally of the LGBT community" and that that community is full of courageous individuals. The Huffington Post notes that Mark Bingham, one of the United 93 passengers who stormed the cockpit on 9/11, was openly gay; Bingham's mother responded to the controversy, telling TMZ in no uncertain terms that her son was a tough rugby player who ran with the bulls in Pamplona. Click to hear Daly's original comments.


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 ம்ம்ம், சேவையகத்தை அணுகுவதில் ஒரு சிக்கல். மீண்டும் முயற்சிக்கவும்? மூல கீச்சை உள்ளடக்கவும் ஊடகத்தை உள்ளடக்கு

 By embedding Twitter content in your website or app, you are agreeing to the Twitter Developer Agreement and Developer Policy. ||||| Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. |||||Summary:

– Alec Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria, have welcomed their third child together, the AP reports. The 58-year-old actor announced the birth of son Leonardo Angel Charles on Twitter Monday night. His post linked to Hilaria Baldwin's Instagram account, which featured a photo of her posing with the newborn. Baldwin said baby Leonardo was born at 6:51pm Monday in New York City. The couple, who wed in 2012, are also parents to a 3-year-old daughter and 15-month-old son. Alec Baldwin also has an adult daughter from his previous marriage to actress Kim Basinger.


The campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton released a letter from her doctor about her recent pneumonia diagnosis and other medical history. The Fix’s Aaron Blake explains why. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

 The campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton released a letter from her doctor about her recent pneumonia diagnosis and other medical history. The Fix’s Aaron Blake explains why. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

 Hillary Clinton’s campaign released a letter from her doctor Wednesday describing her treatment for “mild” bacterial pneumonia and painting an overall picture of good health in an attempt to put to rest concerns about her medical condition following her illness over the weekend.

 The letter, from Clinton’s doctor, Lisa Bardack, noted that she received a CT scan confirming the pneumonia diagnosis and is now about halfway through a regimen on the antibiotic Levaquin. It came three days after Clinton’s illness caused her to stumble out of a memorial service and forced her off the campaign trail. Clinton’s campaign said the information updates a health history released last year.

 [Hillary Clinton’s new doctor’s letter, annotated]

 The campaign came under fire on Sunday, when Clinton fell ill at a Ground Zero commemoration of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. For 90 minutes after her abrupt departure, when she was seen buckling and stumbling into her van, the campaign offered no information on Clinton’s whereabouts or condition. It was many hours later before aides revealed the pneumonia diagnosis, which had come on Friday.

 “The remainder of her complete physical exam was normal and she is in excellent mental condition,” Bardack wrote in the letter. “She is recovering well with antibiotics and rest. She continues to remain healthy and fit to serve as President of the United States.”

 1 of 57 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail View Photos The Democratic presidential nominee hits the road after her party’s national convention. Caption Hillary Clinton loses to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Nov. 9, 2016 Hillary Clinton speaks in New York while her husband, former president Bill Clinton, applauds. Melina Mara/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.

 Issues surrounding health and transparency have swirled around Clinton and her Republican rival, real estate mogul Donald Trump, in the past several weeks. Clinton, who turns 69 in October, would become the second-oldest president to enter the White House (after Ronald Reagan, who also was 69), while Trump, who turned 70 in June, would be the oldest. Neither has any known major medical problems.

 Clinton had previously released more extensive health information than Trump. She has also been the subject of persistent rumors and conspiracy-minded claims about her health. Although her campaign has dismissed such theories as bunk and even sexist, Clinton fed into them by ditching her press corps Sunday and not releasing timely information on her health or whereabouts.

 Trump discussed his own health during a taping of “The Dr. Oz Show” on Wednesday morning. He shared some of the results of his most recent physical examination, according to the show, even though earlier top campaign aides told reporters that he would not release any records on set and planned to talk about general wellness, not his personal health history.

 At one point during the show, which is scheduled to air Thursday, host Mehmet Oz asked Trump why he has not yet released his medical records, given that his health seems so strong.

 “Well, I really have no problem in doing it,” Trump said, according to a brief clip released by the show on Wednesday afternoon. “I have it right here. Should I do it? I don’t care. Should I do it?”

 Trump then pulled two pieces of paper out of his suit pocket that he said contained test results from his latest physical examination and a letter from Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. In the video clip, Oz is shown studying the two pieces of paper. Reporters were not allowed to attend the taping, and the campaign has not released the documents. The campaign also would not say what sort of medical records Trump plans to release or how many years they cover.

 Bardack is the chair of internal medicine at CareMount Medical in Mount Kisco, N.Y., and has served as Clinton’s personal physician since 2001. Her letter also described various medications that Clinton is taking, including Coumadin, a blood thinner. And it describes Clinton’s normal-ranging vital statistics: blood pressure of 100/70; a pulse of 70; and a total cholesterol level of 189.

 Video of Hillary Clinton’s departure seemed to show her buckling and stumbling as she got into her van. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)

 Bardack examined Clinton as recently as Wednesday and has done so several other times since she was diagnosed with pneumonia Friday, according to a campaign aide.

 The letter shows that Clinton has normal-ranging vital statistics, according to several doctors who reviewed the information but have never treated her. Her blood pressure and cholesterol levels are “good” or “excellent” and place her at low risk for illness for a woman her age, the doctors said.

 Clinton has received two vaccinations against pneumonia — Prevnar and Pneumovax — according to the letter. The new information also reveals more about Clinton’s pneumonia diagnosis. She was tested with a non-contrast chest CT scan, which discovered a small right middle-lobe pneumonia.

 David Scheiner, who was Barack Obama’s physician for more than two decades until his election in 2008, praised Clinton’s doctor for conducting a chest CT scan, which typically would not be done to diagnose pneumonia.

 “I have to give the doctor credit for that one,” Scheiner said. “Because she has had blood clots, I think in the back of the doctor’s mind was, could she possibly have pulmonary embolism? That was a very smart move on the doctor’s part.”

 But Scheiner said he was perplexed by some of the medications that Clinton takes. He said the blood thinner Coumadin can be hard to regulate and that better alternatives exist. In addition, the Armour Thyroid tablets she takes for hypothyroidism are used on only a small percentage of patients.

 “That’s a bit unusual,” he said, noting that doctors rarely prescribe it.

 Other doctors noted that while Levaquin is an appropriate treatment for her pneumonia, one of its side effects is dizziness and lightheadedness. That could have been a contributing factor to her fainting on Sunday, said Greg Rosencrance, an internist at the Cleveland Clinic.

 Overall, Scheiner said the disclosures by Clinton’s campaign on Wednesday were “in the right vein.” But he argued that the current patchwork system that relies on campaigns to decide how much medical information to disclose, and often by a candidate’s personal physician, too often leaves Americans in the dark.

 “The question is how much info is enough? . . . I think we need to know everything about the candidates, and not just because these are two old geezers,” said Scheiner, who has advocated for complete, objective health reports from any candidate who wants to serve as commander in chief and lead the world’s largest economy.

 [It pays to read the warnings when you open up a prescription]

 Clinton had previously released a letter from Bardack containing information about her health, medications and past health conditions, including a history of hypothyroidism and deep-vein thrombosis.

 After Clinton’s pneumonia diagnosis, she kept the information secret and ignored her doctor’s advice to rest and modify her schedule. Instead, Clinton continued with a full day of campaign events, choosing to “power through” despite her illness.

 But by Sunday morning, Clinton became severely dehydrated during the outdoor memorial at Ground Zero, according to the campaign. She left the event early and was seen in video footage buckling as she was helped into her van by her aides and security detail.

 The campaign’s long delay in providing information to the media and the public prompted criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike.

 Clinton canceled three days of scheduled campaign events and has been resting at home in Chappaqua, N.Y. She is expected to return to the campaign trail with an event in Greensboro, N.C., on Thursday.

