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Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump was infuriated after it quickly leaked that he had been directly instructed by his national security advisers in briefing materials not to congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin on his recent election victory during their call Tuesday morning, a source familiar with the President's thinking said.

 Trump was fuming Tuesday night, asking his allies and outside advisers who they thought had leaked the information, noting that only a small group of staffers have access to those materials and would have known what guidance was included for the Putin call, the source said.

 According to the source, the incident resurfaces his long-held belief there are individuals inside his administration -- especially in the national security realm -- who are actively working to undermine him.

 White House chief of staff John Kelly also is furious that a confidential presidential briefing became public knowledge, a White House official said, and intends to address the matter Wednesday as aides try to figure out who disclosed the warning.

 "If this story is accurate, that means someone leaked the President's briefing papers. Leaking such information is a fireable offense and likely illegal," another senior White House official told CNN Wednesday.

 Read More ||||| Washington (CNN) The fact that President Donald Trump either didn't read or ignored a warning in his briefing papers not to congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin on a phone call between the two men Tuesday is a sexy story. But, it is not the real story here.

 That real story is that mere hours after Trump held a call with a foreign leader, the fact that he had gone against the advice of his national security team and congratulated Putin was leaked to the press.

 a) Trump had congratulated Putin on his "win";

 b) Trump's briefing papers had contained the phrase "DO NOT CONGRATULATE";

 c) Trump didn't broach the subject of the poisoning of a former Russia spy and his daughter on British soil;

 d) Trump was urged via talking points to bring up the poisoning.

 That level of information suggests a closeness to the President that doesn't come from some junior staffer popping off. This feels like a purposeful leak at the highest levels of presumably the national security apparatus designed to publicly embarrass the President.

 Why? Because there is clearly a belief among some (many?) of Trump's advisers that the only way to really get your point across is to put it into the papers and on cable TV. That simply finding a quiet moment to counsel the President as to why he really shouldn't have congratulated Putin on the call wouldn't work -- that Trump would either not listen or never allow that conversation to happen in the first place.

 And THAT is a massive story. Because a White House -- any White House -- in which the confidential details of a call between the President of the United States and the President of Russia leaks out hours after it happens is a dysfunctional one.

 According to CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Jeff Zeleny , Trump and White House chief of staff John Kelly is livid about the leak and plans to address it sometime Wednesday.

 "This is unacceptable," one White House official told CNN , suggesting that some within the White House view the leak as a deliberate attempt to embarrass both Trump and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, who was in the room for the call.

 Which, um, no duh!

 "All White Houses leak. Sometimes the leaks are big, sometimes small. But there are always people willing to talk to reporters about the 'real' story or about why the chief executive made a mistake in regard to some decision he made.

 That said, I've never seen so much leaking so quickly — and with such disdain for the President — as I have in the first six days of Donald Trump's presidency."

 So problematic did the leaks grow that when Kelly was brought in as chief of staff, one of his signature pronouncements was that he would get a handle on the leaking of the President's private communications and thoughts.

 Didn't work. Not only does this White House still leak like a sieve, but the nature of the leaks themselves continue to suggest a dismissiveness bordering on dislike for Trump.

 He -- and some around him -- will likely attribute the leaks to the alleged "Deep State" burrowed within the federal government that continues to work to discredit him.

 Since I don't believe in conspiracy theories, I think the real motivation for the leaks is that some within particularly the national security apparatus have decided that leaking things to the media is the only way to a) get the President's attention and b) possibly change his mind.

 And that is no way to run a railroad. Or a White House. ||||| Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses Russian Paralympics Athletes who competed in the 2018 Pyeonchang Winter Paralympics, in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 20, 2018. (Mikhail Klimentyev,... (Associated Press)

 Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses Russian Paralympics Athletes who competed in the 2018 Pyeonchang Winter Paralympics, in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 20, 2018. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) (Associated Press)

 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's call to congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election victory (all times local):

 10:30 a.m.

 The White House says it's a "fireable offense and likely illegal" to leak President Donald Trump's briefing papers.

 The warning came after several news outlets including The Associated Press reported that aides had included a warning in Trump's briefing papers advising him not to congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election win, but he did so anyway.

 The White House said in an official statement Wednesday: "If this story is accurate, that means someone leaked the President's briefing papers. Leaking such information is a fireable offense and likely illegal."

 The White House wouldn't confirm that Trump was warned "DO NOT CONGRATULATE" Putin, as a senior administration official told the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.

 It was unclear whether Trump read the talking points prepared by his national security team before Tuesday's call. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster briefed the president in person before the call.

 — By Associated Press writer Zeke Miller.

 ___

 10 a.m.

 A senior administration official says President Donald Trump was warned in briefing materials to refrain from congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election victory, but he did so anyway.

 The official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that aides had included a section in Trump's briefing materials for the call stating in all-caps: "DO NOT CONGRATULATE."

 The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.

 The "DO NOT CONGRATULATE" message was first reported Tuesday by The Washington Post.

 It was unclear whether Trump, who prefers oral briefings, read the talking points prepared by his national security team before Tuesday's call. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster briefed the president in person before the call in the White House residence.

 The State Department spokeswoman noted that some people were paid to turn out to vote in Russia and opposition leaders were intimidated or jailed.

 — By Associated Press writer Zeke Miller

 ___

 12:20 a.m.

 Some Republican lawmakers are criticizing President Donald Trump for calling Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his re-election.

 Sen. John McCain of Arizona said, "An American president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections." McCain's Arizona colleague, Sen. Jeff Flake, labeled Trump's congratulatory call "odd" while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said calling Putin "wouldn't have been high on my list."

 White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders noted that President Barack Obama made a similar call at the time of Putin's last electoral victory. Huckabee said, "We don't get to dictate how other countries operate."

 In the call Trump didn't raise Russia's meddling in U.S. elections or its suspected involvement in the poisoning of a former spy in Britain. |||||

– The White House has officially responded to a Washington Post report that President Trump was advised "DO NOT CONGRATULATE" in his briefing materials but congratulated Putin on his re-election win all the same, though the White House is not out with a confirmation or denial. Instead, its official statement is as follows: "If this story is accurate, that means someone leaked the President's briefing papers. Leaking such information is a fireable offense and likely illegal." The AP notes it's not known whether Trump read the document prior to his Tuesday call with Putin; it reports National Security Adviser HR McMaster did brief him in advance of it. CNN's sources describe a furious Trump and a furious John Kelly as well, with both men incredibly upset over the leak. Per CNN, it's a pretty small circle that would have seen the briefing papers and the advice within. In a CNN column, Chris Cillizza echoes that, noting the leaker claimed the president also ignored advice to bring up the poisoning of Sergei Skripal on the call. "That level of information suggests a closeness to the President that doesn't come from some junior staffer popping off. This feels like a purposeful leak at the highest levels of presumably the national security apparatus," he writes, and that's what really matters about this story, he says. "Because a White House—any White House—in which the confidential details of a call between the President of the United States and the President of Russia leaks out hours after it happens is a dysfunctional one."


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Click here for the full transcript of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

 Live Blog

 8:12 P.M. Iranian ambassador at UNGA, answering Netanyahu: No one can dictate to Iran what to do or not to do.

 8:11 P.M. Iranian ambassador at UNGA, answering Netanyahu: I don't want to dignify his allegations with an answer

 8:01 P.M. Iranian ambassador takes the floor after Netanyahu's speech: Don't educate us. The one who should be educated is Israel that didn't sign NPT.

 7:45 P.M. CNN: Netanyahu's speech was broadcast on Iranian English-language TV.

 7:40 P.M. Netanyahu: The Jewish people will never be uprooted again.

 7:37 P.M. Netanyahu: My predecessors and I have been willing to make painful concessions, but Palestinians have not yet been willing to do the same, and recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

 7:35 P.M. Netanyahu: Many Arab countries have recognized that Israel is not their enemy. Israel welcomes engagement with the wider Arab world and continues to seek a historic compromise with our Palestinian neighbors that ends our conflict once and for all.

 7:34 P.M. Netanyahu: Against the threat of a rogue regime that threatens to wipe Israel off the map, Israel is forced to defend itself. If Israel is forced to stand alone, it will, but in standing alone we will know that we are defending many, many others.

 7:33 P.M. Netanyahu: If you want to cease Iran's nuclear program, don't let up the pressure. The greater the pressure, the greater the change. ... Distrust, dismantle and verify.

 7:28 P.M. Netanyahu: A nuclear Iran would trigger an arms race in the Middle East and would turn the prospect of nuclear-armed terrorism into a reality.

 7:27 P.M. Netanyahu: As dangerous as a nuclear-armed North Korea is, it doesn't compare to a nuclear-armed Iran.

 7:26 P.M. Netanyahu compares Iranian nuclear program to that of North Korea.

 7:25 P.M. Netanyahu: Rohani thinks he can have his yellowcake and eat it too.

