#National Day of Prayer Dinner Gala

[urbanchristiannews]

Cana's Voice Releases First Music Video for "All My Reasons Are You"

Cana’s Voice Releases First Music Video for “All My Reasons Are You”

Cana’s Voice at video shootLeft to Right: Doug Anderson, Jody McBrayer, TaRanda Greene Trio Performing at National Day of Prayer Dinner Gala May 1st (more…)

[kpopscenarios4u-blog]

Choose Your Own Romance: Series One - BTS (We Got Married) - Intro

Chapters: Start -> Athlete Path -> “The only thing I truly dislike is being in a place with stifling air. If the relationship was stifling, I think that would be the only deal breaker I would have.”

Your name: submit What is this?

Your morning was spent like most mornings. A nutritious breakfast, and then on to training. Since you lived at the Korea National Training Center, you preferred to walk from the dormitories to the training grounds. They were building a new center in Jincheon-gun, but it wouldn’t be opened for another year, so a lot of your seniors lived off-site. You enjoyed living at the Training Center, however. Your only living family member was your grandmother who lived in the countryside, so living in the dormitories was like having a large family. You liked having a family. One day, you wanted a large family with a lot of children. Of course, your dream to win a gold medal came first and there was plenty of time to still have a family.

Part of the reason you were so willing to go on this variety show was to experience what it was like to have a family. You parents had died when you were very young, and you’d lived with your grandparents until you entered the athlete training program on a scholarship. You’d been 11 and at first it had been exciting living away from home, and while you loved living with like-minded people, you did wonder what a real family was like.

Your training program started with some stretching before you moved on to a light jog to warm up. The camera crew began to show up just as you were completing your jog and moving on to your pole vaulting training. You watched them set up for a moment before pushing them from your mind and focusing on your training. If you were going to be someone’s wife, you’d be a wife to make them proud. Halfway through training, your coach called you over. 

“Y/N! Your husband will be coming to watch you train as part of your meeting.” He informed you. Nerves suddenly engulfed your stomach and you paled slightly. It wasn’t often that people came to watch you train. Usually, the other athletes had their own training to worry about. Occasionally your nutritionist or important committee members would stop by to watch you, but that was fine. The whole nation could stop by to watch you and that would be fine. You’d competed on the world stage at the previous Olympics, and that was fine, but knowing that your husband would be coming to watch you train made you nervous. 

You wanted to say that it wasn’t fair. He would have the upper hand and know who you were first. He’d get to see you in action. What if he changed his mind and decided that he didn’t want to marry you after seeing you? What if you weren’t pretty enough for him? You’d been told that you were beautiful. You’d even been in an article for the top 20 most beautiful athletes of the country, but that didn’t mean you appealed to everyone. You’d never cared what other people thought about your looks before, so why did you care now? This was only a fake marriage, so it didn’t matter.

Instead, you nodded and went back to training, unaware that your future husband was currently making his way into the grandstands.

“Hello, I’m V and today, I’m getting married,” Taehyung said, bowing to the camera and flashing his square smile. 

“What sort of marriage do you hope to have with your wife?” The interviewer asked, causing Taehyung to stop and think about it.

“I think I’d like to be good friends with my wife,” He couldn’t help but grin at the word, his ears turning slightly pink. “I’d want things to be like they are with my close friends, but obviously, we’d be married. As I’m quite young, it would be nice to experience a lot of firsts with her and learn how to be a strong couple together.”

“Who would be your dream wife?”

“I think it would be nice to marry someone outside of the music industry, so I can learn more about other industries - maybe a model or an athlete. Having an athlete for a wife would be very interesting.”

You finished off your training session with another run around the track and more stretching. You’d been a little distracted towards the end of your run, trying to spot your husband in the stands. He must have been taken somewhere else to meet you, however, as you hadn’t been able to find him.

Maybe your coach had just told you that he would be there to get you used to competing under pressure.

However, your end-of-training debriefing was condensed as you were sent off to the showers to wash off and prepare for your meeting. Your shower was followed by hair and make-up - something that felt very odd to be having done in the locker room. You were given clothes to change into, much nicer clothes to the skinny jeans and hoodies that you were used to wearing. Thankfully, the short blue spring dress was paired with a comfortable pair of gray vans. At least you wouldn’t have to move your lanky, long limbs around in heels and make a fool of yourself. 

It wasn’t like you weren’t used to dressing up. Occasionally, you’d be invited to a gala dinner or an award show. After the last Olympics, the athletes had been invited to a fancy dinner thrown by the President of South Korea. You’d barely been 16 - having celebrated your 16th birthday the day after your win - so you’d been dressed much more demure than you were able to get away with now. Still, you prefered flats to heels. Besides, you were already uncomfortable without having to worry about heels, as well. 

As you were leaving the locker room, you were met just outside the doorway with a camera. Attached to the bottom of the camera with a wire hanger, was a maroon envelope. You smiled shyly and reached out for it. 

Opening up the letter you read it out loud.

Dear Wife, Y/N

In this sport you can kick a ball Or you can also use your head Try not to do a bad tackle Or you’ll be shown a card that’s red

“Soccer? Do I go to the soccer field?” You asked the man behind the camera. He just looked at you with a tilted head. “Oh, you can’t answer me.” You laughed and held up your hands in a sorry gesture. Deciding that that was a good place to start, you made your way to the soccer field. It wasn’t too far of a walk from the track and field stadium. Arriving at the soccer ground you looked around to see if anyone stood out. The men’s Olympic soccer team was training.

“Is he a soccer player?” You didn’t really know any of the men on the soccer team, but one of them noticed you and jogged up to you with a red envelope. You both bowed awkwardly to one another as you took it before he jogged back to his team.

“Oh gosh, that startled me.” You laughed and opened up the next envelope.

Dear Wife, Y/N

Although I’m not a book I need two stories or more I go straight up and down To go to another floor

Well, that one was easy, but which elevator? Was there one nearby? Biting your bottom lip, you looked around confused. Did you interrupt the coach to ask? Surely they were in on this little hunt, or one of the players wouldn’t have had the next card. Stealing your resolve, you strode up to one of the coaches and bowed.

“Excuse me, are there any elevators nearby?” You asked as you straightened up. He nodded and pointed you in the right direction.

“There are dormitories over the road that have elevators. I think that’s where you need to go. Fighting.” He smiled, cheering you on. You returned the smile and nodded.

“Thank you.” 

Turning around you made your way in the direction that the coach pointed. It wasn’t long before you got to the building, but you stopped when there was an envelope attached to the keycode box. 

Dear Wife, Y/N

Solve this math question for the code and then press #: (5000+631)x2/3

Oh God. Math. You always carried a pencil around in your bag, so you dug around for it and used the card to solve the equation. It wasn’t too hard, you’d had harder questions on the CSAT. Once you had the code, you keyed it in and hit the #. The door beeped so you could push it open and make your way to the elevators. Pressing the button, you step back and wait for the elevator to arrive. Once the doors open, you see a cute mailbox standing in the middle of the elevator floor. 

This little treasure hunt had helped to make your nerves lessen, but you were beginning to grow restless. You quickly opened the envelope and read the riddle.

Dear Wife, Y/N

Well done on this hunt so far, just one more step and you’ll find your star.

A thousand wheels, but move I do not. Call me what I am, call me a lot.

What am I?

Grinning, you pressed the button that would take you down to the carpark. When the door opens, a black van is parked in front of you. You waited for a beat for the door to open but it didn’t. Was this even the right place to go? Hesitantly you stepped forward, maybe you had to open the door. As you took that first timid step, however, the door opened on its own and out stepped a familiar face.

“You.” You replied, slightly in shock. 

“Me.” Kim Taehyung replied with a grin, looking just as shocked but pleased. With a blush, you stepped forward and held out your hand.

“It’s nice to see you again, Taehyung-ssi.” You said politely with a bow. He took your hand and gave it a warm squeeze as he returned the bow, unable to take his eyes off you.