 “Obviously I should have gotten some rest sooner,” Clinton said on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” on Monday. “I just didn’t think it was going to be that big a deal.”

 Clinton previously suffered from severe dehydration in 2012, fainted and suffered a concussion. She was later diagnosed with a blood clot in her skull, discovered during routine testing while recovering.

 At the same time, Clinton has criticized Trump for releasing a letter from his physician earlier last year that contained virtually no objective health information. Trump has since said that he would release more medical information from a physical he received last week.

 Edward Geltman, a cardiologist at the medical school at Washington University in St. Louis, said the information released shows Clinton to be healthy, with normal range for vitals. Her blood pressure is on the “low side of normal,” he said, so she would be prone to fainting and sensitive to dehydration.

 Geltman observed that the letter contained no information about the health of Clinton’s heart, such as an electrocardiogram. Those are fairly standard tests, and as people age, it is important to establish a baseline, he said. Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States. But because she does not smoke, does not appear to be particularly overweight and has good cholesterol levels, Clinton does not appear to be at risk for a heart attack, he said.

 Doctors also noted that Clinton is on minimal medications and has had appropriate breast cancer screening — but there is no mention of colon cancer screening.

 According to the letter, Clinton was diagnosed with a sinus infection and subsequently an ear infection in January, in the lead-up to the critically important Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

 She was treated with antibiotics and steroids. Later, a tube was placed in her left ear as part of the treatment.

 Bardack wrote that the symptoms improved, and a follow-up CT scan showed mild, chronic sinus infections but no abnormalities of the brain related to those illnesses.

 The campaign also released a comparable letter about Clinton’s running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who was said to be in “overall excellent health,” according to a letter released from the attending physician for Congress, Brian P. Monahan, who recommended only that Kaine, 58, add a daily vitamin D supplement to his diet. Monahan has been Kaine’s physician for three years.

 In his letter, Monahan noted that Kaine’s past surgical history is limited to tooth extractions. Kaine’s most recent electrocardiogram showed his heart appeared normal with the exception of a “mild left atrial enlargement.” No other problem areas were identified.

 Brady Dennis, Jenna Johnson and Lena H. Sun in Washington and John Wagner in Las Vegas contributed to this report. ||||| Hillary Clinton’s doctor said in a letter released Wednesday that the Democratic nominee is “healthy and fit to serve as President of the United States,” characterizing her pneumonia diagnosis as “mild” and “non-contagious.”

 The new information on Clinton came from her physician, Dr. Lisa Bardack, who both wrote the letter about her health last year and was the doctor who diagnosed Clinton with pneumonia on Friday. The release also included a one-page letter pronouncing vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine “in overall excellent health” from Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the attending physician in Congress.

 The new information from Bardack, Clinton’s doctor, further addressed her pneumonia diagnosis from last week. Bardack said in the letter that she’s examined Clinton multiple times since then, as recently as Wednesday.

 Clinton’s health has been front and center since Sunday, when she abruptly left a 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York after feeling “overheated” and “dizzy.” Clinton went to her daughter’s apartment in Manhattan to recover before returning home to Chappaqua, N.Y.; later that evening, her campaign revealed that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia the preceding Friday.

 “I’m reassured by this—boy, it’s nice to have information isn’t it?” CBS News’ Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook told CBSN Wednesday evening. “A bunch of the questions that I had had were, for example, how do we know she had pneumonia? Well now we know, she had a CAT scan. What was the size of the pneumonia? It was felt to be a small, right middle-lobe pneumonia, so that’s much better than if a lot of the lung was involved.”

 According to Bardack’s letter, she saw Clinton on Sept. 2 for a low-grade fever, congestion and fatigue. Bardack advised rest; Clinton continued her campaign trail travel, and a week later—last Friday—she saw Bardack again when her symptoms had worsened.

 On Friday, Clinton underwent a non-contrast chest CT scan, which showed a “a small right middlelobe pneumonia,” according to Bardack, which she characterized as a “mild, non-contagious bacterial pneumonia. Clinton was treated with Levaquin, which she was advised to take for 10 days.

 In addition to her pneumonia diagnosis, Clinton has been treated this year for a sinus and ear infection she developed in January. In order to drain fluid from her left ear and relieve her symptoms, Clinton had a myringotomy tube placed in her ear in January by an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor; her symptoms have since abated, according to Bardack.

 “Further follow-up evaluation with a CT scan of her brain and sinuses was done in March of 2016,” Bardack wrote. “This scan showed no abnormalities of the brain and mild chronic sinusitis. Her symptoms resolved and she continued symptom-free for the next six months.”

 Bardack’s letter included an updated list of Clinton’s medications, which include Levaquin, Armor Thyroid, Coumadin, Clarinex and B-12 as needed. Her vaccinations are up to date, and she has had a normal mammogram and breast ultrasound. Clinton’s blood pressure at her last examination was 100/70 and her temperature was 97.8 degrees.

 “My overall impression is that Mrs. Clinton has remained healthy and has not developed new medical conditions this year other than a sinus and ear infection and her recently diagnosed pneumonia,” Bardack wrote. “She is recovering well with antibiotics and rest. She continues to remain healthy and fit to serve as President of the United States.”

 As for Kaine, Dr. Monahan pronounced him in “overall excellent health”—his only recommendation was that the vice-presidential candidate add a daily vitamin D supplement to his diet.

 According to Monahan, who last examined Kaine for a full physical in February, the candidate’s lab and blood work all came back normal; he had an echocardiogram done in March to check a “left atrial enlargement” in his heart, but the results indicated “structurally normal heart valves without evidence of valve malfunction.” Kaine takes no medications and has no drug allergies; he has no history of tobacco use and his use of alcohol is “modest.”

 Here’s the full text of the letter from Bardack:

 HRC Physician Letter by News Team on Scribd ||||| Play Facebook

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 Hillary Clinton released medical records on Wednesday providing new details about both her pneumonia diagnosis and general health — just hours after Donald Trump offered some new information about his own well being in a taped appearance on the "Dr. Oz Show."

 The dueling releases shed some new light on Clinton's condition and added little to an already-thin amount of known details about Trump's health.

 A letter from Clinton's doctor states that the Democratic presidential nominee last Friday was diagnosed with mild, non-contagious bacterial pneumonia. "She is recovering well with antibiotics and rest. She continues to remain healthy and fit to serve as president of the United States," said Dr. Lisa Bardack, Clinton's doctor.

 Dr. Bardack also revealed she evaluated Clinton a week earlier, on Sept. 2 for a fever, congestion and fatigue.

 "Over the next several days as she traveled, her congestion worsened and she developed a cough. She was advised to see me when she returned from her travels for further testing," Dr. Bardack wrote. During the follow-up, a non-contrast chest CT scan revealed the pneumonia.

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 The release of Clinton's records came just hours after Trump provided some new medical information of his own in a taped appearance of "The Dr. Oz Show," which is scheduled to air Thursday. Trump handed the show's host a letter containing new details from a recent examination Dr. Harold Bornstein — the same physician that vouched for Trump's health in a brief letter he wrote in just five minutes earlier this year. That information has not been provided to reporters by the campaign.

 Dr. Mehmet Oz told NBC News after the taping he was "surprised" Trump provided him with the information.

 "I looked at them and tried to process it pretty quickly and I got to say as a doctor, if he was my patient, they are good for a man of his age," Dr. Oz said.

 Those in the audience told NBC News after the interview that Dr. Oz gave Trump a clean bill of health. "Even Dr. Oz said that, you know, if it was his patient he would be extremely happy and just, kind of, send him on his way," audience member Bryan Manzali told NBC News following the taping in New York City.