 7:24 P.M. Netanyahu: Rohani thinks he can get away with his "smile offensive" because he's gotten away with it before; his strategy of talking loud and doing little has worked for him in the past.

 7:22 P.M. Netanyahu: Iran has one big problem: sanctions. The sanctions are bearing fruit, thanks to the efforts of many countries.

 7:19 P.M. Netanyahu: It's not hard to find evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program, it's hard to find evidence that it doesn't have one.

 7:17 P.M. Netanyahu: I wish I could believe Rohani but I don’t, because facts are stubborn things and the facts are that Iran's savage record flatly contradicts Rohani's soothing rhetoric.

 7:16 P.M. Netanyahu: Rohani promises constructive engagement with other countries, yet two years ago Iranian agents tried to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador in Washington D.C. and just two weeks ago an Iranian agent was arrested in Israel for trying to plot an attack against the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.

 7:15 P.M. Netanyahu: Iran participates in Assad's murder and massacre of civilians.

 7:14 P.M. Netanyahu: Rohani praised Iranian democracy, but his regime executed political protesters.

 7:13 P.M. Netanyahu: Ahmadinjead was a wolf in wolf's clothing; Rohani is a wolf in sheep's clothing, who thinks he can pull wool over the international community's eyes.

 7:10 P.M. Netanyahu: Rohani is a loyal servant to the Iranian ayatollahs' regime.

 7:08 P.M. Netanyahu cites 2,500-year-old friendship with Persians, although unnamed Israeli official tells NYT they have "thousands of years of duplicity."

 7:07 P.M. Netanyahu: Jewish history has taught us two things: Never give up hope, always remain vigilant.

 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New York Sunday ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama and speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

 A senior U.S. official told Haaretz that apart from Iran's nuclear program, Netanyahu and Obama discussed at length the progress of Israeli-Palestinian talks. The U.S. president told the prime minister that he appreciates the difficult decisions Netanyahu took to resume negotiations, especially the release of long-time Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, and urged him to start seriously discussing core issues, among them borders, security arrangements, Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem.

 After their meeting, Netanyahu and Obama had lunch with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry. Afterward, Netanyahu held separate meetings with Biden and Kerry, and attended a farewell event for outgoing Israeli Ambassador to the United State Michael Oren on Capitol Hill. Netanyahu then flew to New York to prepare for his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

 After presenting his speech, the prime minister will do a series of interviews with American media on Wednesday and Thursday before flying back to Israel, where he is expected to land Friday afternoon.

  ||||| Story highlights Iranian envoy rejects accusations as "inflammatory" and "unfounded"

 Rouhani is a "loyal servant" to Islamic regime, Israeli prime minister says

 "It's not hard to find evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program," Netanyahu says

 Netanyahu urges leaders not to be duped by Rouhani's moderate tone

 In back-to-back speeches Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, of seeking to obtain a nuclear weapon, and the Iranian representative insisted that Tehran's nuclear program was intended solely for peaceful purposes.

 Rouhani, whose demeanor has been more moderate than that of his predecessor since he took office in August, is "a wolf in sheep's clothing, a wolf who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of the international community," Netanyahu said.

 Western leaders have expressed optimism about Iran's more moderate tone under Rouhani, whose recent comments have raised hopes that a deal could be struck over the Middle Eastern nation's nuclear program.

 But Netanyahu urged world leaders not to be duped by Rouhani, calling him a "loyal servant" to the Islamic regime, which he said "executes political dissidents by the hundreds" and jails them by the thousands.

 "It's not hard to find evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program," Netanyahu said. "It's hard to find evidence that Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapons program."

 JUST WATCHED Netanyahu still skeptical of Iran Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Netanyahu still skeptical of Iran 02:51

 JUST WATCHED Israeli PM speaks against Rouhani at UN Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Israeli PM speaks against Rouhani at UN 01:57

 Netanyahu said that even since Rouhani assumed office, "this vast and feverish effort has continued unabated."

 Rouhani "thinks he can have his yellowcake and eat it, too," Netanyahu said in a reference to the raw uranium ore that can be processed into nuclear weapons.

 International sanctions have left Iran "on the ropes," the Israeli prime minister told the world body, whose Iranian representative was not present. He called for the sanctions to remain in place to force Iran to halt its nuclear aspirations.

 "We all want to give diplomacy with Iran a chance to succeed," he said. "But when it comes to Iran, the greater the pressure, the greater the chance."

 But the Iranian representative rejected Netanyahu's accusations, calling them "inflammatory" and "unfounded."

 Iran "has an inalienable right to peaceful nuclear energy" and is fully committed to its nonproliferation obligations," said Khodadad Seifi, counselor for Iran's U.N. mission.

 "All Iranian nuclear activities are -- and have always been -- exclusively for peaceful purposes," he said, adding that Tehran is cooperating with the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and that its work is carried out under surveillance cameras.

 "There is no single acceptable reason to possess nuclear weapons, but there are many agreeable reasons to abolish them all," he said.

 He called further for "respectful" negotiations. "Iran stands ready to ensure that its nuclear program will continue to remain exclusively peaceful," he said.

 Seifi also called for the international community to annul the sanctions that have crippled the nation's economy.

 And he noted that Israel, unlike Iran, has not signed the nonproliferation treaty. "Israel is the only one in the region that possesses all types of weapons of mass destruction but is not party to any of the treaties banning them," he said.

 And he warned Netanyahu that Tehran is capable of defending itself if Jerusalem's war of words goes beyond vitriol. "The prime minister had better not even think about attacking Iran, let alone planning for that," he said.

 Netanyahu's comments drew a sharp response from Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Central Council and head of an independent political party.

 "Why does he forget to speak about the facts and also ignores the facts that Israel is also a nuclear power and the way to peace in the Middle East is to make it a free nuclear zone?" he asked.

 Tuesday's repartee came a day after U.S. President Barack Obama met with Netanyahu in the White House and a few days after he spoke with Rouhani by telephone in the first such direct contact between the nations' leaders since the Iranian revolution in 1979.

 On Monday, Obama said he has a "good working relationship" with Netanyahu, and reaffirmed the U.S. bond with the Israeli people.

 "Our unshakeable bond with the Israel people is stronger than ever," he said. "Our commitment to Israel's security is stronger than ever."

 Both leaders said Iran was a key topic.

 "Iran is committed to Israel's destruction, so for Israel, the ultimate test of a future agreement with Iran is whether or not Iran dismantles its military nuclear program," Netanyahu said. "That's the bottom line."

 Obama said that if Iran wants sanctions relief, it will have to meet "the highest standards of verifications."

 "It is absolutely clear that words are not sufficient," Obama said on Monday. "We have to have actions that give the international community confidence that, in fact, they are meeting their international obligations fully and that they are not in a position to have a nuclear weapon."

 In the latest indication of Tehran's new approach to Washington, Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency reported that Rouhani wants to establish direct flights between Iran and the United States.

 And in the latest indication of Iran's continuing problems with Israel, the Israeli government said over the weekend that it had arrested an Iranian-born man and accused him of spying for Tehran.

 According to the Israeli government, the alleged spy was carrying photos of various sites, including the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.

 On Tuesday, the Iranian news agency cited a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman who rejected the assertion as "baseless." ||||| Iran's foreign minister on Tuesday called the leader of Israel a liar who requires deception to promote his policies, saying Iran will not allow him to influence future talks with world powers about Tehran's disputed nuclear activities.

 President Barack Obama, accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, makes a statement to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, Sept. 30, 2013. The White... (Associated Press)

 The remarks by Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York were broadcast on Iranian state TV hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to speak to the United Nations General Assembly.

 They come a day after Netanyahu implored President Barack Obama to keep punishing sanctions in place against Tehran _ and even tighten them if the Islamic republic advances its nuclear programs while negotiating with the U.S.

 "This is his nature, to lie... Over the past 22 years, the regime, Israel, has been saying Iran will have nuclear arms in six months," said Zarif. "The continuation of this game, in fact, is based on lying, deception, incitement and harassment." He also called Netanyahu the "most isolated individual" in the U.N.

 Iran and Israel see each other as arch enemies. Tehran does not recognize the Jewish state, and supports anti-Israeli militants like Lebanon's Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas.

 Israel has threatened to strike Iranian nuclear installations that the West suspects have a military dimension. Iran denies the charge, saying its nuclear program is aimed at peaceful purposes like power generation and cancer treatment.

 Over the years, Israeli officials have mentioned various timeframes for how close Iran is to developing a military nuclear capability. In his address at the U.N. last year, for instance, Netanyahu said Iran would enter the final phase of enrichment by mid-2013. Israel has since backed away from that assessment. Israeli officials say the changing assessments are the result of Israeli and international pressure that have forced Iran to slow its efforts.

 Later on Thursday, Zarif said that talks between Iran and world powers planned for later in October should peacefully resolve the nuclear issue, despite pressures from Israel.