“Y/N-ssi, you look beautiful.” His voice was soft, almost like a whispered prayer, before he blurted out “I’m glad it’s you.”

You both blushed, him at his bold words and you because you were flattered and more than a little pleased it was him standing before you as well - not that you’d let him know that, but you laughed together anyway. 

“So, what would you like to do to celebrate our first day of marriage?”

How will you answer?

Take wedding photos

Have a wedding meal

A/N Each point will become a link when they become available. Thank you for your patience!

[km-theatre]

Cast & Creatives The Ladykillers

NEW WOLSEY THEATRE IPSWICH SUFFOLK  UK 15 SEP 2017

Friday 15 September 2017

Ann Penfold — Mrs Wilberforce

Theatre credits include: The Taming of the Shrew (RSC),Brighton Till I Die(Brighton),, Revenger's Tragedy, Deep Blue Sea,(West Yorkshire Playhouse)Saturday Sunday Monday (National Theatre/West End)  The Wars of the Roses(English Shakespeare Company, world tour and Old Vic) Design for Living (Peter Hall Company,) The Winslow Boy,(Guildford and tour) The Contractor (Oxford Stage company tour) Forty Years On (Scarborough)The Glass Menagerie,(Greenwich), In Celebration,(Chichester.) Duet for One (Edinburgh, Lyceum)

At the Wolsey Theatre: The Winter's Tale; Hamlet; Romeo and Juliet; Mrs Warren's Profession; Perfect Days.

And at Salisbury Playhouse: For Services Rendered ( and at the Old Vic), and The Lady in the Van.

Television credits include: Tripped (Mammoth Screen), Doctors, Casualty, Sea of Souls, Dangerfield, No Place Like Home, Mrs Pym’s Day Out, Cranford, Villette, There is Also Tomorrow (BBC), The Bill, The Vice, Coronation Street, The Brontes of Haworth, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (ITV) A Wing and a Prayer, Family Affairs (Ch5)

Film credits include: Keeping Rosy, Winter Sunlight, Family Life.

Steven Elliot — Professor Marcus

Theatre Credits Include: Frankenstein, The Winter’s Tale. (Royal National Theatre) Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, Revenger’s Tragedy, Henry V, Twelfth Night, Pentecost, The Bite of the Night, The Jew of Malta, Measure For Measure (Royal Shakespeare Company) The Devil Inside Him (National Theatre Wales) Dancing at Lughnasa (Abbey, Dublin) King Lear (Almeida, London) True West (Glasgow Citz) Arcadia (Bristol Old Vic) Frank, in Educating Rita (Oldham Coliseum) Dumb Show, Inherit the Wind (New Vic Theatre) The Weir (Sherman, Cardiff) Amadeus, Hamlet, And Then There Were None, Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’ (Salisbury Playhouse) Macbeth, Two Princes, A Chorus of Disapproval, Arcadia, Troilus and Cressida, Measure for Measure, The Suicide, Noises Off, Jumpy, Cyrano de Bergerac (Theatr Clwyd)  Steven recently played the role of George Ring in an adaptation of ‘Adventures in the Skin Trade,’ by Dylan Thomas, at the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Arts Centre, Australia. He also recently played Oscar Wilde in a tour of ‘The Trials of Oscar Wilde.’

Directing Credits Include: Assistant Director to Terry Hands on ‘Pygmalion’ by George Bernard Shaw (Theatr Clwyd) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Rose Theatre, Kingston) Well Thumbed (Notional Theatre) The Dreamer (Maltings, Farnham)

Television Credits Include:  Da Vinci’s Demons, Holby City, Judge John Deed, Ghostboat, Crash, Tunnel of Love, Porthpenwaig, Inspector Morse, Harpur and Isles, Art that Shook the World, 90 Days in Hollywood, Return to Treasure Island, That Uncertain Feeling, Rhinoceros, Van der Valk,  999 Killer on the line, Mike Bassett - Manager, Gwaith Cartref.

Film Credits Include:  Steven has just finished filming ‘The Watcher in the Woods’ with Anjelica Huston, in which he plays the title role. Other Film work includes; Hamlet, Cold Earth, Rise of the Appliances, Trauma, Trail of Crimson, De Sade, Green Monkey and Time Bandits. Also recordings of Frankenstein (NT Live) King Lear and True West (Digital Theatre)

Graham Seed — Major Courtney

Graham trained at RADA and is best known for playing Nigel Pargetter in the radio series The Archers for 27 years, until the character’s untimely demise in January 2011. Theatre credits include: Dead Sheep and An Audience with Jimmy Savile (Park Theatre), Dead Sheep (National Tour), 
Bedroom Farce and Separate Tables (Salisbury Playhouse), Flare Path (National Tour) Jim Hacker in Yes Prime Minister (National Tour), Basket Case with Nigel Havers (National Tour)Major Metcalf in The Mousetrap (60th Anniversary tour), Toad of Toad Hall (West
End); Me and My Girl (Adelphi Theatre); Relatively
Speaking and Confusions (national tour); Design for Living (English Touring Theatre); Twelfth Night
(BAC); Translations (Watford and tour); A Chaste
Maid of Cheapside (Almeida and tour); Someone to
Watch Over Me (Frankfurt); An Eligible Man (New
End, Hampstead); The Skin Game (Orange Tree);
Nelson (Nuffield, Southampton); Present Laughter
(Theatr Cymru); French Without Tears (Mill at
Sonning); Journey’s End (National Tour) Accolade at the
Finborough. He has also played many
repertory seasons including: Birmingham, Greenwich, 
Library Theatre, Manchester, and Perth.

Television credits include: The Durrells, I, Claudius, Edward
VII, Brideshead Revisited, Mike Leigh’s Who’s Who, Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, Jeeves and Wooster, The Cleopatras, Crossroads, Coronation Street, Brookside, Prime Suspect, Nature Boy, Dinnerladies, Station Jim, Band of Brothers, The Chatterley Affair, Doctors, Midsomer Murders and He Kills Coppers. Film credits include: Peterloo, Gandhi, Good and Bad at
Games, Honest, Little Dorrit, These Foolish Things and Wild Target with Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt. Radio credits include: Nigel Pargetter
in The Archers. He is an occasional presenter on ‘Pick of the Week’ and was a regular voice on ‘What The Papers’ Say’ both for Radio 4.
 He was the recipient of the
Broadcaster of the Year Award 2010 from the
Broadcasting Press Guild and the Voice of Listener
and Viewer Special Award 2010.

Marcus Houden — Constable Macdonald

Theatre credits include: The Tempest (Hope Theatre, London) - BroadwayWorldUK Best Leading Actor nomination, Overture Live (Hippodrome, London), Peter Pan (UK Tour), Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood(Gala Theatre, Durham), Treasure Island (Cambridge Touring Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (International Tour), Romeo and Juliet, Sense and Sensibility (Chapterhouse Theatre Company), Bouncers(UK Tour), The Three Musketeers (Jamie Marcus Productions), The Merry Wives of Henry VIII (Edinburgh Festival), Art, Macbeth(Seagull Theatre), Tartuffe, The Beaux’ Stratagem (Lichfield Garrick) and Dick Whittington (Theatre Colwyn).

Damian Williams — One-Round

Damian became well known to television audiences in the early nineties for his appearances as Ginger Gahagan in the BBC series Billy Webb and the second series Alfonzo Bonzo. His other television appearances include Lumpy in Spatz; Gavin in Exam Conditions and Ian in The Bill. Damian was the presenter of Damian’s Are You Smarter Than Your 10 Year Old for Sky One and was also in the new series of Birds of a Feather.