 "Other than apparently his body mass index being a little high, the man is in incredibly good shape. Dr. Oz was very, very impressed," said Matthew Stevens, who also was in the audience.

 Related: Trump Shares Results Of Medical Exam During Dr. Oz Taping

 Clinton's campaign released a far more detailed look at her health and some of the highlights include:

 Clinton is currently taking Armor Thyroid, Coumadin, Levaquin (temporarily), Clarinex and B-12 as needed. Her blood pressure is 100/70; heart rate of 70; respiratory rate of 18; temperature of 97.8 and pulse-oximetry of 99 percent.

 Clinton's vaccinations are "up to date" and include Prevnar and Pneumovax.

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 She has had a normal mammogram and breast ultrasound. Lab testing (vitamin D, CBC, fasting blood glucose, comprehensive metabolic panel, hemoglobin A1-C, vitamin B-12) is "normal," including cholesterol of 189, LDL of 103, HDL of 56 and triglycerides of 159.

 Dr. Bardack said, "the remainder of her complete physical exam was normal and she is in excellent mental condition."

 The Clinton campaign on Wednesday also released a letter from vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine's doctor, who declared him to be in "excellent health" and recommended that he add a daily vitamin D supplement. |||||

Write a summary.

– While Donald Trump did his Dr. Oz thing, Hillary Clinton's doctor released a letter hoping to clear up this whole pneumonia brouhaha. CBS News reports Dr. Lisa Bardack diagnosed Clinton with pneumonia last Friday. Two days later, Clinton was seen stumbling while leaving a Sept. 11 memorial, kicking off speculation about her health and leading her campaign to make the pneumonia diagnosis public. In her letter released Wednesday, Bardack says a CT scan showed Clinton had "mild, non-contagious bacterial pneumonia" for which she is taking antibiotics, according to the Washington Post. CBS' chief medical correspondent says he's "reassured" by the letter, which answered "a bunch of the questions that I had." The letter also includes a whole host of health information on Clinton, including her blood pressure of 100/70, heart rate of 70, and temperature of 97.8, NBC News reports. Experts reviewing the letter for the Post say it shows normal vitals, including cholesterol and that Clinton appears to be "at low risk for illness for a woman her age." In the letter, Bardack writes she is happy with Clinton's recovery and that Clinton continues to be "healthy and fit to serve as president."


TROY WILL BE BACK TO PINPOINT THE TIMING OF TODAY'S STORMS. THAT'S COMING UP IN LESS THAN TWO MINUTES. PATROLS ARE BEING STEPPED UP AT ONE TROUBLED COMPLEX IN ORANGE COUNTY AFTER A SPIKE IN DRUG OVERDOSES. POLICE SAY AT LEAST ONE OF THEM WAS DEADLY. THIS IS NEAR THE BEACHLINE AND ORANGE BLOSSOM TRAIL. DEPUTIES SAY IN THE LAST 24 HOURS, AT LEAST 11 PEOPLE OVERDOSED ON HEROINE IN THAT AREA. THE SHERIFF SAYS SOME OF THE VICTIMS ARE ONLY IN THEIR 20'S. WHILE IT IS AN OLD DRUG, IT IS NEW TO MANY PEOPLE. PEOPLE DYING OF HEROINE OVERDOSES AND WHAT HAVE YOU, THEY ARE IN THEIR 20'S, 30'S, THEIR 40'S. THESE ARE NOT INDIVIDUALS USING IN THE '60S, THE '70S AND THE '80S.

 ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -

 The Orange County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that at least 11 heroin overdoses were reported in a 24-hour span in the area of Blossom Park.

 Deputies said many of the overdose victims have ended up in the hospital, and some of the victims have died.

 OCSO said deputies were sent to the the area to ensure there is a high visibility of law enforcement in hopes of preventing the sale and usage of heroin in the area. ||||| CEDAR RAPIDS — One narcotics law enforcement officer says taking heroin is similar to grabbing a loaded gun and spinning the chamber.

 Even worse, he added, heroin use is spreading in Iowa, and its deadly reach is likely to continue to grow.

 Heroin overdoses, for example, have surged in Cedar Rapids in the past five years.

 In 2009, authorities responded to nine reported heroin-related deaths and non-fatal overdoses, which represented 45 percent of all overdoses in Cedar Rapids.

 Through June 5 of this year, there have been 52 reported overdoses in the city, 44 of which were heroin-related. Heroin has accounted for 85 percent of all overdose calls this year.

 “It's a serious issue — not just the presence of heroin, but the effects that heroin is having on the users,” Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman said. “The number of overdoses and the number of overdose deaths is very concerning.”

 Cedar Rapids is not alone in facing a growing heroin epidemic. One way to gauge the prevalence of heroin in Iowa and where it is being found is through samples, or exhibits, submitted to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Criminalistics Laboratory. According to statistics provided by the crime lab, 37 of Iowa's 99 counties have submitted suspected heroin to the lab for testing since 2005.

 However, three Eastern Iowa counties make up a majority of the cases sent to the DCI lab. Of the 47 exhibits submitted to the lab in the first third of 2015, seven were from Johnson County and eight were from Linn County. Collectively, they account for nearly a third of all heroin cases submitted to the lab this year.

 Scott County leads the state with 16 submitted cases through the first four months of the year.

 Not only is heroin becoming increasingly common, but authorities warn that it's becoming deadlier, thanks to the presence of a synthetic opioid with 80 times the potency of heroin.

 And one Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement agent warns that heroin shows no sign of slowing down in Iowa.

 “I think it's going to be on the upswing,” DNE special agent-in-charge Dan Stepleton said. “I think it's going to get worse and worse.”

 Metro hubs

 Heroin is a highly addictive opioid produced from opium poppy. Usually injected by the user, heroin also can be smoked and is a powerful painkiller. It is similar to fellow opioid morphine, but 10 times as powerful.

 The heroin found in Iowa is produced by Mexican cartels and distributed through metropolitan hubs, such as Chicago, which helps to explain why Scott, Linn and Johnson counties in Eastern Iowa see more heroin cases than the more populous Polk County.

 “Because you have a predominant heroin source of Chicago and those are the closest three counties to Chicago in Iowa and they're metropolitan counties,” Stepleton explained.

 Stepleton said heroin usually is distributed by gang members with Chicago affiliations. Criminal investigations often begin with an overdose death, he explained.

 “Unfortunately it's usually already a done deal when we get involved,” said Stepleton, who covers a 24-county swath of Eastern Iowa. “We are working toward the source of supply and not just waiting for an overdose to happen. We're trying to avert those as much as possible.”

 According to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control last month, heroin use is rising across all demographics, with women and 18-to-25-year-olds seeing the biggest increases in recent years. Experts point to the rise of prescription drug abuse, especially among young people.

 “What we're seeing is young people — high school and college age — will get addicted to Vicodin, oxycotin,” Stepleton said. “When they run out of the prescriptions, they'll resort to heroin because it's 10 times the potency of that drug. Unfortunately you're already hooked at that point.

 Related story:

 Change in law makes heroin death convictions more difficult to prosecute

 “It doesn't take long to make the switch from oxycotin to heroin, which in essence is going to make you a lifelong addict.”

 Heroin is not a high-volume drug — it lags far behind more common illegal substances in Iowa such as marijuana and methamphetamine — and it's highly expensive. One ounce of heroin is a “huge amount,” Stepleton said, and most dealers work in shipments of 10 to 50 grams.

 Heroin is purchased for about $200 to $250 per gram and is usually sold for about $50 for a 10th of a gram.

 “It's a very expensive habit,” he said. “That's why most of your heroin users have to be dealers. You just can't afford to get the drug.”

 Because of its expensive and addictive nature, heroin abuse often is associated with property crimes such as thefts and burglaries.

 “Addicts will do what they need to do to obtain the next fix,” Jerman said.