 "We know that Netanyahu and hard-liners in the U.S. are very concerned," he wrote on his Facebook page. "But we do not allow Netanyahu to decide the future of our talks." He said a majority of Americans now prefer to settle the nuclear issue through talks although they preferred a military option months ago.

 Also on Tuesday, Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham accused Israel of lashing out at Iran because of the effectiveness of its outreach to the United States.

 "The pressure by the Zionist regime is because of its isolation, and the fact that that Iran's policy has been accepted on a global level," Afkham said at a regular media briefing in Tehran. "Zionists will apply pressure in various fields and their propaganda will continue," she added.

 She said the White House should resist calls for war against the Islamic Republic, and that the U.S. was currently undergoing "a test to prove to what extent it can resist the war mongers."

 "We expect U.S. officials to have a realistic attitude toward the great Iranian nation and to address it with respect," she added. |||||

– Benjamin Netanyahu took his turn at the UN General Assembly podium today, and used it to blast Iranian President Hasan Rouhani and his much-celebrated outreach efforts. "Now I know, Rouhani doesn't sound like Ahmadinejad," he said, according to CNN. But "the only difference between them is this: Ahmadinejad was a wolf in wolf's clothing. Rouhani is a wolf in sheep's clothing." "It's hard to find evidence that Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapons program," he said. Rouhani "thinks he can have his yellowcake and eat it, too." He said Israel was dedicated to preventing a nuclear-armed Iran even if it had to act alone, Haaretz reports. Iran's foreign minister offered a pre-buttal of Netanyahu's speech on Iranian state TV. "This is his nature, to lie," he said, according to the AP. "Over the past 22 years, the regime, Israel, has been saying Iran will have nuclear arms in six months."


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– The good news for pregnant women in cash- and food-strapped Venezuela is that President Nicolas Maduro just announced the government would be giving them 700,000 bolivars a month. The bad news, per CNN: Thanks to hyperinflation, that amounts to just $3.83 in the real world. Maduro did not explain why the government is rolling out the stipends, which he announced in his annual address to the country, but he said they'll go up to the equivalent of about $5 a month once the baby is born. (CNN is basing that not on the government's official exchange rate, considered bogus, but on an unofficial exchange rate followed by millions.) Venezuela has been in dire straits thanks to a drop in oil prices that began in 2014, notes Fortune. In fact, children are starving.

Venezuela’s President Nicholas Maduro announced during an annual address that pregnant women will soon be awarded a small cash subsidy. The monthly payment of 700,000 bolivars is, at the current exchange rate, worth about $3.83, according to CNN.

 The subsidy would have been worth $17 as recently as last November; hyperinflation amid a collapsing economy is likely to make the subsidy worth even less in the weeks to come.

 After the women give birth, their stipend will increase to 1 million bolivars, or $5.48, Maduro said. He did not provide a reason for starting the new payment scheme, which he reportedly expects will apply to 151,000 expecting mothers.

 The once-prosperous nation continues further into a recession started by the drop in global oil prices in 2014. A domestic survey of Venezuela’s living conditions found that over 73% of the population lost an average of 19 pounds due to food shortages in 2015 and 2016.

 For more on Venezuela, watch Fortune’s video:

 Pregnant women must have of one of Venezuela’s new national ID cards to redeem the stipend, CNN reports. But the cards are seen as a token of support for Maduro, and many citizens refuse to carry them. It is unclear if pregnant women without the card will be eligible for the subsidy. ||||| Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is giving pregnant women a little extra cash.

 Emphasis on "a little."

 Maduro announced during his annual address to the nation that pregnant women would receive a payment of 700,000 bolivars a month. It sounds like a lot, but Venezuela's runaway inflation means that sum is worth just $3.83 at the current exchange rate that millions of citizens follow closely.

 Once the child is born, mothers will receive an additional 1 million bolivars, or $5.48.

 Maduro didn't give a specific reason for the new handouts. Despite the fact that the sums aren't worth much in reality, he received a standing ovation from his supporters after announcing them.

 Amid the country's collapsing economy, Venezuelans suffer from extreme shortages of medicine, food, toiletries and other essential items. The payments for pregnant women are unlikely to help them get hold of those things.

 And the paltry sums will almost certainly be worth less in a matter of days as Venezuela's hyperinflation devours people's paychecks and salaries.

 One dollar currently equals about 182,000 bolivars, according to a widely followed unofficial exchange rate. That's up from just over 41,000 bolivars in November.

 The vast majority of citizens don't follow the government's official rate because it's believed to overvalue the bolivar.

 Related: Venezuela's oil production plummets

 Inflation in Venezuela last year rose above 4,000%, according to Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University and an expert on hyperinflation.

 The new handouts for pregnant women highlight Maduro's enthusiasm for announcing plans to dish out the country's rapidly devaluing cash.

 He has raised Venezuela's monthly minimum wage several times in recent years. In November, he gave out a "Christmas voucher" worth 500,000 bolivars (roughly $12 at the time, but about $2.74 now) to 4 million families.

 Maduro has also tried to control prices in the economy. Earlier this month, he ordered private supermarkets, which set their own prices on most items, to slash food prices, causing confusion among customers.

 Related: Venezuela plans its own version of Bitcoin

 The president often claims he's trying to aid Venezuelans as the United States and other nations wage what he calls an "economic war" against his regime. Independent economists say government mismanagement, unsustainable policies and widespread corruption have crippled the nation of 30 million people.

 One key rub to the payment for pregnant mothers is that they must have Venezuela's new national ID card. It's seen in the country as a symbol of support for Maduro, and many citizens opposed to the government don't carry it. It is unclear if pregnant women without the card will still receive the government handouts.

 Maduro estimated that about 151,000 pregnant women would soon receive the monthly payments.

 -- Stefano Pozzebon contributed reporting to this article from Caracas |||||


Article:
A Tibetan lama believes he cured his gangrene-stricken leg by meditating for a year. Now scientists are studying his brain, hoping to discover a medical miracle.

 Can the power of the mind help humans self-heal? That’s what a group of scientists are hoping to help determine by studying a Tibetan lama who believes he cured himself of gangrene through meditation.

 When Tibetan Lama Phakyab Rinpoche immigrated to the United States in 2003, he was a 37-year-old refugee with diabetes and Pott’s Disease. His afflictions had gotten so bad that his right foot and leg had developed gangrene. He was hospitalized and examined by three different doctors in New York City who all gave the same treatment recommendation: amputate.

 Can meditation cure disease? (Getty Images)

 Few people would go against such medical advice, but Rinpoche (pronounced Rin-Poh-Chey) is no average person. Born in 1966 in Kham, Tibet, he was ordained at the age of 13 and named the Eighth Incarnation of the Phakyab Rinpoche by the Dalai Lama himself when he was working toward the highest level of Tibetan Buddhist study, the Geshe degree, in 1993. A deeply spiritual man who has devoted his life to the teachings of Buddhism, it was only natural that he should reach out to his mentor, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, when deciding whether to allow his leg to be cut off.

 The Dalai Lama’s response was shocking: Do not amputate. Instead, Lama Rinpoche says, the Tibetan spiritual leader advised his protégé to utilize his virtuoso skills at Tsa Lung meditation—heal himself, and then teach others the value of the ancient tradition. He sent a letter prescribing additional mantras, such as the Hayagriva, which, at the outset of new endeavors, is said to clear obstacles and provide protection in their tradition.

 It was a decision that would require an incomprehensible leap of faith. But Rinpoche says there was no doubt within him. Though doctors had made it clear he could die, he was not afraid. “As a Buddhist, what is the worst thing that could happen if I die?” he told The Daily Beast through a translator. “I would be reborn again. But to lose a leg in one lifetime because I didn’t try to save it didn’t make sense.”

 And so he began to meditate. Rinpoche says he took no medicine and his diet was an ordinary one. He would break for meals—when the lama he was living with came home from work, they would have dinner and enjoy conversation—but then he would return to meditating before getting a good night’s sleep at the end of the day. In the morning, he would awake and return to his routine.

 In the early days of this ritual, Lama Rinpoche remembers, the putrid ooze from his leg ran black; a few months later it turned cloudy, he said, and bruising started to appear. The swelling increased and it was more painful. The odor was sickening, he recalls. But still he felt no doubt.

 The progression of the degradation wasn’t simply halted—his leg was back from the dead.

 Then, after nine months, he says something began to happen that many Americans would consider a miracle. The liquid leaking from his disabled leg began to run clear. The swelling went down. Soon he could put some weight on it. At ten months, he could walk again, first with crutches. A short time later he was down to one crutch, and then, before even a year had passed, he was walking on his own.

 The progression of the degradation wasn’t simply halted—his leg was back from the dead. His diabetes and complicating Tuberculosis are gone today as well. ||||| Now, a group of doctors at New York University have begun studying Rinpoche—specifically, his brain. Practitioners of Tsa Lung meditation like Rinpoche visualize a wind (or “lung,” or “prana”) that is one with the mind, moving down the center channel of their bodies, clearing blockages and impurities before moving on to ever-smaller channels.