Damian is always in demand for Musical Theatre and in 2013 and 2014 Damian played Edna Turnblad in Hairspray both at the Leicester Curve as well as a tour of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Damian’s first love is comedy (his heroes are Laurel & Hardy) and he has played various comedy roles from Luther Billis in South Pacific to Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. Damian played Tommy Cooper in the new play Being Tommy Cooper, and toured in the one man play My Dog’s Got No Nose. Most recently he’s also played Tommy Cooper in the short film The Last Laugh, written and directed by Paul Hendy for which Damian won best Actor (Southampton film festival)

Damian has toured the country for over 25 years and has a wealth of experience in Theatre, a well respected farceur Damian has appeared in; Run for your wife, Cash on Delivery, Funny Money, Tom Dick & Harry, It Runs in the Family, Not now darling, There Goes The Bride, Out of Order, Caught in the Net, Dry Rot, See How they Run and Don’t Dress For Dinner.

As resident Dame of 10 years at the Sheffield Lyceum Damian is set to play Mother Goose this year.

Damian was born in Tilbury in Essex and now resides in Southend on sea with his wife Barbie. They are proud parents of twins, Joshua and Esme, undoubtedly Damian’s finest productions to date!

Anthony Dunn — Louis Harvey

Anthony has worked extensively as an actor in the UK, Europe, Canada and the United States over the last 30 years. Theatre includes Calamity Jane (UK and Ireland Tour), Paved in Gold (Canada), Birds (US Tour), Face (UK Tour), Buddy (Victoria Palace), Bouncers (Hull Truck), L'Ascencore (European Tour) and Don Quixote(Warehouse Theatre). His television appearances include The Murdoch Mysteries (US and Canada), Roomers and The Last Word for the BBC and Stuck on You, The Upper Hand and Frank Stubbs for ITV. Anthony has also worked in academia, teaching and doing Ph.D research in Washington and New Orleans. When not working as an actor, Anthony can be found taking groups of people on entertaining historical tours of London by road, river or foot.

Sam Lupton — Harry Robinson

Training: Manchester School Of Theatre (Man met, Acting)

Theatre includes: ‘Wilfred Crompton’ in Spring and Port Wine (Oldham Coliseum 2017); 'Seymour' in Little Shop Of Horrors (UK Tour 2016),  'Boq' in Wicked (Apollo Victoria Theatre, West End); 'Princeton’ & ‘Rod' in Avenue Q (UK Tour 2012); 'Man' in Starting Here, Starting Now'; Greg' in Single Sex and 'Gena Hamlet' in Galka Motalka (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester);  'Harry' in Love On The Dole and 'Young Collector/Sailor' in A Streetcar Named Desire (Bolton Octagon); 'Colin Ireland & Robin Oake' in Out Out Out (Pitgems Theatre); "Jim/Ensemble" in The Hired Man (Bolton Octagon) which won the 2010 TMA Award for Best Performance in a Musical, awarded to the entire ensemble. He Also originated the role of 'Ben' in Firing Life.

Television includes: The Late Late Show (RTE) and Ireland:AM (TV3).

Radio Includes: 'Nino Sarratore' in The Story Of A New Name & My Brilliant Friend (BBC Radio 4), Various Characters in National Velvet (BBC Radio 4)

Workshops: 'Boy & Zacky' in Big Fish; 'John-Michael' in Doris Stokes

Other Work Includes: The Music of Kooman & Diamond (IlliaDebuts, London Debut), "The Concrete Jungle": UK Album Launch (IlliaDebuts), 'West End Switched Off' (Parallel Productions)

Sam has also worked as a puppet coach for the 2014 professional UK tour of Avenue Q. In 2016 he made is directorial debut with How To Curse at London's Etcetera Theatre.

[upshotre]

June 12 Day: Nigeria is safe, says minister

NIGERIA is safe and there is no cause for alarm, Information, Culture & Tourism Minister Lai Mohammed has declared. The declaration came yesterday despite uncovering an alleged plot to disrupt the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari for second term on May 29. He said world leaders, who will attend the maiden June 12 Democracy Day, have nothing to fear. Mohammed, who made the declaration at a news conference in Abuja, said security agencies were on top of the recent security alarm. He, however, emphasized that the presidential inauguration on May 29, would be a low-key event in order to save cost. Muhammed said: “On the invitation of world presidents to the presidential inauguration, I said leaders will be invited instead to the observance of Democracy Day and that invitations have since been sent out. “Nigeria is safe and sound for world leaders to attend the celebration. I will not tell you the measures taken for safety. I have no reason to doubt the credibility of the security alarm raised by security agencies. There is no cause for alarm as the security agencies are on top of the matter.” According to him, the swearing-in of the President and the Vice President at the Eagle Square would be followed by a State Banquet at the State House. Mohammed noted that the event marking the June 12 Democracy Day would start on June 7 with a historical exhibition in arts, pictures and immersive environment, and would run through June 12. On the inauguration activities that began with yesterday’s news conference, the minister said: “This will be followed on Tuesday by the commencement of three-day national youth entrepreneurship empowerment summit in Abuja. “The Federal Executive Council valedictory session will be held at the council chambers, state house in Abuja on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 while a special Jumat lecture and prayer will be held on Friday at the National Mosque. “The first lady interaction with women will hold on Saturday while a special interdenominational church service is slated for Sunday May 26, 2019 at the National Christian Centre, Abuja. “On May 27, 2019, Mr President will give a Children’s Day broadcast that will be followed later in the day by children variety party. The swearing in of the president and vice president is slated for May 29, 2019 at the Eagle Square to be followed by a state banquet at the evening of the same day.” The minister added that Democracy Day would also kick off on June 7 with the exhibition in arts and pictures and that it would be followed by a youth concert, creative industry and entertainment night on June 9, 2019. He said: “On June 10, 2019, there will be secondary school exhibition and panel discussion in Abuja while three events will feature on June 11. “They are PMB oratorical contest, anti-corruption summit and first ladies commissioning programme in Yola, Adamawa State. “The June 12 will start with a parade at Eagle Square and Democracy Day programme will wrap up with a dinner at gala night at the state house conference centre.” Other ministers at the briefing included: Mohammed Adamu (Education); Geoffrey Onyema (Foreign Affairs) and Bawa Buhari (Solid Minerals) as well as permanent secretaries Gabriel Aduda, Olusegun Adekunle and Jalab Arabi. Read the full article

[droewyn]

Intervention, Part 2

Part 1 here.

Cold.  He was lying on his back.  It was cold and dark and a heavy weight was pinning him to the ground. He tried to groan and wound up with a mouthful of hair, Victor’s favorite styling gel bitter on his tongue. “Vitya?”  No response.  Yuuri forced his eyes open, and found himself staring up into the night sky.  It had been the middle of the afternoon just moments before.  His husband was lying on top of him, unmoving.  “Victor?”

“Tell Yakov I’m dead,” It was a drowsy mumble, and he let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.  Whatever the hell had just happened, Victor was okay and Yuuri wasn’t alone.

“Victor, you’re crushing my kidneys!”  

He felt Victor’s breath hitch an instant before his head snapped up to look at him.  “Yuuri?”  The word was laced with confusion and worry.

He tried for a reassuring smile.  “I’m fine, love.  Just… get off me?”

Victor blinked, then swore and rolled quickly off of Yuuri.  The two men helped one another to their feet, clinging tightly to each other’s hands for comfort as they looked around them.  

They were in an alley somewhere in a city center, though the buildings were all wrong for it to be St. Petersburg.  Skyscrapers that Yuuri recognized as being in the American “art deco” style stood next to shorter, slightly more modern structures of glass and concrete.  The juxtaposition was oddly familiar.  He found himself staring at one building in particular, a rusty brick and sandstone tower.  Spotlights illuminated the upper floors, which were decorated with a mosaic of patterned tiles, and a flag waved from the spire.  

“Yuuri, I think we’re in the past—” “Victor, I think we’re in Detroit—” The words made no sense, all jumbled together as they talked over one another.  The words made no sense, period.  To go from day to night, halfway around the world, in the span of a kiss?  It wasn’t possible.

Victor was staring at his phone as though he expected it to bite him.  Yuuri peered at it and blinked.  The display didn’t change.  Wordlessly, he reached into his back pocket for his own phone, thumbing the home button automatically to wake it up.