 Lethal

 While there is no definitive ranking in Iowa on the most lethal drugs, heroin probably would be near the top of the list in terms of deaths with respect to the number of actual users, according to one state official.

 “It would appear that heroin is more lethal than many other substances,” said Dale Woolery, associate director for the Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy.

 Woolery said it appears that a greater proportion of heroin users experience overdoses than users of more common drugs in Iowa, such as methamphetamine.

 “There are a lot of Iowans that have a strong appetite for methamphetamine,” he said. “But it's rare, if it ever occurs ... that you hear of a methamphetamine-overdose death. I think it does occur, but I'm talking very few.”

 Heroin typically is sold at a purity of three percent to five percent, Stepleton said.

 “After that, it gets very, very lethal,” he said.

 However, it's not an exact science and some dealers might not be as careful about diluting their drugs.

 “There's no FDA involved in this,” Stepleton said. “He might dilute it down to 7 to 8 percent ... Taking it at 3 percent and taking it at 8 percent is a big freaking difference.”

 Heroin is becoming even more lethal with the introduction of a drug called fentanyl. A synthetic opioid painkiller, fentanyl is 80 times as potent as heroin and a single piece of pure fentanyl the size of the grain of salt can kill a fully grown man.

 “Now they're lacing heroin with fentanyl,” Stepleton said. “Now you have two drugs together and one is very much more powerful than the other. If I'm taking the same drug dosage unit and it's laced with fentanyl, now I end up with really severe problems ... You don't have long for this world.”

 Stepleton said fentanyl and fentanyl-laced heroin has hit the East Coast hard in recent years, resulting in 2,500 to 3,500 overdoses in major cities. And it's making its way to Iowa.

 Bruce Reeve, administrator for the DCI crime lab, said technicians have been seeing fentanyl in the form of patches prescribed for chronic pain relief for years. But more recently they are seeing heroin laced with fentanyl.

 In January, the lab examined one case of heroin mixed with fentanyl. In April, there were three more. In May, half of the labs 10 heroin cases had samples cut with fentanyl.

 “I think we're starting to see that a lot more in Iowa,” Reeve said. “It's a trend that's alarming. Fentanyl is a dangerous drug if it's not handled right.”

 Stepleton puts it more bluntly.

 “I think it's going to be an extreme problem,” he said. “I can't stress that enough. There is no FDA in illicit drug distribution. It's a crapshoot on what you're going to be buying and putting in your body. ... It's like putting a loaded gun in your hand and spinning the chamber every time.”

 In July, the Cedar Rapids Police Department announced it had received federal funding that would allow it to hire another officer. Having that additional officer will allow the department to place a seasoned professional with the Eastern Iowa Prevention, Treatment and Prosecution Initiative. The officer will emphasize heroin-prevention efforts while also working on the investigation and prosecution of heroin-related crimes.

 “From decades ago, (heroin) seemed to be confined to different areas,” Jerman said. “Now we see there are no boundaries ... It's making its way into all segments of society.

 “Whether it's lower middle, upper middle or the upper class, that's what we're seeing.”

 Change in law makes heroin death convictions more difficult to prosecute

 A grieving mother displayed a photo of her son in a casket during a February sentencing of a man who had sold her child heroin, saying it's all she has left to remember him.

 Stacy Iberg likely is one of many mothers over the past five years in Eastern Iowa who have either lost a child or had a child overdose on heroin.

 Her son, Dustin Legrand, died from a heroin overdose last year after Ramon Freeman, 35, of Chicago, sold to someone who provided the heroin to Legrand. Freeman is now serving 30 years in federal prison.

 Federal prosecutors say Freeman is only one of 75 people charged in U.S. District Court in the past five years for distribution of heroin, and 38 of those have been in Linn County. From 2011 to 2015, 14 defendants in the Northern District have been charged in cases involving heroin deaths and six have been charged with bodily injury that resulted from heroin overdoses.

 But prosecuting these dealers has become more difficult after a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision involving an Iowa case in the Southern District, he said.

 That case set a higher standard for prosecutors to meet in distribution cases involving death, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Chatham said. There must be sufficient evidence the heroin is what caused the death, according to the law.

 Prosecutors previously only had to prove the heroin was a “contributing cause.” In many of these cases, users may take other drugs along with the heroin.

 In an overdose causing bodily injury, Chatham said, there has to be evidence that the user was at high risk to die without medical intervention.

 Some cases haven't been able to meet that standard to convict for a heroin death, but Chatham and Patrick Reinert, also an assistant U.S. attorney, said they can argue in sentencing for more time based on other factors, such as previous convictions, purity of heroin or how close the dealer is to the main source.

 In the sentencing for Freeman in February, Chatham argued for more prison time based on the purity — in that case, 68 to 73 percent — of heroin he was selling, and Freeman's position in the chain of distribution. Dealers with higher purity levels typically are closer to the main source, he said.

 Chatham said the overdoses usually occur because the purity is so much higher than what the user is used to. In the past, the heroin might have been cut with another substance, so the dealers could have more product and make more money.

 Chatham said there also are cases in the district where users have overdosed because it's mixed with another drug such as fentanyl, used to treat severe pain and often used after surgery.

 There were two defendants indicted in June from Cedar Rapids for distribution of heroin/fentanyl and conspiracy to distribute heroin/fentanyl that resulted in bodily injury. ||||| Related video from New Jersey 101.5:

 This week, we're taking a special look at heroin's increasing grip on the Garden State.

 On Thursday, we'll conduct a special town hall — including a live chat where you can get your questions about addiction and treatment answered by New Jersey experts. It starts at 7 p.m. on NJ1015.com .

 Authorities tell us New Jersey's heroin epidemic isn't letting up — even with powerful new tools like the antidote Narcan to battle overdose deaths .

 The numbers back them up. Heroin use is spiking throughout the state — and it's making its way into the suburbs, as once-sleepy towns find themselves hotbeds of drug activity.

 Here's a look at the statistics :

 781

 It's a troubling number that just keeps on rising. In 2014, there were 781 heroin-related overdose deaths in New Jersey, according to data by the state Department of Criminal Justice. That's more than twice as many as in 2010.

 A report last year by New Jersey Advance Media notes that the per-capita rate of 8.3 heroin-related deaths per 100,000 people is more than triple the national rate reported by the Centers for Disease Control. In addition, heroin "now eclipses homicide, suicide, car accidents and AIDS as a cause of death in the state," according to the report.

 For years, New Jersey's heroin death toll stayed comparatively stable, hovering in the mid-300s to mid-400s, and even getting as low as 306 in 2010. But it's been steadily increasing ever since then.

 28,332

 According to a report released by the Department of Human Services Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services last year , in 2014, 28,332 people were admitted into substance abuse treatment programs with heroin or another opiate listed as the individual's primary drug. That's nearly half of the 64,766 people entering treatment programs for substances overall in New Jersey.

 Both figures are down from 2013, when 72,864 entered substance treatment, 32,607 for heroin or other opiates.

 3,688

 Of those seeking treatment for heroin or opiates, the most were in Ocean County. The 3,688 admitted for treatment in Ocean accounted for 13 percent of all those admitted through the state, even though Ocean only accounts for about 6.5 percent of the total state population.

 But when the figures are broken down per 100,000 people, Cape May County leads the state for those entering treatment — at 1,138 (because of a statistical quirk, the per-capita number is greater than the raw number in Cape May; there are slightly less than 100,000 people in the county). Click on your county in the interactive map below to see how your county fares. Darker shades mean higher incidences of heroin and opiate treatment.

 1,176

 In 2014, 1,176 people in Newark sought treatment for heroin addiction — more than in any other municipality — according to a breakdown of the state treatment report by Patch.com . While the top cities for heroin use were urban centers — Paterson, Jersey City, Atlantic City and Camden round out the top 5 — there are several suburban communities among the top 20. Toms River was in sixth place, with 436 reported admissions, and Brick in seventh with 426.