 "This is a cognitive-behavioral practice that present East-West science suggests may be more effective that any existing strictly Western medical intervention,” says Dr. William C. Bushell, an MIT-affiliated researcher in medical anthropology and director of East-West Research for Tibet House in New York. Gangrene is not curable by current medical intervention once past a certain point in its progression, except by amputation.

 This month, Dr. Bushell and NYU neuroscientist Zoran Josipovic, Ph.D. won Lama Rinpoche’s cooperation in undergoing a functional MRI scan of his brain while he meditated inside the scanner at NYU’s Center for Brain Imaging. In this first scan the Rinpoche participated in an ongoing study of the effects of different types of meditations on anti-correlated networks in the brain that Dr. Josipovic has been conducting at NYU.

 Bushell wrote a scientific analysis of the processes occurring in the same form of meditation used by Rinpoche in a letter to Joshua Lederberg, Nobel Prize winner in medicine, some 10 years ago. Dr. Lederberg was one of the giants of modern science, father of molecular biology, infectious disease medicine, and modern genetics. His foundation published the letter, which is actually an adaptation of a scientific paper, posthumously on his website. It speaks of the mild to moderate hyperthermia resulting from the practice, which kills bacteria and aids the body in healing.

 “It is not entirely clear from a Western science perspective what the winds are, but the scientific evidence suggests to me and others that the meditative process involving winds includes increased local blood flow, metabolic activity, and oxygenation,’’ Bushell explains. “The original scientific model I developed (which is largely in a theoretical state) was based on, among other things, the pioneering work of Thomas K Hunt, MD, on the antibiotic properties of oxygenation in the blood and surrounding tissues, and was sponsored by the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, Calif. Research shows that mental imagery directed to sites of the body, both superficial as well as deeper tissues, can with practice eventually lead to increased local blood flow, metabolic activity, and oxygenation. Such increases could in principle combat even powerful bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, which not only can be the cause of gangrene, but is now often times resistant to antibiotics.”

 Dr. Bushell’s colleague Dr. Josipovic was also very curious about Rinpoche’s abilities and, in particular, about the way they may have affected the functional and structural organization of his brain. The early results of the test are significant at first glance, he says. They show changes in a wide network of brain areas mediating attention and awareness. The team will publish their findings next year.

 “Over the past 10 years research into the effects of meditation on the brain has been gaining unprecedented public and scientific attention,” Dr. Josipovic explains. “What these studies have shown is that it is possible to optimize one's life experience through cultivation of subtle cognitive states generated through meditation, and that these are accompanied by changes in the anatomical structure of the brain, or neuroplasticity. But what soon became evident was that a great variety of meditation techniques and states of consciousness they engender, pose a considerable challenge for understanding them in terms of the established constructs of Western science.”

 Dr. Josipovic says that a major new discovery in the field of neuroscience, that of spontaneously fluctuating resting-state networks in the brain, has the potential to shed some light on this issue. “On a global level, the brain appears to be organized into two large-scale networks: extrinsic, or the task-positive network, composed of the brain areas that are active when we are focused on some task or external environment, and the intrinsic, or ‘default’ network, composed of the areas that are active when we reflect on ourselves and own experience.”

 These networks are usually anti-correlated in their activity—that is, when one is “up” the other is “down,” he says. “While this antagonism serves some healthy functions, for example, of allowing us to focus on a task and refrain from being distracted by daydreaming or irrelevant concerns, we suspect it may also underlie some unhealthy aspects of our everyday experience, such as excessive fragmentation between self/other and internal/external—in other words the ‘dualistic mind’ that many contemplative traditions see as the root of our suffering.’’

 Those who wish to begin a Tsa Lung practice, which is an advanced but achievable discipline, are encouraged to seek a teacher. Rinpoche himself teaches often across the country, and is adding a website www.awakeningmindfoundation.org and Skype to his teaching sessions to reach more people around the world. This year he will lead a special New Year gathering in Tubac, Arizona sponsored by Pocket Sanctuary and the Helen Graham Park Foundation.

 MaryAnn Zitka, a medical researcher and senior student of Phakyab Rinpoche explains that the word Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist honorific title that literally means the precious one. “This is a very appropriate title to me,” she says. “It’s not often that you meet someone so committed to helping others. Rinpoche freely teaches his wisdom traditions to all who wish to learn, and his only request is to practice.”

 Maureen Seaberg is a NYC-based journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the Daily News, Irish America, ESPN the magazine and on PBS and MSNBC. She won a scholarship to the inaugural Norman Mailer Writers Colony in 2009. She is also a synesthete and synesthesia researcher who is on the organizing committee of the Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference for the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Her first book, about synesthesia, titled Tasting the Universe, will be out in March 2011 from New Page Books.

 Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long.

 For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com. |||||Summary:

– Intriguing story in the Daily Beast about the divide between Eastern and Western medicine: When a Tibetan lama consulted three American doctors about his gangrene, all wanted to amputate his leg immediately. He ignored them and instead followed the advice of his mentor, the Dalai Lama, who told him to meditate. It took the better part of a year, but the gangrene eventually disappeared. Now, a group of doctors at NYU has begun studying the lama's brain as he meditates to see if they can shed light on any possible connections. The lama is expert at Tsa Lung meditation, whose practitioners visualize a "wind" moving through the body and removing impurities, writes Maureen Seaberg. A medical anthropologist involved in the study writes: "Research shows that mental imagery directed to sites of the body, both superficial as well as deeper tissues, can with practice eventually lead to increased local blood flow, metabolic activity, and oxygenation. Such increases could in principle combat even powerful bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, which not only can be the cause of gangrene, but is now often times resistant to antibiotics.” Full story here.


Article:
Mason Dykstra in an undated yearbook photo. (Photo: WZZM)

 MANLIUS TOWNSHIP -- A teenage boy died after a sledding accident Saturday in Allegan County.

 "He was a good kid," said Tim Reeves, the principal at Hamilton High School. "Just a good kid all the way around."

 Mason Dykstra, a 15-year-old freshman student at Hamilton High School, was being pulled in a sled behind a vehicle when he hit a tree. The collision happened just before noon, according to the Allegan County Sheriff's Department.

 The Associated Press says it on private property near Hamilton, 45 miles southwest of Grand Rapids.

 The teen was taken to an area hospital, were he died from his injuries.

 The Allegan County Sheriff's Department is investigating the accident and plan to reconstruct the scene this week. Police have not yet determined if the driver will be charged.

 Reeves described Dykstra as a joyful and friendly student, someone who was well liked. The teen played on the school's football team, and one of Dykstra's brothers still attends the school.

 Reeves added counselors will be available Monday to help the student body cope with the loss.

 The Hamilton school district opened the high school today for anyone to gather and talk. The school says on Twitter: “Our world was rocked and our hearts are heavy.”

 Our world was rocked and our hearts are heavy! Hamilton High School will be open tmrw 12:00-5:00 for all who want to gather. #htownstrong — HHSOffice (@hhs_office) January 2, 2016

 Associated Press contributed to this story.

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 MANLIUS TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A teen boy was killed after the sled he was riding on, which was being pulled by a vehicle, hit a tree, according to the Allegan County Sheriff's Department.

 The accident happened just before noon Saturday in the 5300 block of 133rd Ave. when the sled the teen was riding on hit a tree while on private property, according to the sheriff's department.

 15-year-old Mason Dykstra was taken to the hospital where he later died from his injuries.

 Students and staff gathered Sunday at Hamilton High School to remember Dykstra. Administrators told FOX 17 Dykstra was an outgoing student who was part of the Hamilton High School football team.

 "It’s been difficult for everybody. Loss is difficult when it is a 15-year-old boy in the prime of his high school career," said David Tebo, Superintendent of Hamilton Community Schools.

 Dykstra is described as a normal freshman student who enjoyed life and had a great smile.

 "Something like this will happen and they (students) will pull together and pick each other up. It will unite them because they care about their neighbor, they care about that kid across the street. It could of been my kid. It was an accident and they're going to pick each other up," said Tebo.

 Funeral arrangements for Dykstra are still being arranged.

 Investigators said they have not determined whether any charges will be filed against the driver of the vehicle that was towing the sled.

 A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help for the Dykstra family to assist with medical costs. |||||

 MANLIUS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) – A teenage boy was killed Saturday while riding a sled being towed by a vehicle driven by his older brother.

 The incident happened just before noon on private property in the 5300 block of 133rd Avenue, near 53rd Street, in Manlius Township, the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office said. That’s west of the community of Hamilton.

 Police said 15-year-old Mason Dykstra was being pulled on a sled attached by rope to the back of an SUV driven by his 19-year-old brother when the sled hit a tree in their yard.