Their lock screens were identical.  Twin images of Victor lifting a radiant Yuuri during their Stammi Vicino gala skate. Status bars showing cell reception (LTE? Downtown?  Was America(?!) really so backwards in updating their infrastructure that their metropolitan areas still had 4G?), battery life, and various app notifications.  Clocks showing 9:37 pm.  Dates?

Friday, January 15.

The year wasn’t displayed, and Yuuri bit down on a laugh that would have been more than slightly hysterical if he’d let it escape.  Why would anyone need to know what year it was, it wasn’t like, it wasn’t like people could just--

“Time skips aren’t real,” he whispered, willing the words to be true.

“What else could this be?” came Victor’s hushed reply.

Time skips were an urban legend -- a joke -- and the only people who took the idea at all seriously hung out in the tinfoil-hat parts of the internet that also believed in chemtrails and people with Rh- blood being descended from alien lizard people.  The History Channel ran programs on time skips, for pity’s sake!  Faux documentaries where people with overactive imaginations talked about being instantly transported through space and time in order to meet up with their past selves and prevent them from making some kind of terrible mistake…

But he and Victor were standing in the heart of downtown Detroit.  The air was chill but not quite freezing and carried the normal city smells of food, car exhaust, and garbage.  The sidewalks were clear, with the ghost of an old snowfall in the corners where people didn’t walk.  A half-moon hung low in the west.  The least romantic moon possible for a night like this, he remembered suddenly, the bitter satisfaction of the thought echoing forward through the years, except it wasn’t a memory because it was this moon and it was happening now and Yuuri felt the blood drain from his face because he knew why he needed to be there.  Yuuri knew.

“Fuck.”  He was moving, sprinting, ignoring Victor’s startled cry.  His love was just going to have to catch up and keep up on his own because it was 2016, it was after Vicchan, it was after Sochi, it was after Nationals, it was after setting Celestino loose, and he needed to get to the river right now and there wasn’t enough time.  His phone was still in his hand, and he breathed a prayer to the gods of wireless technology that the network would recognize the same international carrier and the same phone number and that it wouldn’t notice the oddity of two phones with the same credentials and that Phichit would be there and pick up and—

“Yuuri?” Oh, thank you.  Thank you.

“Yes,” he gasped into the phone.  “No! Sort of.” He couldn’t allow himself to slow down for an instant, and his voice was harsh with exertion.  “He needs you.  Yuuri needs you.  At Hart Plaza.  It’s an emergency.”

“Yuuri’s on a date,” Phichit said slowly.  “He met someone and they’re going out to dinner in Royal Oak.”

“And you believed that horseshit?”

There was a pause, and then Phichit swore explosively in Thai.  “Who is this?” he demanded.

“Just hurry,” Yuuri said. “And bring his skates!” He ended the call and kept running.

                                              ~            ~            ~

 Hart Plaza wasn’t much to look at, particularly lying in the shadow of the Renaissance Center’s gleaming silver towers.  It was a park with no green space, a huge concrete and stone terrace designed for hosting outdoor festivals, and judging by the crumbling or outright missing paver bricks it hadn’t been properly maintained in years.  Yuuri ignored scattered works of abstract art and a truly hideous aluminum fountain, intent on not breaking an ankle on the uneven footing.  A cluster of bronze statues with some unknown historical significance guarded the stairs that led down to the riverwalk. Many of the decorative lampposts lining the water were dark, either through neglect or vandalism, but it still only took a glance to spot the lone figure who was staring into the icy water of the Detroit River from the wrong side of the guardrail.

Yuuri knew exactly what worked to pull himself out of various states of mental crisis; after existing in his own head for a lifetime, how could he not?  A physical stimulus could ground his anxiety and help stave off a panic attack, but once an attack happened he could only bear to be touched in certain very specific ways and needed words to focus on.  On days when he lacked the energy to move or care for himself, it was skin-to-skin contact that kept him from spiraling into something darker. When anxiety and depression started tag-teaming him, only solitude allowed him to weep without shame. Thanks to years of therapy and the love of friends, family, and Victor, Yuuri had an arsenal of tried and true coping mechanisms at his disposable.  

Unfortunately, his plan had pretty much evaporated after get there and the frantic half-mile run hadn’t burned off anywhere near enough adrenaline to allow for rationality, much less empathy.  Five years ago, Katsuki Yuuri had done the unthinkable. The unforgiveable.  He’d given up.  And in doing so, he’d apparently fucked up so badly that the gods, or aliens, or the universe itself had needed to rewrite causality just to fix it.  Now, five years later, five years ago, right this minute, Japan’s Ace was within shouting distance of Japan’s Shame.  And now that he was done being scared, Yuuri was pissed.

Unloading on himself like a teenaged Yuri Plisetsky who had just witnessed someone literally pee in his Cheerios was a perfectly reasonable response, given the circumstances.

“You pathetic little coward.”  Rapid-fire Japanese spilled from Yuuri’s mouth almost unbidden as he stormed over to his younger self, who visibly stiffened at the intrusion.  “Phichit and Celestino care about you, not that they don’t deserve better; how do you think they’ll feel when your stinking corpse gets dredged out of the river?”  The other Yuuri’s head snapped up at the familiar names, and he gaped as he met his own eyes and recognized them.  “And don’t forget Kaasan and Tousan; do you think they’ll be pleased when they’re called to pick up their son’s coffin from the airport?  Especially when it’ll be the first time they’ve seen you since you were seventeen. Maybe Minako-sensei will make a special banner for your homecoming.”  He was spitting the words like the poison they were, forcing them past a lump in his throat that was threatening to choke him.

“Yuuri—”

The stupid, selfish boy in front of him was a watery blur now.  “And it’s not like Mari-nee is already blaming herself for letting Vicchan get out into the street, so what’s another layer of guilt?  And, oh god, Yurio, he’ll probably—”  Yuuri’s voice cracked.

“Yuuri!”  Strong arms wrapped around him from behind, steadying him, and Victor’s breath was warm in his ear.  “Enough, lyubov moy.  This isn’t helping.”

“But he’s – I’m – going to ruin everything,” he wailed.  Hot tears spilled down his cheeks, clearing his vision, and he glared at his younger self.  

The other Yuuri was clutching the guardrail as if it was the only thing keeping him standing upright, shocked eyes darting back and forth between his face and Victor’s.  “Y-you,” he stammered.  “V-vi—”  He closed his mouth with a snap, clearly giving up.  

“Nobody’s ruining anything.” Victor’s embrace was tender, but his voice was artificially cheerful.  Yuuri could tell from the tone that if he turned to look at his husband, he’d be flashing one of his celebrity smiles.  “Yuuri-chan isn’t going to be taking a cold bath tonight,” Victor declared brightly, drawing the name out in emphasis, “because he knows that if he does, you won’t be going in after him.”

The younger Yuuri emitted a strangled squeak, whether from the idea of his idol and future self watching him drown in the Detroit River or from being referred to as ‘Yuuri-chan’ by Victor Nikiforov, it was hard to tell. Yuuri would have felt sorry for him in a different circumstance; he’d heard that edge in Victor’s voice before, though it hadn’t been turned on him in a long time.  This was the Victor who’d so innocently wondered how Yuuri could be eating katsudon all the time when he hadn’t stood on a podium in half a year, and who had called Yuri Plisetsky a mediocre kitten shortly before sending him off to be slapped around by a temple priest.  The man who had sweetly ripped a journalist to weeping shreds when she’d tried to manufacture a scandal by suggesting in an interview that Victor’s continued friendship with Christophe Giacometti might be a sign of marital infidelity.

Knowing that his husband was struggling with his own temper was oddly calming.

“No,” Victor continued as though the other Yuuri’s noise had been a polite request for more information, “I’m afraid that I’ll have to jump into that freezing river if Yuuri-chan does.”  One of his arms changed positions against Yuuri’s shoulder, and he imagined Victor bringing his index finger to his lips in studied contemplation.  “Or, if Yuuri-chan already has so little regard for himself, perhaps he is unmoved by the thought of others risking their lives on his behalf.”