 Central Jersey communities of Middletown and Lacey are on the list, as are Millville and Lower Township in South Jersey. Patch notes Bloomfield, "long considered one of the safest neighborhood communities in Essex County," made its yearly analysis of the data for the first time, in 20th place

 16.1%

 A 2011 state breakdown found more non-Hispanic white people , per capita, dying from drug use than blacks or Hispanics. According to the report, 16.1 per 100,000 white people died of drug-related causes — compared with 9.8 for black people and 5.1 for Hispanic people.

 That wasn't always the case — in 2000, more blacks died of drugs per capita (14.5 per 100,000 than whites (10). But drug deaths among whites have been steadily increasing, and blacks steadily decreasing — 2007 was the last time black deaths from drug-related causes outpaced white deaths.

 1,000

 Nalaxone, an opiate antidote marketed under the name Narcan, was deployed more than 1,000 times in 2014, according to Gov. Chris Christie's office .

 Ocean County Prosecutor Joe Coronato told New Jersey 101.5 that it's been a help in his county — in 2013 there were 112 heroin deaths in Ocean County, and that number dropped to 101 in 2014. But he stressed it's a "temporary save," saying "there’s been several individuals that we’ve sprayed two or three times already,” he said. But sometimes by the third time they’ve not survived, they’ve died. That’s not truly addressing the problem. The problem is the addiction.”

 2%

 The 2013 New Jersey Student Health Survey (the most recent available) found that 2 percent of high school students had used heroin at some point in their lifetimes. That's about half as many as in 2001, though the figure's held steady for several years.

 Also according to the survey:

 • 7 percent had used Ecstasy;

 • 6 percent had used hallucinogens;

 • 5 percent had used cocaine;

 • 3 percent had used methamphetamines;

 • 2 percent had used a needle to inject an illegal drug.

 15%

 The 2013 New Jersey Student Health Survey also found 15 of students had attended school under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the previous 12 months.

 — Note: This is an update of a report first run in the summer of 2015.

 Related video from New Jersey 101.5: ||||| A view of Washington, Pa. Last week, Washington County recorded 16 overdoses in 24 hours and 25 over two days. Three people died. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

 The first call came at 7:33 p.m. last Sunday: Two people had overdosed on heroin in a home just a few hundred yards from the station where firefighters were awaiting their nightly round of drug emergencies.

 Six minutes later, there was another. A 50-year-old man had been found in his bedroom, blue from lack of oxygen, empty bags of heroin by his body.

 At 8:11, a third call. Then another, and another, and another and another.

 By 8:42 — 69 minutes after the first report — a county of slightly more than 200,000 people had recorded eight overdoses, all believed to be caused by heroin. There would be a total of 16 overdoses in 24 hours and 25 over two days. Three people died. Many of the others were saved by a recent decision to equip every first responder with the fast-acting antidote naloxone.

 The toll wasn’t from a supply of heroin that had been poisoned on its journey from South America to southwestern Pennsylvania. Nor was there an isolated party where careless junkies miscalculated the amount of heroin they could handle. Last week was simply an extreme example of what communities in parts of the country are enduring as the heroin epidemic rages on.

 Valerie Mack, left, is comforted by family friend Carla Stormy Efaw in Washington, Pa. Mack lost her brother, Sammy Mack, to a heroin overdose. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

 “It’s absolutely insane. This is nuts,” said District Attorney Eugene A. Vittone, a former paramedic who is trying to hold back the tide of drugs washing across Washington County, a Rust Belt community 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. On any day, Vittone said, the county averages five to eight overdoses, almost all from heroin. More are recorded each day in towns just over the county line.

 “There’s been a progressive increase in overdoses the last two years, and it just went out of control,” added Rick Gluth, supervising detective on Vittone’s drug task force. “I’ve been a police officer for 27 years and worked narcotics for the last 15, and this is the worst. I’d be glad to have the crack epidemic back.”

 [Cheap fix: Heroin’s resurgence. ‘And then he decided not to be’]

 The United States averages 110 overdose deaths from legal and illegal drugs every day. The heroin death toll has quadrupled in the decade that ended in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By all accounts, it has only grown worse since. In Washington County, there have been more than 50 fatal overdoses this year.

 The national drug-death total, larger than that from auto accidents, is disproportionately concentrated in the Rust Belt, the Great Lakes region and the Northeast.

 “There is a growing sense of community outrage that we can’t accept this like we are accepting it,” said David J. Hickton, U.S. attorney for western Pennsylvania and co-chair of the National Heroin Task Force established by the Justice Department in April. “We just can’t go on like this.”

 In this working-class community near the Monongahela River, where drilling for gas deposits has begun to stoke an economic revival, there is little sign that anything will change soon.

 This man who only wishes to be identified as Sonny, learned that his daughter had a heroin overdose at a nearby Walgreens store in Washington, Penn. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

 “I’m destroyed. I’m totally destroyed,” Valerie Mack said Thursday on the front porch of the home she shared with her brother and several other people on a modest block here.

 Her brother, Sammy Mack, the second overdose victim in the Sunday night skein, was found dead in his bedroom, curled in a fetal position. Near his body were “stamp bags” of heroin — small paper packets that most closely resemble chewing gum wrappers. They bore the supplier’s brand, “MADE IN COLOMBIA.”

 The label is one of two flooding the area, Gluth said. The other is stamped “BLACK JACK.” Authorities are still investigating but believe both types of heroin are laced with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opiate that increases the drug’s potency and may have contributed to the rash of overdoses.

 Sammy Mack had long had problems with alcohol and was not unknown to law enforcement authorities. But as so many others have, his sister said, he turned to heroin after treatment with narcotic painkillers prescribed for an ankle injury he suffered a few months ago. Mack’s divorce was recently finalized, she said. His four children are living with his ex-wife not far away.

 [When life begins in rehab: A baby heals after a mother’s heroin addiction]

 As he began to use heroin, Mack’s habits and personality changed, she said. He became withdrawn, spending more time in his room. That Sunday, she was fixing him a chef’s salad and became suspicious when he didn’t respond to her calls. She tried to push open his bedroom door but couldn’t. A neighbor finally forced his way in.

 Mack’s prized possession, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, still sits in the home’s back yard. He had promised it to his 14-year-old son upon his high school graduation. “I’ll just have to follow through,” Valerie Mack said.

 With so much awry in Sammy Mack’s life, his sister said, “Maybe the Lord intervened and decided just to take him.”

 Jessica Neal, 26, another of last week’s overdoses, is still alive after a close call. She was found unconscious in a bathroom at a local Walgreen’s on Monday, her 2-year-old strapped in a stroller in the stall with her. She was revived with naloxone.

 Her father, Sonny, who has a different last name that he requested not be used to protect his privacy, said he threatened to have her committed to the psychiatric unit of the local hospital that same day after Neal spoke of committing suicide. Instead, she agreed to sign herself in. She was released Friday and headed to jail. The child is in her father’s care, he said.

 “She doesn’t need jail,” Sonny said outside the home where the two lived with Sonny’s wife, who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), until last week. “She wasn’t out stealing or doing crimes. What she needs is help. She needs to be in rehab. And after rehab, she needs to be in a halfway house.”

 Nationally, there are only a small fraction of the inpatient drug rehab beds needed for addicts, but Hickton, in an increasingly common stance for prosecutors, has agreed that users need help more than they deserve incarceration. Even as he has stepped up prosecution of dealers, he is taking a multifaceted approach to the current problem.

 “If they’re using and trafficking, I prosecute them,” he said. “If they’re just using, they need help.”