 Mason was conscious after the incident and complained of some pain. He was treated on the scene and was being taken to a Grand Rapids hospital via helicopter when police said his condition suddenly became worse. He was pronounced dead upon arriving at the hospital.

 Mason was a freshman at Hamilton High School, where he played on the football team. His mother also works for the school district.

 “He’s the kid next door,” Hamilton Community Schools Superintendent David Tebo said of Mason. “It’s kind of stereotypical and cliché to say it, but I think that’s what his parents will want to have him remembered by; I think his teachers will say that. Just a kid with a smile on his face — normal, everyday kid.”

 Those who knew Mason gathered at the school Sunday to comfort one another and remember their friend. Tebo said several hundred people showed up.

 “It’s been difficult for everybody. … Loss is difficult. When it’s a 15-year-old boy in the prime of his high school career … it’s even more difficult,” Tebo said.

 Faculty and grief counselors will be available at the school Monday as students return from winter break.

 “Hamilton Community Schools, there is a community in the middle of that name for a reason and it’s how we’ll help everyone get through this,” Tebo said.

 Our world was rocked and our hearts are heavy! Hamilton High School will be open tmrw 12:00-5:00 for all who want to gather. #htownstrong — HHSOffice (@hhs_office) January 2, 2016

 So far hundreds of people have pledged donations on a Go Fund Me page for Mason’s family. The amount exceeds the $20,000 the organizer was originally asking for.

 The Allegan County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident. Sgt. Cory Hunt said Sunday it is being treated as a “family matter” and a tragic accident.

 The case will be submitted to the prosecutor’s office for their review once the investigation is completed, according to a release from the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office.

 Alcohol does not appear to be a factor at this time.

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– A Michigan teen on a sled being towed by a vehicle was killed Saturday when he slammed into a tree, Fox 17 reports. Mason Dykstra, 15, of Manlius Township was transported to a hospital after the accident, and later died. Students and staff gathered at Hamilton High School on Sunday to share memories of the freshman football player. "Our world was rocked and our hearts are heavy!" the school tweeted after the accident. School Superintendent David Tebo says Mason was "the kid next door," WOOD-TV reports. "Just a kid with a smile on his face—normal, everyday kid.” An Allegan County Sheriff’s Office tells WOOD-TV that the accident, which occurred on private property, is being investigated as a "family matter." Authorities, per the Detroit Free Press, plan on reconstructing the accident this week as part of their investigation. It is not clear if charges will be filed against the driver. "He was a good kid," Principal Tim Reeves tells the Detroit Free Press. "Just a good kid all the way around." A GoFundMe campaign has been started on the Dykstra family's behalf.


Having conquered TV, radio, book publishing and now live events, Glenn Beck is looking to expand his media empire into a new arena – the web (obviously GlennBeck.com is thriving too).

 Mediaite has the exclusive details about a news and opinion website Beck is launching tonight. Here’s what to expect.

 Beck’s new site is called TheBlaze.com, and will be edited by Scott Baker, formerly of Breitbart TV and host of “The B-Cast”. In an exclusive statement, he tells Mediaite:

 Our hope is that everyone who comes to The Blaze finds original reporting, insightful opinions and engaging videos about the stories that matter most. We are excited to launch and I look forward to keeping Scott and his team busy by sending countless ideas at 3am every morning.

 We talked to Baker today about what readers can expect from the new site, the team behind it and more. “It’ll be news and information,” he told Mediaite. “Some commentary and opinion stories we’re interested in that are being under-covered or not covered.”

 People will inevitably make the comparison to Arianna Huffington – whether Beck’s role as figurehead behind the site will make The Blaze into a conservative Huffington Post. “The one thing pretty clear around Mercury [Beck’s company] is that Glenn is not short on ideas or hesitant on input,” Baker said. “His input is already evident in how the site looks, and that’s what will continue. It will be a continual flow of tips and suggestions and encouragement.”

 The “small scrappy staff” behind The Blaze include Baker as well as Jon Seidl, formerly of the Manhattan Institute and American Spectator, and Meredith Jessup, formerly of Town Hall. Also, Pam Key of Naked Emperor News will contribute as a video editor. Baker moved over to Mercury at the beginning of June and began shaping the site. He will continue hosting “The B-Cast” the daily web show, with Liz Stephans.

 Baker says there “seemed to be a lot of synergy” between what Beck was doing and what he did at The B-Cast. But now Baker is working with another conservative media mogul – he worked with Andrew Breitbart in his last role. “Obviously I worked with Andrew for a long time and have great respect for him and his sites and what he’s doing,” said Baker. “They emphasize different things. Also Glenn is a broadcaster and my background for 20 years was in broadcasting. There’s a shared sensibility from that end.”

 Baker recently experienced the Beck influence first-hand – down in D.C. at the Restoring Honor rally, which he called an “extraordinarily remarkable event.”

 Ultimately, like any site launch (I remember ours just 15 months ago), the true test will come in the weeks and months as the audience gets used to coming on a regular basis and the tone and style take shape. “We’re going to be what we are, and others will judge what we’re like,” said Baker.

 If it’s like past Beck media ventures, it’s probably headed for major success.

 —–

 » Follow Steve Krakauer on Twitter

 Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| 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. ||||| Fox News host Glenn Beck just launched a news site—a place for "original reporting, insightful opinions and engaging videos." Currently, seven of the front-page articles are about Glenn Beck and his projects. Let's take a look!

 If there's one thing it's hard to get on the web, it's news, opinion, and video. So we're lucky that Glenn Beck has thrown his hat into the "web journalism" ring with a new site, "The Blaze," edited by former Breitbart TV host Scott Baker and launched on Monday evening. Beck told media news website Mediaite that he hopes "everyone who comes to The Blaze finds original reporting, insightful opinions and engaging videos about the stories that matter most."

 Sounds great! And look what we found on the front page: "A Message from Glenn." ("The image of flame is a powerful. It has long stood for a burning truth. A truth that is not consumed. The Blaze will pursue truth.") Isn't that nice? And wow, just like that, a story that matters: "HuffPo Pulls Glenn Beck 'Sex Tape' Article." The Blaze? More like, The I'm a-maze-ed at how great this site is!

 It's like they know exactly which stories matter! Like for example, stories about newspaper columnists writing complimentary things about Glenn Beck—I can't wait to read "NY Times Columnist on Beck: 'I Underestimated the Man,'" and "Kurtz Defends Beck: He's Not Like Al-Qaeda." Maybe they could just devote a whole section of the site to articles about articles about Glenn?

 Of course don't forget great articles like "Black Robe Regiment: The Clergy of 8/28," which is about the rally Beck threw last Saturday, and "The Children of 8/28," covering the rally Beck threw last Saturday, and even "Slideshow: Newspaper Coverage of 8/28," the subject of which is the rally Beck threw last Saturday. It's like, Stories-That-Matterville, population: The Blaze!

 And if you feel like you're all tuckered out on those great stories that matter, you might also check out the site's two, count 'em, two articles about Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf of Park 51/Cordoba House, also known as the "Ground Zero Mosque." They seem pretty great! One of them ends with the sentence: "Calls and e-mails to Muslim leaders were not returned." Blazing!

 [Mediaite; The Blaze]

  |||||

Write a summary.

– Glenn Beck has launched a news and opinion website that supporters believe has the potential to become "the conservative Huffington Post." TheBlaze.com is being edited by former Breitbart TV host Scott Baker. The site, launched late last night, will focus on "news and information,” Baker tells Mediaite. “Some commentary and opinion stories we’re interested in that are being under-covered or not covered.” Beck says he plans to be heavily involved in the website's day-to-day maintenance. "We want this to be a place where you can find breaking news, original reporting, insightful opinions and engaging videos about the stories that matter most," he wrote in an introductory message. At launch time, Gawker notes, seven of the front-page articles were about Glenn Beck and his projects.


– Bad news for Iranians wanting small families: The country plans to ban vasectomies and other permanent forms of birth control and punish all violators as criminals, the Washington Post reports. In fact any advertising of birth control will become illegal, Reuters notes, a stark turnaround for a nation that once promoted birth control and gave away condoms for free. So why is the Ayatollah Khamenei supporting the new bill and urging young Iranians to resist "undesirable aspects of Western lifestyles" by having bigger families? Because of Iran's low birthrate, which has sunk to 1.8 children per woman, a full 0.3 children less than is needed to keep up the present population, IRNA reports. Iran had the opposite problem in the 1980s, when its population was growing too fast for the economy—so the government promoted birth control and required couples to have family-planning counseling before marriage. Women indeed had fewer babies, got more involved in the workforce, and eventually outnumbered men in higher education. "Government officials were wrong on this matter, and I, too, had a part," Khamenei said in 2012. "May God and history forgive us." Now critics say the new plan could cause a rise in abortions (which are only legal when a mother's life is at risk), and may force women out of the workplace into "traditional roles," reports the Post. Before taking effect, the bill needs approval from a council to ensure that it jibes with Islamic law.