Red bloomed across the younger Yuuri’s cheeks, and he shook his head wildly.  “N-no!” he gasped, “I don’t w-want you putting yourself in danger f-for me.”  He glanced at Yuuri.  “Either of you.”

“Excellent.”  Victor clapped his hands together as though the three men had just decided on a restaurant for dinner together.  “Since we’re agreed that no one will be suffering from hypothermia or contracting any diseases from swimming in disgusting water tonight, now it’s time to come back over here where the people belong, yes?”

The other Yuuri – Yuuri-chan?  Might as well use it if Victor was going to, Yuuri decided – hesitated, his gaze flickering between the two time skippers again.  “Please?”  Yuuri found himself begging.  “I’m – I’m really happy.  You have no idea how much.”

After another long moment, Yuuri-chan finally nodded.  Yuuri and Victor helped him climb over the railing, sharing a sigh of relief once he was safely back on the ground.  Yuuri-chan looked at their joined hands, Victor’s in his right and Yuuri’s in his left, making no move to let go.  “This isn’t a dream, is it?” he asked wonderingly.  “You’re really V-Victor, and,” he turned to Yuuri, “you’re me.”

In answer, Yuuri tugged up the sleeve of his sweater.  There was a blue-gray mark on the underside of his forearm, an artifact of a childhood accident that had left a pencil point lodged permanently in his skin.  “Takeshi used to tease me about this all the time,” he said almost fondly.  “Remember? He called it my blue freckle.”

Yuuri-chan looked at the mark – and burst into tears.  Dropping Victor’s hand, he flung himself at Yuuri, who curled his arms protectively around his younger self and let him cry.  Victor moved close behind him, and Yuuri knew that he was rubbing comforting little circles on the small of Yuuri-chan’s back.  It had been a long time since sudden tears had made Victor panic.  “Shh,” Yuuri whispered into thick black hair.  “It’s okay now.  You’re safe, and I’m safe, and everything’s going to be okay.  I promise.”

“I’m sorry!” Yuuri-chan sobbed into Yuuri’s shoulder.  “I’m s-so, so s-sorry!”

“Phichit incoming,” Victor murmured, and Yuuri could hear the stomping footsteps that took the riverwalk stairs two at a time.  Yuuri-chan stiffened, dreading the encounter.  “Go on, solnyshko,” Victor told him, not unkindly.  “You two need each other.”

He looked like he was being sent to face a firing squad, but allowed himself to be peeled off of Yuuri and pushed toward his best friend and roommate, who dropped the skate bag he’d been carrying and shrieked his name, ignoring the two time skippers entirely. Yuuri-chan broke into a run and the two crashed into each other, Yuuri-chan babbling tearful apologies while Phichit alternated cursing him out in a garbled blend of English and Thai and peppering his face with frantic kisses.

Feeling like he was intruding on a private moment, Yuuri looked away from the two oblivious roommates. Victor had turned toward him at the same moment and they shared a small smile, in tune as always.  His husband opened his arms in invitation, and Yuuri sank gratefully into his embrace.

Victor felt like home.

“Are you all right?”

Yuuri huffed a laugh. “I don’t feel like I’m disappearing from reality, if that’s what you mean,” he said.  “Not that I’d know what that would even feel like.  If you’re asking about my emotional state, let’s go with a point somewhere between ‘nope’ and ‘probably going to be’.  What about you?”

He shrugged.  “Slightly less terrified out of my mind than I was. So what happens next?  Are we done here?”

“Hell if I know.  This night is a total blur for me.  I remember looking down into the water, and then I’m waking up tomorrow with Phichit and it’s almost six o’clock at night.  Phichit missed practice and Celestino was livid. I knew I hadn’t gotten drunk, so I always assumed I’d had some kind of breakdown.”

Victor hummed thoughtfully. “That’s a time skip thing, isn’t it? The people who claimed to have done it always said they didn’t remember being there until they were sent back.”

“Those are weird internet people.  Not exactly sources you can cite on Wikipedia.”

“That includes us now,” Victor pointed out.  “Figure skating legends, soon-to-be world’s greatest coaches, and weird internet people.”

Yuuri sniffed.  “Only if we decide to be, and I’m not planning to jump on Reddit with my life story anytime soon.”  He sighed.  “We’re getting off topic, though.  How do we know that we’ve done what we were sent here to do?”  He glanced over at Yuuri-chan.  The other Yuuri and Phichit were laughing more than crying now, Phichit’s kisses were starting to linger, and Yuuri-chan was starting to kiss back.  He found himself smiling wistfully.

“You miss him.”

“Always.  But I’ll get to see him in a couple weeks when he comes to stay with us.  And anyway, that isn’t my Phichit.  He’s Yurio’s age.”

Victor chuckled.  “I’m not suggesting that you drag him off into the nearest bathroom stall,” he teased.  “But no matter how old he is or isn’t at the moment, he’s still your best friend and you don’t spend nearly enough time together in person.  You’ve been given an opportunity; why not make the most of it? Besides, aren’t you just dying to see the look on his face when he realizes who we are?”

“You make a compelling argument,” Yuuri grinned.  Then he turned thoughtful.  “Actually, it might not be a bad idea to show baby-me how great the future is rather than just telling him.  We don’t seem to be going anywhere at the moment, at any rate.  And I do want to make sure.”

“I like it.  I think we have a plan.  Bet you a thousand yen that Chulanont is too shocked to take a picture?”

“You’re on, sucker.”

[lenaluthorisgay]

A concept: after some disaster or another, Wonder Woman appears in National City to train Kara. Very early in this training, Maggie teases her for having Thoughts™ about Diana. Kara protests that she looks at *plenty* of her female friends that way. Maggie tilts her head. Things click. Diana is supportive.

It starts, as most things in Kara’s life seem to, with running late.

It starts with a missed alarm, a frantic rush up the elevator and into Snapper’s office, and a desperate prayer that he will not yet have noticed her absence.

(He has.)

It starts with him yelling and the sirens blaring, and her senses short out for a second at the cacophony. She has to go.

Only– he’s glaring at her and saying something about don’t you dare think about going anywhere, Danvers, and she’s frozen for a beat before she darts away.

That beat is just long enough for the rogue alien to capture three civilians. That beat, that moment of doubt, is long enough for her to have no time to plan, strategize.

Instead, she dives into the fray. The alien is strong–not quite as strong as her, but closer than most, and it takes its toll, one punch against her ribs knocking her clear back past the edge of the park.

She saves the civilians. She does not go back to work. She crashes into her bed, still costumed, and does not move until Alex’s voice wakes her.

“Kara.”

(Kara stirs, murmurs something that sounds suspiciously like Lena. Alex reminds herself to think about that later.)

“Kara.” Alex shoves her arm, and Kara mumbles, some vague no, don’t wanna get up yet, go away. 

“You’ve got to get up. You have a visitor. And I brought you breakfast.”

That is enough to fully wake her–she can smell the pancakes now that she is paying attention, can hear the extra heartbeat.

“Fine,” she grumbles, all but falling out of bed.

She expects Winn, or maybe James. Maggie, even, depending on how the park clean-up and investigation is going, or maybe Lena, if she’s secretly still asleep and having the best dream of her life.

Instead, it’s Wonder Woman.

Kara stops short in the doorway. Here she is, having changed into cat print pajamas. And there she is, all hands on hips and chin raised high, and Rao, it’s a sight she could get used to waking up to.

(Not that she wants to. Just that she could. Wonder Woman is an inspiration, that’s all.)

(That is definitely not all.)

“Supergirl,” Wonder Woman says, and it breaks Kara out of her stupor just enough to send her into another one, this time focused on the timbre of her voice, how Supergirl sounds on the other woman’s tongue.

“Y-Yes. I’m Supergirl. That is– That is me.”

Alex stares at her as she trips over words, waves her hands like they will erase all of this embarrassment.

Thankfully, Wonder Woman spares her. “Superman sent me. Managing a secret identity is hard. I’ve come to train you, teach you how to maximize your efficiency as both Kara Danvers and Supergirl.”