 Hickton promises to bring homicide charges against any seller he can link to a death. But that is easier said than done. There are no open-air drug markets in this epidemic like the ones that captured public’s attention during drug outbreaks of past decades. Much of the commerce is conducted on cellphones and by word of mouth.

 With many more middle-class people addicted via prescription opioids this time around, heroin is bought and sold in bars, nightclubs, homes and more unlikely places, said Neil Capretto, an addiction psychiatrist and medical director of Gateway Rehabilitation Center, which has 20 locations in the Pittsburgh area.

 Gluth said he has undercover detectives all over the streets making buys, painstakingly working their way up the chain in search of bigger dealers.

 He believes the latest load of heroin came from New Jersey, but Washington County’s location makes it particularly vulnerable to drug traffic. Not far from the Ohio and West Virginia borders, it sits at the intersection of Interstates 70 and 79, east-west and north-south conduits for drugs and everything else. Vittone said the county receives drugs from New York, Newark, Washington, Chicago, Detroit and elsewhere.

 “We’re kind of like ground zero,” he said.

 On the streets here, prescription drugs are selling for about $1 per milligram, or $20 for a single dose. Heroin is much cheaper, at about $8 a stamp bag, Gluth said. It is also much more potent than the heroin of previous eras, Capretto said. Users often start with a single bag, but as their resistance grows, they need increasing amounts.

 All of which signals more overdoses and deaths, at least until authorities can find ways to stem the demand and the supply.

 “If we had a serial killer killing one-tenth as many [people], we’d have the National Guard here,” Capretto said. “We’d have CNN here every night.” ||||| Ravages Of Heroin Addiction Haunt Friends, Families And Whole Towns

 Enlarge this image toggle caption Maddie McGarvey for NPR Maddie McGarvey for NPR

 Marion, Ohio, just north of Columbus, used to be an idyllic place to grow up.

 Kelly Clixby and Beth Carey remember what it was like a generation ago, when they were young.

 "I lived across the street from one of the big parks here," Clixby says. "We would rip n' run all day and all night and come in when the street lights were on."

 "It was just a nice place to live," Carey says.

 Today, Marion is different. It's grappling with a full-blown heroin epidemic, one that derailed Kelly Clixby's life and killed Beth Carey's twin sister.

 This week on For The Record: one small town copes with the ravages of addiction.

 Enlarge this image toggle caption Maddie McGarvey for NPR Maddie McGarvey for NPR

 Nationwide Crisis, Personal Cost

 Deaths from heroin have been skyrocketing over the last few years — among all age groups, across all races and in all regions of the U.S.

 According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control, more than 8,000 Americans died of heroin-related overdoses in 2013 — nearly three times as many as died in 2010.

 But the risk hasn't dented demand. Heroin is cheap, abundant and accessible, and communities across the nation, from big cities to small rural towns, are struggling with the consequences.

 In Marion, Ohio — once a thriving steel town — the trouble arrived around 2007, when the police started seeing balloons of heroin during routine traffic stops.

 Since then, heroin has changed many lives in Marion. It took Chrystina Carey's.

 Enlarge this image toggle caption Maddie McGarvey for NPR Maddie McGarvey for NPR

 Beth Carey had started worrying about her sister when they were in their early 20s. At that point, Chrystina was hanging around a different crowd than her twin, taking ecstasy while working as a dietary manager.

 "She was on call all the time," Beth Carey says. "She said, about the ecstasy ... she was taking it to stay up when we would go out on the weekends."

 At some point, Chrystina switched from ecstasy to the painkiller OxyContin — and then, eventually, to heroin.

 "She OD'd and went to the hospital three times," Beth Carey says. "Out of the six or seven years [she was on heroin], she was probably incarcerated a good two, 2 1/2 years.

 "But still continued to use drugs."

 The last time Chrystina Carey got out of prison, she went to stay at an addiction recovery house in the next town over.

 Kelly Clixby was living there, too, grappling with an addiction that began with prescribed painkillers and led to heroin. She knew Chrystina well.

 "That was my best friend," she says.

 Clixby remembers the night before Chrystina Carey died. She was heading out with someone known to be wrapped up in drugs and Kelly was worried.

 "I said, 'If you leave with that person, you're probably going to die tonight.' And I was being sarcastic ... by no means did I mean it.

 "And she left. And at 8 o'clock the next morning I woke up to a phone call that she had died. She had overdosed, after seven months of sobriety."

 Witnessing the death of her friend had a profound impact on Clixby's own sobriety.

 "It terrified me," she says. "For a long time after that I stayed clean just ... so I wouldn't disrespect her, or so her death wouldn't be in vain."

 Enlarge this image toggle caption Maddie McGarvey for NPR Maddie McGarvey for NPR

 'Burnt Every Bridge They've Ever Had'

 Marion Police Chief Bill Collins has witnessed many overdoses like the one that killed Chrystina Carey. Back in May of this year, he said his team was responding to as many as two or three in a single hour.

 "You walk in and you know, you see somebody that's blue. I mean, to you they appear to be dead," he says. Then the officers would administer a drug called Narcan.

 "It's like a miracle drug," Collins says. "Within 30 seconds they snap out of it. They wake up. They look at you like they don't know what happened."

 Collins would tell survivors how lucky they were to be alive, how close they came to death.

 "We would get called to the same house and people had just seen somebody overdose and they would still do it," he says.

 Enlarge this image toggle caption Maddie McGarvey for NPR Maddie McGarvey for NPR

 Collins remembers several years ago when all he had to worry about in Marion was crack cocaine.

 And at least crack addicts, he says, could somehow hold a life together.

 It's a different story with heroin users, he says.

 "These people are not able to hold a job," he says. "They steal their family blind to the point where the family just pretty much disowns them.

 "It doesn't take long for you to end up seeing a heroin addict that has burnt every bridge they've ever had."

 The drug is the root cause for many of the other problems his department faces, he says.

 "All of the property crimes we have — the shoplifting, the thefts, the robberies — all go back to one thing, and that's heroin."

 Opiate Blockers Offer Some Aid

 Narcan can save the lives of heroin users on the brink of death, but another drug, Vivitrol, helps addicts avoid getting there in the first place.

 Vivitrol is a big reason Marion has been able to get some sort of grip on its heroin epidemic.

 The drug is an extended-release opiate blocker. Kelly Clixby, Chrystina Carey's friend and a recovering heroin addict, explains how it works.

 Enlarge this image toggle caption Maddie McGarvey for NPR Maddie McGarvey for NPR

 "I get a shot every four weeks and what it does is it sits on the opioid receptors in the brain," she says. "And if I were to use heroin or an opiate, it wouldn't be able to attach to that receptor, so I wouldn't get high — so it's basically a waste of time."

 It's a powerful tool for helping addicts keep from relapsing, but Clixby is clear about its limits.

 "A lot of people think it's a cure-all," Clixby says. "It's not."

 Enlarge this image toggle caption Maddie McGarvey for NPR Maddie McGarvey for NPR

 And, because Vivitrol only blocks the effects of opiates like heroin, Collins says addicts dead set on getting high are looking elsewhere.

 "We've seen a pretty big increase back into the crack cocaine market, because they can be on probation and be on the Vivitrol shot and still use crack cocaine and get high," he says.

 "So they're still feeding their addiction: They've just switched to something different again."

 Police, Recovering Addicts And Families Fight Onward

 It's been almost eight years since heroin showed up in Marion, Ohio. Since then, Chief Collins says public awareness campaigns have helped with the problem, and more funding for drugs like Narcan and Vivitrol has saved lives. A couple of months ago his department brought down a major drug dealer.

 They're not the aunt or uncle or daughter or son or sister that you used to know. They're a shell of a person that used to be great.

 "You feel like you're in the ocean without a life jacket," he says. "And I at least feel like I have a life jacket on now."