Expand this summary.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran’s parliament has voted to ban permanent forms of contraception, the state news agency IRNA reported, endorsing the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s call for measures to increase the population.

 Iraqi women walk past a poster depicting images of Shi'ite Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at al-Firdous Square in Baghdad February 12, 2014. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad

 The bill, banning vasectomies and similar procedures in women, is parliament’s response to a decree Khamenei issued in May calling for more babies to “strengthen national identity” and counter “undesirable aspects of Western lifestyles”.

 Doctors who violate the ban will be punishable by law, the ISNA news agency reported.

 The bill, approved by 143 out of 231 members present in parliament, according to IRNA, also bans the advertising of birth control in a country where condoms had been widely available and family planning considered entirely normal.

 The law now goes to the Guardian Council - a panel of theologians and jurists appointed by the Supreme Leader who examine whether legislation complies with Islam.

 It aims to reverse Iran’s declining population, but reformists see the law as part of a drive by conservatives keep Iran’s highly educated female population in traditional roles as wives and mothers.

 It also worries health advocates who fear an increase in illegal abortions. State media reported that the number of illegal terminations between March 2012 and March 2013 was 12,000, more than half the total number of abortions that year.

 Abortion is legal in Iran if the mother is in danger or if the foetus is diagnosed with certain defects.

 During the war with Iraq in the 1980s, Iran offered incentives to encourage families to have more children, but that was reversed in the late 1980s, amid concerns that the rapid population growth could hobble the economy and drain resources.

 Khamenei’s edict has once again reversed the policy, effectively doing away with the “Fewer Kids, Better Life” motto adopted when contraception was made widely available and subsidized by the state.

 Iran’s birth rate stands at 1.6 children per woman, lawmaker Ali Motahari said, according to IRNA. At that rate, the population of more than 75 million would fall to 31 million by 2094, and 47 percent of Iranians would be above the age of 60, said Mohamad Saleh Jokar, another lawmaker.

 U.N. data suggests Iran’s median age will increase from 28 in 2013 to 40 by 2030.

 The ministry of health announced in June it would help couples pay for infertility treatment, which can cost between $3,000 to $16,000 in Iran. ||||| Khalil Ali-Mohammadzadeh said the current fertility rate determines the future population of the country, and if the rate prevails, it will have a negative impact on the lives of people.

 Replacement fertility level is the total fertility rate at which women give birth to enough babies to sustain population levels.

 Ali-Mohammadzadeh said Iran ranked 23rd among 26 regional countries and 146th among 209 countries in terms of population growth.

 Based on family planning policies, launched in 1981, the country’s TFR was expected to drop from 6.4 to 4 in 2006, but in practice the figure reached 3.6 in 1992 which was 14 years earlier than projected, Iran Daily wrote in its Sunday issue.

 The official said various socioeconomic factors have caused the problem, adding that other countries also faced a decline in population growth during the period.

 TFR of Turkey dropped from 3.6 to 2, Saudi Arabia’s from 5.5 to 2.9, and Pakistan’s from 6.1 to 3.6 respectively in the past three decades.

 Ali-Mohammadzadeh noted that high prevalence of singlehood among youth and the rising trend of having one-child families are among the main factors leading to a decline in the world’s TFR by 33 percent in the past 30 years.

 “Having proper management is the main prerequisite for the correct implementation of any plan,” he said.

 He believes that although the population control policies, ratified by Majlis, was implemented by Health Ministry in the best possible manner, it should had been stopped in 2,000, after achieving the targets.

 The global population growth rate dropped from 1.6 percent to 1.2 percent in the past 25 years, while the figure for Iran declined from 3.2 in 1986 to 1.3 in 2013.

 “Children 15 years and younger constituted some 40 percent of Iran’s total population in 1986 while the figure dropped to 23 percent last year,” he said.

 He put the infertility rate of Iranian couples at 20 to 25 percent while the average figure for the world is 15 percent.

 The official referred to legal and illegal abortions as the other factor leading to a reduction in TFR, pointing out that some 7,000 persons referred to Iranian Legal Medicine Organization to get permission for abortion in the year to March 2012.

 He said 684 illegal abortions occur in Iran per day while the figure for Canada is 270.

 Abortion is authorized in Iran only when the pregnancy is believed to endanger the health of the mother or when the fetus is malformed and would be born with a severe disability.

 **1422

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Article:

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 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- There's no way to overstate the wrong that's been inflicted upon Brad Pitman. The 44-year-old never got to see his children grow up because of a crime now known he didn't commit.

 His parental rights were terminated in 1997 because El Paso County social workers believed he sexually assaulted his then-4-year-old daughter in Colorado Springs.

 Pitman was never arrested, but that didn't matter to a family court judge, who approved the termination recommended by the El Paso County Department of Human Services.

 On June 16, 1996, a stranger broke into an apartment occupied by Pitman's ex-wife, 4-year-old daughter and 6-month-old son.

 According to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, the suspect gained entry through an unlocked window in the middle of the night, entered the girl's bedroom and sexually assaulted her.

 According to a taped interview obtained by the FOX31 Problem Solvers, one day after the attack, the girl told a detective, "He hurted me when I was sleeping in bed and I started screaming for mom and she hear me screaming and the stranger walked out of my house to mom's room and jumped out her window."

 Deputies dusted the windows for fingerprints and recovered a left palm print on a kitchen window screen.

 "There was forcible entry to the residence. It was a stranger that probably committed this crime," remembered Lt. Chery Peck, the first law enforcement investigator on the scene.

 "I had asked (the 4-year-old girl) that, if it was somebody that she knew and she said no. She had never seen the person before."

 During the videotaped interview with a detective on June 17, 1996, the victim wasn't able to give a good description of her attacker, saying, "I don't know what he, he maybe looked like my dad. He maybe has skin like brown like my dad."

 Peck isn't surprised the girl would compare the attacker to her father.

 "That's the male figure in her life that she knew at the time," Peck said. "That's who she compared this individual to because it was a male that committed the crime."

 "The word she used in the one interview was 'dark' like my dad. At the time I was framing houses so I was really suntanned," Pitman said.

 The 24-year-old had just separated from his ex-wife two weeks before the attack and was living with friends across town.

 His ex-wife called him moments after the break-in to say their daughter had been assaulted.

 Pitman said he drove to the apartment and followed an ambulance to the hospital. Deputies would later replicate Pitman's drive to the apartment to prove he could not have attacked his daughter and still drive home fast enough to receive a landline phone call from his ex-wife.

 But a few months later, his daughter's story changed. In a videotaped interview from February 1997, his daughter told a therapist hired by the El Paso County Department of Human Services "that's what my dad did ... hurted me."

 "Repeatedly ask a 4-year-old 'did your dad do it' I think sooner or later they're going to believe you did it," Pitman said.

 Pitman was never arrested, but court records show social workers wrote, "Mr. Pitman will take responsibility for the sexual/physical abuse" adding "Mr. Pitman is to participate in a psychological and/or sex offender evaluation."

 When Pitman refused, insisting he was innocent, the El Paso County Department of Human Services filed a motion for termination, taking away Pitman's parental rights to his daughter and baby son.

 "I've been in prison for 20 years now. That's more or less what it feels like. I might not have went to jail, but I've been in prison for 20 years," Pitman said.

 The 44-year-old was only fully exonerated because of a federal grant given to New Jersey State Police in 2014.

 Investigators were able to go back through old physical fingerprint cards nationwide and add them to a digital database.

 That's when the fingerprint from the the 1996 Colorado Springs sex assault was linked to a 1998 burglary in Garland, Texas, committed by Joel Market.

 Market was stationed at Fort Carson Army Base in 1996, less than a mile from where the 4-year-old girl lived.

 In 1996, the same neighborhood had seen five other break-ins, some that were sexual in nature. At the time, deputies released a composite sketch of a black male but never identified a suspect.

 Investigators said they suspect Market committed all of the crimes but the statute of limitations expired on every crime except for the one involving Pitman's daughter because she was a minor.

 In October 2016, the fingerprint from the kitchen window screen would help convince a jury to convict Market of sex assault on a child. In January, an El Paso County judge sentenced Market to 24 years in prison.

 "It is the nightmare that everybody thinks about, it was a stranger breaking in, in the middle of the night and assaulting children," said El Paso County Assistant District Attorney Justin Vasquez.

 "The entire family really suffered from that. He didn't take anything from the house, but he robbed them of a life together."

 El Paso sheriff's Det. Kurt Smith detective began investigating Market in 2014 after the fingerprint match.

 "I feel for Brad," Smith said. "Even during trial, I believe there was still some belief that the father had done this and I don't think they fully believe that it was (Market), but I think they were starting to come to terms after he was found guilty."

 Pitman has always suspected social workers shaped false memories in the mind of his daught and remains bitter the El Paso County Department of Human Services hasn't apologized for terminating the parental rights of an innocent man.