Kara nods. Speaking does not seem like a good idea.

She calls Winn later to brag.

“You met who?” he gasps. “And you didn’t invite me?”

“It wasn’t a super formal thing, Winn. She just kind of showed up in my apartment.”

“I wish Wonder Woman showed up in my apartment.”

“Maybe she would if you ever cleaned up.”

She can tell he wants to hmph, to pout. But curiosity gets the best of him: “So what’s she like?”

“She’s amazing. She just looks so strong. Her arms are unreal. And she was so nice. She’s probably perfect, Winn. No faults. Actually perfect.”

And so they train.

Sometimes, when Diane takes her through the city and makes her listen to the sirens blaring by, asks her what the most innocuous escape route is, what excuse she would use, Kara can hardly believe it counts as training.

But then Kara thinks a lot about all the bad excuses she has given, how she has flown places on buses before, had to save her non-existent cat from the doom of being locked in the bathroom for too long, had to rescue Alex from more fake bad dates than she ever wants to count, and she gets it. Supergirl might be brave, and confident, and righteous, but Kara Danvers wears awkwardness well, and the words often come too quickly for her mouth to ever catch up.

She tells Diane all of the stories, means for them to be light, jokes about the perils of a double identity. They turn into pleas: I want to tell them, all of them, everyone I care about.

“Like who?” Diane asks, and so Kara talks about Lena. First about how she’s pretty sure Lena knows: she has to, has to have put together the clues. Later about how smart Lena is–book smart but also just smart smart, the kind of smart that is visible in the way she looks at the world and pieces it together and figures it out. How kind.

She talks, and talks, and talks, and does not realize Diane has walked her back to her apartment until they are at the doorstep and Diane tells her we’ve done a lot today, go get some rest. Go spend some time with your friends.

Sometimes they fight.

They fight in the green room, Kara’s powers dulled from thunder to a buzz. Alex watches the first time, joins in the next.

The day after that, Maggie is there.

“Hey, Little Danvers,” she calls, and Kara looks up. “C’mere.”

She is tired enough that her walk becomes a schlep, cape draped heavily over slumped shoulders. “’m not fighting you too. Too tired.”

“That’s not what I want,” Maggie says, and if Kara were not so out of it she would be frightened of the way Maggie is smiling.

(It’s too knowing, and oh, if Maggie isn’t knowing. She figured out her identity, after all. Kara doesn’t want to know what she’ll figure out next.)

“So, Wonder Woman,” Maggie continues. “Pretty cute, right?”

Kara’s brow quirks down into what her sister would call the crinkle. “Huh?”

“Come on. You’ve been staring at her like you want to wrestle her in a whole different sorta way all day.”

Her exhaustion abruptly fades, and Kara stands up tall, fighting back the heat of her cheeks. “N–No I haven’t. I look at a lot of people like that.”

“Like–?”

“Like– Lena! I look at Lena like that!”

It is the wrong thing to say, apparently: Maggie laughs and laughs until she has to leave the room.

Kara stands for a long while, thinking.

The next day, Maggie is there to watch again. 

(”You think I’m going to miss an opportunity to watch my girlfriend get all hot and bothered? Think again, Little Danvers.”)

(”Hot an– No. Oh no. I’m sorry I asked. Okay. Oh no.”)

Only Maggie does not leave after Alex fights. She stays, props one foot against the doorframe, and grins.

Kara refuses to make eye contact. And she does not look at Wonder Woman either–the urge to blush and stutter is too strong, too unavoidable, especially when her eyes are clear, and bright, just like Lena’s when she smiles, and–

Okay. No eye contact.

She fights and ostensibly wins, but Maggie laughs as she leaves again, and Kara feels like she is still missing something.

“Why do you keep laughing at me?” she finally asks.

“What do you mean?”

“Every time you watch me fight y– you laugh at me!”

Maggie cocks her head, lets the teasing smirk fade. “I wasn’t laughing at you.”

“Then why were you laughing?” She’s not sure why she’s so bent out of shape over this: she loves Maggie, loves the way Maggie calls her Little Danvers, loves the way Maggie cares so fully about everyone in Alex’s life. But there is something about this that she just does not understand.

“Because you look at Wonder Woman the same way I look at Alex.”

Kara knows that look: it’s the one that says wow, how did I get so lucky? 

“Oh,” she replies eventually. Maggie pats her shoulder and walks away.

That night, she dreams of Lena.

She dreams of the way Lena bites her lip sometimes, and the whole world of her dream seems to freeze, to zoom: those eyes, half narrowed, pleading. Her hands, nervous.

“Of course I’ll come to the gala with you,” Kara had said.

With you. With you.

They are in the middle of training when the news comes in: an attack at L-Corp.

Kara is gone before Winn finishes the briefing, a flash of blue-red, a blink, gone.

(She has been measured before, studied. The DEO has calculated her maximum speed and strength and all of it, every piece, has been recorded carefully.)

(She breaks that record as she flies toward Lena.)

Wonder Woman leaves, and the training stops, and Kara does not know what to do with her newfound free time.

She visits Lena–thankfully uninjured, now working from home until the repairs are done.

She stands uncomfortably in the DEO, wishing she were visiting Lena.

And then she figures it out.

“Maggie, are you there?” Kara knocks, and keeps knocking, and keeps calling out.

(Any other time, she’d be worried about what she’d find behind the door. Now, she does not care.)

(Maggie is home, she knows it. And Maggie will open the door.)

“Coming, coming.”

Maggie opens the door in boxer shorts and a t-shirt that is a little too familiar. Kara does not think too much about it.

“I like her. Maggie, I like her. You were right, when you were laughing. You were totally right, and I like her, and I don’t know what to do, Maggie, you have to help.”

It is a lot to take in: Kara, pacing, hands ablaze. “Slow down, Supergirl.”

Kara stops, looking down. “I like Lena.”

And there, Maggie thinks, it is. The perhaps inevitable, certainly enjoyable, proof that she was right all along. She steps closer. 

“Then go tell her.”

“And say what? I don’t know what to say! I’ve never done this. What if it goes wrong?”

“Tell her that you like her, ask her to dinner. Believe me, she feels the same.”

“Okay. Wait, no. Are you sure? I mean, if you say so. But are you really saying so?”

“Kara. She likes you. Go.”

Kara was not aware Wonder Woman sent postcards.

It is another piece of information to store away in the little super hot amazonian superhero folder in the back of her mind, the one that had quickly been eclipsed by the super duper hot CEO that likes you too folder. It’s nice, humanizing.

The postcard bears a picture of Metropolis, all shining sun and glowing skyline. And on the back there is a Daily Planet clipping, a headline Kara knows all too well: “Lena Luthor spotted with Catco reporter.”

Below it, there is a simple message: Congrats!

[melindarowens]

EXCLUSIVE: Central Figure In ‘Backdoor O

An offer of a “Russian backdoor overture” that made its way to Jared Kushner last year was initiated by a devout Christian with concern for veterans and not Russian operatives devising a plan to collude with the Trump campaign.

Johnny Yenason, the owner of a Pennsylvania-based pipefitting company, says that it was his Christian and veterans advocacy work that prompted him to reach out in May 2016 to Aleksander Torshin, the deputy chairman of Russia’s central bank, and his associate, Maria Butina.

That outreach effort, which made its way from Yenason to a friend of his named Rick Clay and then to members of the Trump campaign, became the subject of intense scrutiny last Friday after the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Kushner, a White House senior adviser and Trump’s son-in-law, accusing him of improperly withholding the email exchange. (RELATED: Kushner Was Forwarded An Email Offering A ‘Russian Backdoor Overture’)

Kushner’s emails show that he shot down the meeting request, but Trump critics saw the initial overture as an attempt by the Trump associates to collude with Russian operatives or by Kremlin functionaries trying to infiltrate the campaign.