 After years of fighting her own heroin addiction, Kelly Clixby's life is on more stable footing. She's got her own apartment. She's regained custody of one of her five kids and she is working on her second marriage, although her husband is still battling his own addiction.

 "I've really learned just to stay on my track and just keep trudging forward despite what he's doing," she says. "If he uses, I can't, no matter what."

 And Beth Carey, for her part, thinks about her twin sister every day.

 Chrystina Carey left behind two daughters. One is now 15 years old and lives with Beth's grandmother. Beth is raising the younger girl — Jazlen, age 3.

 Enlarge this image toggle caption Maddie McGarvey for NPR Maddie McGarvey for NPR

 She calls Beth Carey "Mommy."

 "When I first got her ... I was letting her call me Aunt Beth," Carey says. "And then after a while, she was going to daycare, and she would hear other people cry out for mommy. So she started calling everyone mommy, cause she didn't understand what that meant.

 "And I knew that she needed to associate that word with someone."

 Beth Carey is trying to look forward, but it's hard when so many other families in her community are also suffering the effects of heroin. Sometimes loved ones die, like her sister, and other times they just slip away.

 Enlarge this image toggle caption Maddie McGarvey for NPR Maddie McGarvey for NPR

 "They're just zombies at this point. They're just on a mission and lying and stealing and manipulating and cheating," she says.

 "They're not the aunt or uncle or daughter or son or sister that you used to know. They're a shell of a person that used to be great." |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– The Washington Post takes a look at the country's surging heroin epidemic by zeroing in on Pennsylvania’s Washington County, a place one local detective refers to as "ground zero" for heroin in the area. Last Sunday, in less than 70 minutes, eight heroin overdoses were recorded in the county of about 200,000 people. By a day later, that number had jumped to 16; by two days later, 25—three of which were fatal. As the Post notes, this period of time wasn't an isolated case but rather "an extreme example of what communities in parts of the country are enduring." In a Florida community earlier this month, 11 people overdosed on heroin in a 24-hour span, WKMG reported; this year, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had seen 44 heroin overdoses by June 5, the Gazette reported; New Jersey saw 781 overdose deaths related to heroin last year, 101.5 reported. Just yesterday, NPR ran a story on Marion, Ohio, a small town whose police chief says that his team sometimes responds to as many as three overdoses in just one hour. One of the reasons heroin is booming: It's cheap—cheaper than the prescription drugs that, for some, start them down the road of addiction. And one of the reasons there are so many overdoses? Nowadays, the drug is even more potent. The US attorney for western Pennsylvania is one of a growing number of prosecutors who aren't interested in jailing users, the Post reports: "If they're using and trafficking, I prosecute them. If they’re just using, they need help," he says. But finding dealers—including any linked to fatal overdoses, who will be charged with homicide—is no easy task, as these days drugs are sold via cellphone or even, with more middle-class people addicted now, in unlikely locations like homes. The county's supervising detective sums up the "out of control" heroin problem: "I'd be glad to have the crack epidemic back." Click for the full Post article.


A landlocked country lacks a coastline or direct access to an ocean or sea. The world has a total of 43 landlocked countries with the largest being Kazakhstan. Landlocked countries have many advantages and disadvantages.

 Landlocked countries are relatively sheltered from adverse weather effects caused by oceans such as tsunamis and hurricanes and the ability to monitor goods coming into or leaving the country through the borders. Landlocked countries are safe from invasions by sea. However, these countries especially developing ones have challenges in the importation and exportation of goods forcing them to rely on their connected neighbors. Transport costs and customs duties become expensive for the landlocked countries. To access the coastline, landlocked countries are forced to maintain friendly relations with countries with coastlines even when they do not agree.

 10. Central African Republic -

 The Central African Republic is a central African country. C.A.R is the tenth largest landlocked country with an area of 752,612 km². C.A.R shares her boundaries with 6 countries including Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, and Sudan. The country has a population of 4, 422, 000 people.

 9. Afghanistan -

 Afghanistan is a South Asian landlocked country with an area of 647,500 km² and a population of 29,117,000 people. Afghanistan is bordering 6 countries including Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, China, and Iran.

 8. Zambia -

 Zambia is a landlocked South African country with an area of 752,612 km² bordering 8 countries including Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Malawi. The country has a population of 12, 935, 000 people.

 7. Bolivia -

 Bolivia is a central South American country bordering 5 countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru. Bolivia has an area of 1,098,581 km² making it the seventh largest landlocked country in the world and has a population of 10,907,778 people.

 6. Ethiopia -

 Ethiopia is a landlocked country in Eastern Africa with an area of 1,104,300 km² and a population of 85, 237, 338 people. The country borders 6 countries including Sudan, Kenya, Eritrea, Djibouti, South Sudan, and Somalia and is the sixth largest landlocked country in the world.

 5. Mali -

 Mali has an area of 1,240,192 km² making it the fifth largest landlocked country in the world. The country is located in West Africa bordering 7 countries including Algeria, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Niger. The country has a population 14, 517, 176 people.

 4. Niger -

 Niger is the world's fourth largest landlocked country with an area of 1,267,000 km². Niger is surrounded by 7 countries of West Africa including Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Libya, Mali, and Nigeria. Niger has a population of 15, 306, 252 people.

 3. Chad -

 Chad is a central African country with a total area of 1,284,000 km² making it the third largest landlocked country in the world and a population of 10, 329, 208 people. The country borders 6 countries including Cameroon, Central African Republic, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan.

 2. Mongolia -

 Mongolia is the second largest landlocked country in the world with a total area of 1,566,500 km². Mongolia is located in northern Asia bordering 2 countries China and Russia. The population of the country is 3 million people.

 1. Kazakhstan -

 Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country in the world with an area of 2,724,900 km² and the ninth largest in the world. Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia bordering 5 countries, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The country has a population of 1, 6372,000 people. ||||| European cities are all about charm and character – shimmering skylines are not really our style. North America do them pretty well - New York, LA, Toronto - and Asia has some beauties - think Singapore and Hong Kong - but Europe? Not so much.

 There is one (almost) on our doorstep, however. And it's poised - rather unexpectedly - to be the next hot destinations for travellers in search of a more adventurous city break.

 Introducing Astana. First up: can you find it on map? The answer is below.

 Did you get it right?

 It's E. Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan, the world's ninth largest country by area. Congratulations if you got it right.

 The Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, designed by Norman Foster Credit: This content is subject to copyright./Jane Sweeney

 Why should I go?

 Kazakhstan’s glittering capital is already regarded in niche travel circles for its captivating architecture, with the skyline increasingly filling with ambitious, space-age skyscrapers and monuments, including the 150-metre Bayterek Tower and the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, designed by acclaimed British architect Norman Foster. But it is now taking a confident step towards showcasing its cityscape to the world.

 The announcement that two major global hotel chains are setting up shop in the city - ahead of the imminent Expo 2017 world fair - suddenly make the central Asian city feel a little closer.

 The city's KazMunayGas building lit up at night Credit: Nutthavood Punpeng/Nutexzles

 Sure, Kazakhstan is not on many British bucket lists, but the Ritz Carlton and St Regis think that might be about to change.

 The former promises 157 rooms clad with exotic marble and luxurious woods in downtown’s Talan Towers, while the latter, in Astana Central Park, will be home to 120 rooms in a palatial, neoclassical design. Marriott and Radisson already have properties in the city.

 What even is an Expo?

 Remember the World Fair that gave London its Crystal Palace in 1851? The Expos (expositions) are the modern evolution of The Great Exhibition, but maintain the same purpose: to showcase to the world the strengths and prospects of the host city or nation.