 Rick Bengtsson's tenure at the department predates the 1996 sex crime, though he was not the director at the time of the attack. He is the person who could offer Pitman an apology.

 "I'm not going to share in the media, acknowledge that we even have an open case," Bengtsson said.

 When asked if it's not an open case and why can't the department apologize, Bengtsson said, "I'll just leave it as I will leave it as an open invitation anyone would like to meet with me, a citizen they are more than welcome to do that."

 Bengtsson did offer to meet with Pitman.

 "They messed up. Admit you did wrong," Pitman said.

 Pitman did try reaching out to his now-24-year-old daughter on Facebook a few years ago but she told him she wanted nothing to do with him.

 Even though Market has been convicted, Pitman said he can't bear the thought of being rejected again so he hasn't tried to reach out to his daughter again. ||||| An ex-Fort Carson soldier linked to the 1996 rape of a 4-year-old girl was sentenced to prison Wednesday.

 Joel Market, of Mesquite, Texas, bowed his head and wept as 4th Judicial District Judge Gregory Werner sentenced him to 24 years behind bars - near the top end of the 10-32 years that Market faced after his October conviction for sexual assault on a child.

 After a three-day trial, an El Paso County jury found Market guilty of breaking into the girl's Fort Carson-area home and assaulting her as she lay in bed, inflicting injuries so severe she required five follow-up surgeries to recover.

 Market, 50, was tied to the crime in part by a palm print left on a kitchen window.

 His arrest and conviction absolved the girl's father of suspicions that have divided the girl's family for two decades. Although Brad Pitman wasn't charged with a crime, his ex-wife became convinced he was responsible, fueling a continuing estrangement that Pitman said robbed him of a relationship with his now-grown children.

 "It'll never be over - my kids hate me," he said after the sentencing. "I've more or less spent 20 years in prison, even if I wasn't behind bars."

 Now living in Gillette, Wyo., where he is married with three stepchildren, Pitman said he tried unsuccessfully to reach out to his daughter on Facebook and plans to try again now that Market has been sentenced.

 His children changed their last name after their parents' divorce became final, he said.

 His son is a college student in California. He said he believes his daughter is living in the Pikes Peak region, but he isn't sure.

 The case went cold despite a lengthy investigation by El Paso County sheriff's investigators.

 New evidence surfaced in 2014, after the New Jersey State Patrol received a federal grant to process a backlog of fingerprint cards from cold cases, many of which were sent to them by law enforcement agencies from across the country.

 When the agency transferred physical fingerprint cards to a federal database, they came up with a match to Market, whose prints were on file after a 1998 burglary conviction in Texas.

 Prosecutors say Market confessed to the rape while under interrogation, though his court-appointed attorney disputed the claim.

 The 1998 burglary conviction - which resulted in a deferred sentence - was Market's only previous brush with the law.

 El Paso County sheriff's investigators said in an arrest affidavit that they suspect Market in a series of other 1996 burglaries around Fort Carson, but he hasn't been charged with other crimes.

 --

 Lance Benzel

 Legal Affairs reporter

 719-636-0366

 Body-justified |||||
What is a summary?

– It's a parent's worst nightmare—a stranger breaks into the home and sexually assaults a young child. But in Colorado Springs in 1996, things actually got much worse from there for Brad Pitman, the father of a 4-year-old girl hurt so badly she required five surgeries, per the Gazette. Through a convoluted series of events, suspicion was cast on Pitman; though he was never arrested, he ended up being denied parental rights to his daughter and then-6-month-old son. But in 2014, a federal grant supplied the resources needed to add old physical fingerprint cards from around the country to a national database—and Pitman's name was cleared as a result. A handprint found on a kitchen window after the girl's rape matched up with Joel Market, a man who lived less than a mile away at the time, reports KDVR. "I might not have went to jail, but I've been in prison for 20 years," says Pitman, 44, whose family still wants nothing to do with him. The crime took place in June 1996, two weeks after Pitman and his wife had separated. The girl's screams woke her mother, who called Pitman; he rushed over. In an interview, the girl described the perpetrator as a stranger. But in February 1997, she said her dad "hurted me." Cops determined there was no way Pitman could have assaulted his daughter and driven to his apartment in time to answer his wife's call, but social workers insisted that he participate in a "sex offender evaluation" and "take responsibility for the ... abuse." He said he wouldn't, and the El Paso County Department of Human Services had his parental rights terminated. Market was sentenced to 24 years for the crime in January.


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 Former Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf appearing before a Congressional panel. (Photo: EPS)

 At Wells Fargo, two former executives are giving back and some of its once former employees are going back.

 Wells Fargo said Monday it is clawing back $75.3 million in additional compensation from top former executives after an internal investigation of the bank's unauthorized accounts scandal found that the ex-leaders acted too slowly to investigate allegations of "improper and unethical behavior" in retail sales practices reaching back more than a decade.

 The clawbacks are among the highlights of a report that said aggressive sales practices in the community banking division of Wells Fargo (WFC) for years distorted "culture and management performance" and "created pressure on employees to sell unwanted or unneeded products to customers, and, in some cases, to open unauthorized accounts."

 Also on Monday, Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan said that roughly1,000 employees who left the bank over the questionable sales procedures have been rehired.

 Produced by independent board members of the bank, along with outside legal investigator, the report blasted Wells Fargo executives for failing to properly investigate the activity, cultivating an atmosphere of unrealistic expectations and hiding information about the extent of the crisis that ultimately led to millions of dollars in fines, plus lawsuits and additional investigations.

 Wells Fargo board Chairman Stephen Sanger also acknowledged in a Monday conference call with reporters that board members "could have pushed more forcefully to change leadership at the community bank."

 While conceding he could not "promise perfection" in the efforts to regain trust from customers and regulators, Sloan said, "I'm very confident we're on the right track."

 He succeeded former CEO John Stumpf who resigned in October amid the scandal fallout. Stumpf will lose an additional $28 million in compensation beyond the $41 million and 2016 bonus he previously agreed to forgo, the report said.

 The report also said the bank has canceled $47.3 million in additional stock options owed to Carrie Tolstedt, who previously headed the community banking division where the scandal erupted. Tolstedt, who previously lost $19 million in compensation, resigned in June.

 The report's findings compound the San Francisco-based bank's crisis ahead of an April 25 annual meeting, where board members will stand for reelection. Stockholder advisory group Institutional Shareholder Services last week recommended that Wells Fargo shareholders vote against re-election for 12 of the company's 15 directors. Wells Fargo, which is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Thursday, last week rejected the ISS recommendation.

 Stumpf could not be reached for comment. However, Stumpf "took responsibility" for the improperly aggressive practices, and was "totally cooperative" with investigators, said Stuart Baskin, a Shearman & Sterling law firm partner involved in the bank's internal investigation.

 Tolstedt declined to be interviewed on the advice of legal counsel, Baskin said. An attorney for Tolstedt, Enu Mainigi, in a formal statement said: “We strongly disagree with the report and its attempt to lay blame with Ms. Tolstedt. A full and fair examination of the facts will produce a different conclusion.”

 .

 In all, Wells Fargo has acknowledged it may have opened up to 2.1 million accounts without customers' permission, along with unwanted credit cards and other financial products. The sales resulted from community bank managers pressing lower level bank employees to meet aggressive cross-selling targets that for years had made Wells Fargo the envy of the banking industry as the sales boosted the bank's bottom line.

 But the sales practices also triggered numerous complaints from employees. Spurred in part by a December 2013 report on the practices by the Los Angeles Times, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Los Angeles City Attorney's office hit Wells Fargo with $185 million in fines and penalties last year.

 At that time, Wells Fargo acknowledged that an estimated 5,300 employees had been fired as the magnitude of the sales excesses emerged. Many bank workers complained that they had been victimized for acceding to their bosses' sales demands. Tolstedt allegedly "minimized and understated" the problems in a 2015 report to the board, whose members only learned of the extent of the employee firings when regulators penalized Wells Fargo last year.

 The bank took action after the penalties, launching its internal probe even as lawsuits mounted and new investigations by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission got underway.

 In addition to clawing back compensation from Stumpf and Tolstedt, the bank on Feb. 28 reduced compensation for eight current executives by $32 million, including eliminating 2016 bonuses and halving 2014 performance payouts. Although the internal report found that Sloan's "direct involvement with sales practice issues was limited," his 2016 bonus and 2014 performance share payouts were reduced as part of the compensation cuts.

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 Additionally, Wells Fargo in January overhauled its compensation plan to remove financial incentives for aggressive sales of financial products to customers. Four present or former senior managers were fired the following month for their alleged involvement in the scandal. On Monday, Sanger said no additional firings or compensation clawbacks are planned.

 As part of the investigation, Shearman & Sterling conducted 100 interviews with current and past workers, reviewed more than 35 million documents and coordinated with FTI Consulting to conduct forensic analysis of the bank's digital archives.