Several news outlets reported Friday that Torshin, a former Russian senator, tried to arrange a meeting with Trump. But in interviews with The Daily Caller this week, Yenason directly disputed that Torshin or Butina made any outreach to the Trump team.

Yenason says that while Clay’s email — entitled “Russian backdoor overture and dinner meeting” — does suggest that Torshin sought a session with Trump, Clay “misstated” his message to the campaign.

“Rick’s email may have stated that, but that was not communicated to me in any of the requests or emails that I exchanged with [Butina and Torshin],” Yenason said.

Yeneson’s own email correspondence with the Russians undercuts the notion that they “tried to get involved with me and manipulated me because I was some dumb American,” he says.

TheDC reviewed Yenason’s email exchanges with Butina and Torshin.

In an Tuesday interview with TheDC, Clay said it was possible that he misstated what Yeneson told him.

Asked if Yeneson mentioned Torshin to him, Clay said, “I don’t remember that at all.”

Johnny Yenason, second from left, at Russian National Prayer Breakfast in Moscow, March 15, 2016. (Youtube screen grab)

Yenason, 62, says he met Torshin and Butina on a trip to Moscow in March 2016 for the National Russian Prayer Breakfast.

Yenason was invited by Peter Sautov, the chairman of Russia’s National Morning Prayer Foundation. The pair met in Washington, D.C., while working to advance Christian interests, says Yenason, who provided a copy of his invite from Sautov.

Yenason, who was one of three Westerners invited to the event, said that conversation in Moscow centered on how to use Biblical teachings to help mend differences between the U.S. and Russia. Though Yenason acknowledged Torshin’s ties to the Kremlin, he called the Russian banker a “very Christian, principled believer.” In that, the pair were “on a common ground,” Yenason said.

Two months after that event, Yenason says he thought of Torshin and Butina, both lifetime members of the National Rifle Association, while he was helping put together a fundraising effort for the Hershel Woody Williams Medal of Honor Foundation. The non-profit group is named after the World War II hero who earned a Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The event was to be held in Louisville, Ky., on May 18, 2016, a day before the NRA’s annual meeting, which Trump was slated to attend to receive the gun group’s formal endorsement.

“I thought well why not invite a Russian to speak,” Yenason recalling thinking of Butina, the founder of a Russian gun rights group called The Right to Bear Arms.

“It was appropriate to have her come in to talk,” explained Yenason, who said that he — and not the Russians — suggested the possibility meeting with Trump.

“The Trump camp declined both coming to the event and for the meet up, especially because Maria and Alex were on the guest list,” said Yenason, who had asked Torshin and Butina to provide a short bio.

Butina’s group, which is now supported by Torshin, has come under scrutiny from some media outlets in the U.S., not just because of the peculiarity of a gun rights group operating in Russia, where private gun ownership is strictly limited, but also because of Torshin’s position in the Russian government.

The 63-year-old central banker is said to have links to Vladimir Putin. He has also been accused by a Spanish court of helping launder money for the Russian mafia, a charge he denies. Torshin’s work with American gun rights and Christian groups is of particular interest amid the Trump-Russia collusion craze.

Torshin’s support for gun rights appears to be legitimate and has been the subject of news reports in Russia, including one from RT in 2012. Then a Russian senator, Torshin touted a policy position held by the NRA — that increased private gun ownership is associated with lower crime rates.

Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina posing for a photo shoot. (Youtube screen grab)

Seeing an opportunity to use the veterans event to get a meeting with Trump, Yenason says he spoke with Clay, a former Iraq War contractor who he knew from a veteran support group called the Military Warriors Support Foundation. Clay then contacted Rick Dearborn, a former congressional aide to Jeff Sessions who worked on the Trump campaign.

Dearborn forwarded Clay’s request — with its subject line referring to a “backdoor overture” — to others inside the Trump campaign. But the response came back from the upper echelons of the campaign that the meeting would be unwise.

“Pass on this,” Kushner wrote in an email released on Friday by his lawyer Abbe Lowell. “A lot of people come claiming to carry messages. Very few we are able to verify. For now I think we decline such meetings.”

“Be careful,” Kushner concluded.

Clay told TheDC that Dearborn contacted him to decline the meeting.

“We feel like this is inappropriate and this should be handled through the State Department,” he recalled Dearborn saying.

Butina, who is in her late 20s, ended up speaking at the veterans event, though Torshin did not show up. His flight was delayed and he was only able to attend the NRA event. Attempts to contact them were unsuccessful.

At the NRA event, Torshin briefly met Donald Trump Jr., an encounter which mainstream media outlets jumped on because of Torshin’s high rank in the Russian government.

CBS News reported on Monday that Torshin and Trump Jr. met during the NRA gala and spoke for two or three minutes. Yenason, who has photos of the NRA event plastered on his Facebook page, said that he was not aware of any encounter between the two. He said he sat at a table with Trump Jr. at fundraiser held the next night for the NRA’s legislative outreach committee.

Yenason said that investigators looking into the “Russian backdoor overture” have yet to contact him, but he expects that they soon will.

“Now that my name has been released I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point someone might want to ask some more questions.”

Follow Chuck on Twitter

Source link

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[everettwilkinson]

EXCLUSIVE: Central Figure In ‘Backdoor O

An offer of a “Russian backdoor overture” that made its way to Jared Kushner last year was initiated by a devout Christian with concern for veterans and not Russian operatives devising a plan to collude with the Trump campaign.

Johnny Yenason, the owner of a Pennsylvania-based pipefitting company, says that it was his Christian and veterans advocacy work that prompted him to reach out in May 2016 to Aleksander Torshin, the deputy chairman of Russia’s central bank, and his associate, Maria Butina.

That outreach effort, which made its way from Yenason to a friend of his named Rick Clay and then to members of the Trump campaign, became the subject of intense scrutiny last Friday after the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Kushner, a White House senior adviser and Trump’s son-in-law, accusing him of improperly withholding the email exchange. (RELATED: Kushner Was Forwarded An Email Offering A ‘Russian Backdoor Overture’)

Kushner’s emails show that he shot down the meeting request, but Trump critics saw the initial overture as an attempt by the Trump associates to collude with Russian operatives or by Kremlin functionaries trying to infiltrate the campaign.

Several news outlets reported Friday that Torshin, a former Russian senator, tried to arrange a meeting with Trump. But in interviews with The Daily Caller this week, Yenason directly disputed that Torshin or Butina made any outreach to the Trump team.

Yenason says that while Clay’s email — entitled “Russian backdoor overture and dinner meeting” — does suggest that Torshin sought a session with Trump, Clay “misstated” his message to the campaign.

“Rick’s email may have stated that, but that was not communicated to me in any of the requests or emails that I exchanged with [Butina and Torshin],” Yenason said.

Yeneson’s own email correspondence with the Russians undercuts the notion that they “tried to get involved with me and manipulated me because I was some dumb American,” he says.

TheDC reviewed Yenason’s email exchanges with Butina and Torshin.

In an Tuesday interview with TheDC, Clay said it was possible that he misstated what Yeneson told him.

Asked if Yeneson mentioned Torshin to him, Clay said, “I don’t remember that at all.”

Johnny Yenason, second from left, at Russian National Prayer Breakfast in Moscow, March 15, 2016. (Youtube screen grab)

Yenason, 62, says he met Torshin and Butina on a trip to Moscow in March 2016 for the National Russian Prayer Breakfast.

Yenason was invited by Peter Sautov, the chairman of Russia’s National Morning Prayer Foundation. The pair met in Washington, D.C., while working to advance Christian interests, says Yenason, who provided a copy of his invite from Sautov.

Yenason, who was one of three Westerners invited to the event, said that conversation in Moscow centered on how to use Biblical teachings to help mend differences between the U.S. and Russia. Though Yenason acknowledged Torshin’s ties to the Kremlin, he called the Russian banker a “very Christian, principled believer.” In that, the pair were “on a common ground,” Yenason said.