 The Khan Shatyr tent, also designed by Norman Foster Credit: This content is subject to copyright./Jane Sweeney

 The great and good have enjoyed expositions since London’s effort - New York, Chicago and Paris, to name a few - while the modern-day expos have taken in cities such as Brisbane, Barcelona and Hanover, not to mention Plovdiv in Bulgaria, Tsukuba in Japan, and Zaragoza in Spain.

 The latter were all “specialised expos” focussing on a particular topic, such as sustainability or technology, as is Astana’s, with “future energy” at the centre of the celebrations.

 The Bayterek Tower usually holds a prime spot in the city's skyline

 Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, is keen for Expo 2017 to be the beginning of Astana’s future. For it, he ordered the construction of the Khan Shatyr Entertainment Centre, also designed by Norman Foster and his firm, a miniature golf course, a river, a beach resort and a monorail.

 A number of the world’s exposition have left indelible marks on their host cities - Brussels retains its Atomium, The Space needle still stands in Seattle, while Shanghai’s China pavilion, built for Expo 2010, is today the China Art Museum.

 Dubai is next in line to host the next Expo in 2020, while Lodz in Poland is competing with Minneapolis, Rio and Buenos Aires for the following event.

 Why else might you visit Astana?

 Beyond the impressive architecture, Astana boasts a rich Soviet history. The city’s old centre still harbours a “Soviet atmosphere”, according to the Kazakh tourist board. There is also an ornate theatre named after Russian author Maxim Gorky.

 The Nur Astana Mosque is the third largest in central Asia Credit: This content is subject to copyright./Jane Sweeney

 Visiting in 2008 for Telegraph Travel, James Mackintosh found the city on the cusp of change.

 “For all its grand pretensions, Astana retains something of the Russian and Soviet steppe trading post of its roots,” he wrote. “Traces of elegant, pastel-coloured, tsarist merchant mansions; the bustle of the dusty streets; the familiar Soviet grid-avenues lined with birch trees and ugly 1950s housing blocks; the cosy but elegant Russian drama theatre; the ubiquitous circus.

 “Placid, gold-toothed women sit all day at street stalls selling raspberries, cucumbers and varieties of forest berries in cut-off plastic bottles. Astana girls, miniskirted and flirtatious, Russian blondes and oriental-looking Kazakhs, cling giggling together like natural-born cousins.

 The city's Soviet past is still evident in parts Credit: This content is subject to copyright./Michael Runkel

 “At Line Brew, a Belgian pub quirkily designed as a Crusader castle, a Nordic-looking family and friends are swilling back lager. They speak Russian but this scene could be anywhere in Germany. They are Volga Germans, shunted by Stalin to this backwater many decades ago. We’re at the heart of Central Asia but, the paradox is that much of the culture is European.”

 How do I get to Astana?

 Air Astana, the nation’s flag carrier, flies direct to Astana International Airport from London Heathrow, with prices starting around £500 return for the seven hour service. Flying via Kiev with Ukraine International can cut £200 off the price, but will double the time. Likewise, flights via Moscow with Aeroflot.

 Flights to Astana are quite pricey Credit: Nutthavood Punpeng/Nutexzles

 What else does Kazakhstan have to offer?

 Kazakhstan is the proud owner of some immense countryside, including the nation’s answer to the Grand Canyon, in the form of Charyn Canyon. There is also skiing at Shymbulak ski resort, 30 minutes from Almaty, while the hidden Lake Kaindy in the Tien Shan Mountains is a startling sight to behold. ||||| It is not too far away from Europe, it has a futuristic skyline and a rich history and it could become one the world’s hottest travel destinations.

 The city of Astana may be difficult to place on a map, but the capital of Kazakhstan is already becoming a hype destination in travelling circles.

 The former Soviet city, which has undergone a huge makeover, is launching itself as a new Singapore at the heart of central Asia.

 Architect Norman Foster, whose London-based company is known for its high-tech architecture, has worked to design the city’s Khan Shatyr Entertainment Centre, an award-winning tented-shaped steel structure, which echoes Kazakh history.

 The city’s blend of old and new architecture will no doubt be an attraction to the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected to attend the 2017 Expo.

 The world fair, which in the past gave London its Crystal Palace and Paris its Eiffel Tower, is designed to showcase each country’s strengths and vision for the future with this year’s theme being “Future Energy”.

 “Nur Alem”, Kazakhstan’s national pavilion has been described as the largest spherical building in the world and promotes wind energy. The pavillion has already attracted close to 100,000 visitors since the Expo, which brings together 115 countries, opened on 10 June. It will run until 10 September.

 For the Kazakhstan Government, the Expo is the opportunity to put Astana on the map and continue to attract tourists from around the world.

 A general view shows Nur-Astana mosque in Astana ( KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV /AFP/ Getty Images)

 But there are plenty of other things to see in Astana, which is seven hours from Heathrow.

 In a travel review, written for The Independent in 2010, Astana is described as “rising up of nowhere”.

 “You fly for an hour over a flat dry emptiness and then, suddenly, without any hint of outlying farms or suburbs, there it is: the Presidential Palace, a blue-domed version of America's White House, and behind it the Pyramid of Peace (likened by some New Age bloggers to a device for communicating with aliens), and the Bayterek, a bird's nest viewing platform 318ft high,” it reads.

 Surrounding by steppe, looking beyond Astana is like “looking straight to the edge of the world,” the author wrote.

 The couples who travel instead of having a wedding - In pictures

 16 show all The couples who travel instead of having a wedding - In pictures

 1/16 Cheetah Platt and Rhian Woodyard in Las Vegas

 2/16 Cheetah and Rhian by the Sydney Opera House

 3/16 Cheetah and Rhian in Chiang Mai, Thailand

 4/16 Cheetah and Rhian in Bangkok

 5/16 Cheetah and Rhian at the Ajanta cave in India

 6/16 Cheetah and Rhian in Nairobi, Kenya

 7/16 Cheetah and Rhian in Giza, Egypt

 8/16 Cheetah and Rhian in Giza, Egypt

 9/16 Tessa and Matt in Montreux, Switzerland

 10/16 Tessa and Matt in Madrid

 11/16 Tessa and Matt in Norway

 12/16 Tessa and Matt in Rothenburg

 13/16 Tessa and Matt in Rothenburg

 14/16 Tessa and Matt by the Matterhorn

 15/16 Tessa and Matt in Madrid

 16/16 Tessa and Matt in Ireland

 Astana is also an open door onto the rest of Kazakhstan, the world’s largest landlocked country. Between Europe and Asia, the Kazakhstan has a complicated and rich history, a unique and authentic culture and landscapes where east and west meet.

 The Kazakh tourism board boasts about the diversity of the country’s tourism industry, which range from cultural excursions to skiing and trekking in the mountains, and water sports in nearby lakes and rivers. |||||

Write a summary.

– For many people, Kazakhstan is probably best known as the home of fictional newscaster Borat, who made a mockery of the former Soviet republic in the hit 2006 comedy film named after him. But while the country's capital, Astana, may not currently rank as one of the great travel destinations of Europe, with the Expo 2017 world's fair currently underway there—and two global luxury hotel chains set to open—that could all change. According to the Telegraph, Astana is already "regarded in niche travel circles for its captivating architecture," including the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, and the country's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, ordered the construction of a new entertainment center, a miniature golf course, and a river to coincide with the opening of the fair, which is touting the city's "future energy." Since the Expo began on June 10, nearly 100,000 people have visited the Nur Alem pavilion, which is touted as the largest spherical building in the world, the Independent reports. The Kazakhstan government is hoping the event puts the country on the map for international tourism, which has not been a selling point for the world's largest landlocked country, tucked between Europe and Asia. Expo 2017 is also a historic occasion: It's not only the first world's fair held in Central Asia—it's also the first one held in a Muslim-majority country. The fair runs through Sept. 10. (Check out Kazakhstan's "singing" sand dune.)