 Wells has previously acknowledged that aggressive sales incentives and pressure prompted many frontline bank employees to open fake accounts to meet their goals. The report focused on that issue at length, blaming senior executives for tolerating "low-quality accounts" and failing to terminate the people responsible for them.

 The internal report singled out Tolstedt for allegedly having been "insular and defensive" and having "effectively challenged and resisted scrutiny from within and outside" her community banking division.

 Stumpf downplayed problems and failed to investigate the allegedly unethical activity when the possibility of problems came to his attention, according to the report. "Stumpf's long-standing working relationship with Tolstedt influenced his judgment," leading him to stand by her even though "he was aware that many doubted that she remained the right person" to continue leading the division involved in the scandal, the report concluded.

 When an internal investigation launched after the Los Angeles Times report revealed that about 1% of Wells Fargo employees were fired annually for sales integrity violations, Stumpf and Tolstedt "received the figure positively," according to the bank's internal probe.

 "Stumpf was by nature an optimistic executive who refused to believe that the sales model was seriously impaired," the report said. "His reaction invariably was that a few bad employees were causing issues, but that the overwhelming majority of employees were behaving properly. He was too late and too slow to call for inspection of or critical challenge to the basic business model."

 While the report tried to close a chapter on major parts of the scandal, at least one issue remains. Shearman & Sterling investigators have not identified a pattern of retaliation against Wells Fargo employees who complained about the sales practices. But interviews and record-checking involving potential whistleblowers are continuing, the report said.

 Follow USA TODAY reporters Nathan Bomey and Kevin McCoy on Twitter: @NathanBomey and @kmccoynyc

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2oR4NZG ||||| Wells Fargo’s board said on Monday that it would claw back an additional $75 million in compensation from the two executives on whom it pinned most of the blame for the company’s scandal over fraudulent accounts: the bank’s former chief executive, John G. Stumpf, and its former head of community banking, Carrie L. Tolstedt.

 The clawbacks — or forced return of pay and stock grants — are the largest in banking history and among the largest in corporate America. A four-person committee of Wells Fargo’s directors investigated the extensive fraud.

 Wells Fargo’s board said in a report issued on Monday that Mr. Stumpf had turned a blind eye to the fraudulent accounts being created under his nose and that Ms. Tolstedt, who ran the branch system, had focused obsessively on sales targets and withheld information from her boss and the board.

 Wells Fargo’s misdeeds, which came to light in September, have at least temporarily become a more widely recognized symbol of the bank than its signature stagecoach. Bankers across Wells Fargo’s giant branch system were tacitly encouraged to meet their sales goals by committing fraud; opening unwanted or unneeded accounts in customers’ names; and, sometimes, moving money into and out of the sham accounts. |||||

Write a summary.

– New developments in the Wells Fargo sales scheme emerged Monday, with an investigative report from the bank's board noting that $75 million in compensation will be clawed back from two former executives, including ex-CEO John Stumpf, the New York Times reports. After a six-month probe into the scandal that resulted in thousands of bank employees creating accounts without customers' go-ahead, Stumpf will give up $28 million that was paid out in 2016 under a 2013 equity grant, which is in addition to a previous $41 million and 2016 bonus that he forfeited, USA Today reports. Meanwhile, former head of community banking Carrie Tolstedt, who resigned last June, will have $47.3 million in stock options pulled back, which piles onto the $19 million in compensation she'd already lost. The 113-page report put together by the Shearman & Sterling law firm found that due to a lack of any real central authority, executives like Tolstedt were given general autonomy to carry out the bank's sales tactics as they saw fit. Tolstedt in particular was found to have been behind much of what the Times calls the "pressure-cooker climate" at Wells Fargo, where some employees said they suffered health issues from "unreasonable" sales goals resulting in "negative outcomes and improper behavior," per the report; one ex-banker said she even started drinking hand sanitizer to alleviate stress, a 2016 New York Times article revealed. Stumpf was reportedly warned repeatedly things were amiss with the company's sales, but he apparently didn't heed the warnings. "We accept the board's findings as a critical part of our journey to rebuild trust," Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan said in a statement.


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In this April 15, 2016, photo, released by the National Park Service shows carved graffiti at Frame Arch at Arches National Park. Officials at Utah's Arches National Park are investigating large graffiti... (Associated Press)

 In this April 15, 2016, photo, released by the National Park Service shows carved graffiti at Frame Arch at Arches National Park. Officials at Utah's Arches National Park are investigating large graffiti so deeply carved into one of the park's famous red rock arches that it might be impossible to erase.... (Associated Press)

 In this April 15, 2016, photo, released by the National Park Service shows carved graffiti at Frame Arch at Arches National Park. Officials at Utah's Arches National Park are investigating large graffiti so deeply carved into one of the park's famous red rock arches that it might be impossible to erase.... (Associated Press) In this April 15, 2016, photo, released by the National Park Service shows carved graffiti at Frame Arch at Arches National Park. Officials at Utah's Arches National Park are investigating large graffiti... (Associated Press)

 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Rangers at Utah's Arches National Park were investigating large graffiti Thursday that was carved so deeply into a famous red rock arch that it might be impossible to erase, officials said.

 The carvings discovered earlier this month measure about 4 feet across and 3 feet high, park Superintendent Kate Cannon said.

 The vandalism is part of a "tidal wave of graffiti" at Arches and other national parks in recent years, she said.

 Two years ago, at least eight national parks in the West began the delicate task of cleaning up graffiti-like paintings left on famous, picturesque landscapes. The damage was discovered after images were shared on social media.

 The Arches rock formation, commonly known as Frame Arch, is off a popular hiking trail where visitors can look through it and view the park's iconic, stand-alone Delicate Arch.

 Cannon said the graffiti was etched so deeply that it might have taken at least an hour for someone to carve.

 She said park workers can try to reduce the carving's visibility by grinding down the rock around it, but that causes further damage to the surface. She said they could also try to fill in the etchings with some kind of material that blends in, but it's unclear if that would be a permanent or unnoticeable treatment.

 Defacing surfaces in the park is illegal and anyone caught can face up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

 Social media seems to be a driver of increased vandalism, but Cannon said graffiti generally has become inexplicably popular among visitors.

 "It is really overwhelming," she said.

 Officials hope public outrage and vigilance can ease the problem.

 "We take great pains to be out in the park and around where people are," Cannon said of park ranger patrols. "Unfortunately, we can't be everywhere all the time." ||||| Workers discovered extensive rock graffiti at Arches National Park last week and the park wants the public's help identifying whoever is responsible.

 ARCHES NATIONAL PARK — Workers discovered extensive rock graffiti at Arches National Park last week, and the park wants the public's help identifying whoever is responsible.

 The markings were found at Frame Arch, Arches National Park Superintendent Kate Cannon said Wednesday. The vandalism was "expansive," according to Cannon.

 "It must have taken a long time," she said. "It may have been (done by) a couple of different people. It’s a very deeply etched piece of graffiti."

 Names etched on the rock at Frame Arch include "Staten" and "Andersen," according to a Facebook post by the park. Cannon said she hopes someone will come forward to ensure those who made the graffiti are held responsible.

 "It's destructive and it mars the experience of those who come to enjoy the place in its natural state," she said.

 The superintendent added graffiti is a growing concern at Arches National Park.

 "We’ve seen an explosion of graffiti over the last several years," Cannon said. "We’re constantly working to remove it. It’s gotten so huge. It gets huge because it becomes accepted in the public mind."

 It requires hundreds of hours of volunteer work to rid the area of graffiti, according to park officials. Graffiti etched on rock has to be ground off or filled in and covered up, but in some instances can only be left as is, Cannon said.

 Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Arches National Park at 435-719-2100 or archinfo@nps.gov.

 — Ben Lockhart |||||

– Rangers at Utah's Arches National Park are investigating large graffiti carved so deeply into a famous red rock arch that it might be impossible to erase, officials say. The carvings discovered earlier this month measure about 4 feet across and 3 feet high, park Superintendent Kate Cannon says. The vandalism is part of a "tidal wave of graffiti" at Arches and other national parks in recent years, she notes. Two years ago, at least eight national parks in the West began the delicate task of cleaning up graffiti-like paintings left on famous, picturesque landscapes, the AP reports. The damage was discovered after images were shared on social media. The Arches rock formation, commonly known as Frame Arch, is off a popular hiking trail. Cannon says the graffiti was etched so deeply that it might have taken at least an hour for someone to carve. She says park workers can try to reduce the carving's visibility by grinding down the rock around it, but that causes further damage to the surface. They could also try to fill in the etchings with some kind of material that blends in, but it's unclear if that would be a permanent or unnoticeable treatment. Cannon says she hopes someone will come forward with information about the vandals, who left the names "Staten" and "Andersen" carved into the arch, the Deseret News reports. (This national park vandal signed the graffiti with her Instagram handle.)