Two months after that event, Yenason says he thought of Torshin and Butina, both lifetime members of the National Rifle Association, while he was helping put together a fundraising effort for the Hershel Woody Williams Medal of Honor Foundation. The non-profit group is named after the World War II hero who earned a Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The event was to be held in Louisville, Ky., on May 18, 2016, a day before the NRA’s annual meeting, which Trump was slated to attend to receive the gun group’s formal endorsement.

“I thought well why not invite a Russian to speak,” Yenason recalling thinking of Butina, the founder of a Russian gun rights group called The Right to Bear Arms.

“It was appropriate to have her come in to talk,” explained Yenason, who said that he — and not the Russians — suggested the possibility meeting with Trump.

“The Trump camp declined both coming to the event and for the meet up, especially because Maria and Alex were on the guest list,” said Yenason, who had asked Torshin and Butina to provide a short bio.

Butina’s group, which is now supported by Torshin, has come under scrutiny from some media outlets in the U.S., not just because of the peculiarity of a gun rights group operating in Russia, where private gun ownership is strictly limited, but also because of Torshin’s position in the Russian government.

The 63-year-old central banker is said to have links to Vladimir Putin. He has also been accused by a Spanish court of helping launder money for the Russian mafia, a charge he denies. Torshin’s work with American gun rights and Christian groups is of particular interest amid the Trump-Russia collusion craze.

Torshin’s support for gun rights appears to be legitimate and has been the subject of news reports in Russia, including one from RT in 2012. Then a Russian senator, Torshin touted a policy position held by the NRA — that increased private gun ownership is associated with lower crime rates.

Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina posing for a photo shoot. (Youtube screen grab)

Seeing an opportunity to use the veterans event to get a meeting with Trump, Yenason says he spoke with Clay, a former Iraq War contractor who he knew from a veteran support group called the Military Warriors Support Foundation. Clay then contacted Rick Dearborn, a former congressional aide to Jeff Sessions who worked on the Trump campaign.

Dearborn forwarded Clay’s request — with its subject line referring to a “backdoor overture” — to others inside the Trump campaign. But the response came back from the upper echelons of the campaign that the meeting would be unwise.

“Pass on this,” Kushner wrote in an email released on Friday by his lawyer Abbe Lowell. “A lot of people come claiming to carry messages. Very few we are able to verify. For now I think we decline such meetings.”

“Be careful,” Kushner concluded.

Clay told TheDC that Dearborn contacted him to decline the meeting.

“We feel like this is inappropriate and this should be handled through the State Department,” he recalled Dearborn saying.

Butina, who is in her late 20s, ended up speaking at the veterans event, though Torshin did not show up. His flight was delayed and he was only able to attend the NRA event. Attempts to contact them were unsuccessful.

At the NRA event, Torshin briefly met Donald Trump Jr., an encounter which mainstream media outlets jumped on because of Torshin’s high rank in the Russian government.

CBS News reported on Monday that Torshin and Trump Jr. met during the NRA gala and spoke for two or three minutes. Yenason, who has photos of the NRA event plastered on his Facebook page, said that he was not aware of any encounter between the two. He said he sat at a table with Trump Jr. at fundraiser held the next night for the NRA’s legislative outreach committee.

Yenason said that investigators looking into the “Russian backdoor overture” have yet to contact him, but he expects that they soon will.

“Now that my name has been released I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point someone might want to ask some more questions.”

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[cfijerusalem]

WATCHING OVER ZION, NOVEMBER 2, 2017 UPDATE

THE WORD

“At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.” This is what the Lord says... The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again, and you, virgin Israel, will be rebuilt. Again you will take up your timbrels and go out to dance with the joyful. Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit.” (Jeramiah 31:1-5)

The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing ...For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water... (Isaiah 35:1-7)

POINTERS FOR PRAYER

Today, Thursday 2nd November 2017 marks 100 years since the Balfour Declaration was delivered to Lord Rothschild in 1917. Please pray for all the events going on to commemorate this event throughout the UK – for a full list of events click here: http://www.balfour100.com/events/.

Do also pray regarding the event that many CFI supporters will be at on Tuesday November 7, at the Royal Albert Hall (details info@balfour100.org). This amazing evening will be a mix of music, song and drama as we discover and follow the partnerships and personalities that were key to the issuing of the Balfour Declaration.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the UK, he will meet Theresa May at the gala dinner at Lancaster House, near St James' Palace. Netanyahu will be sitting near the UK Prime Minister and her audience which will include the descendants of Lord Arthur Balfour and Baron Walter Rothschild. Please pray against any efforts from those who oppose Israel to disrupt this meeting and indeed all the events going on in celebration of the Balfour 100.

Do continue to pray for protection around the borders of Israel, especially in light of the recent discovery and destruction of another terrorist tunnel from Gaza into Israel (see report here: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/237413). Please continue to pray for the current leaders in Israel. God is calling Christians to come alongside Israel and cry out to God on Israel's behalf, to take the deep heart cry of the nation into our own hearts; to intercede against her enemies, and to believe in the promises of God for Israel.

THE WORLD’S BEST WIN TO CELEBRATE BALFOUR 100?

Stepping aside from the ‘political’ angle of the Balfour 100 for a moment, and by way of a follow up to my last report in which the first article was called 'Thirsting for the waters of life', I thought that as we are now in the celebration period of the Balfour 100, I’d continue with the theme of the land of Israel being ‘renewed’.

Two weeks ago I spoke in my church on part of some teaching that I would later be sharing at the conference my wife and I were invited to speak at in Scotland the following week. You can hear the talk I gave at my fellowship here. In it, I spoke on the importance of God’s Word being fulfilled in our days – and these days are indeed important – especially in light of the Balfour 100.

During Bible times, a large section of the Promised Land of ‘milk and honey’ was the area known as Judea and Samaria (or what the world now claims as ‘The West Bank’). One of the greatest symbols of this promise was the vineyard. Even today, the symbol of Israel's tourism is a picture of the Israeli spies who brought the giant grapes back to the Israelis in the wilderness (Numbers 13). According to the Bible, God has made an eternal covenant with the Jewish people (Genesis 17:7; Jeremiah 31:35 37; Romans 11:28 29). When He made this covenant with Abraham, God promised his descendants ownership of the land of Israel as an everlasting possession (Genesis 17:8). This promise of ownership was transferred through Isaac and Jacob to the 12 tribes of Israel (Genesis 26:3-4; 35:12; Psalm 105:8 11). In essence, this is partly what the Balfour 100 celebrations are about.

After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the Romans uprooted the vines and brought them to Rome. The vineyards of the Promised Land were laid waste and the land sat fallow for nearly two thousand years. However from the late 1800s the Jewish people returned to the land in fulfilment of the Word of God. For God promised a second regathering of the Jewish people to their land in the latter days, from which they will never be uprooted again (Isaiah 11:11-14; Jeremiah 16:14-16; Ezekiel 11:17; Amos 9:14-15). And guess what? The promise of the regathering specifically includes Judea and Samaria (Jeremiah 31:5,14; Ezekiel 36:1-15). Again, it is written that the Jewish people will return to the land in unbelief, their return being a pre-condition for God to pour out His Spirit on them (Ezekiel 11:16 20; 20:42 43; 36:24 28; 37:12-14; 39:25 29; Jeremiah 32:37-41; 33:7 9).

When the Jews returned, they believed that it was the time and season for Israel to resettle the land of their forefathers and many chose the empty hillsides on the top of the mountains of Israel (Judea & Samaria). Looking for ways to bring in some income for these people, vineyards were considered. Experts were brought in to evaluate the land, the soil, and topography to give their opinions on planting vineyards. The expert’s conclusion was that it was terrible soil, wrong elevation, and a host of other reasons why vineyards would never work. Yet, as God fearing men, these Jewish Israelis prayed and found this scripture: “Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the planters will plant and will enjoy them” (Jeremiah 31:5).

With faith in God, a biblical promise about vineyards in Samaria and a healthy dose of Israeli ‘hutspa’ (nerve) they randomly chose some grape varieties and planted some vineyards in Samaria - for the first time in almost 2000 years. Within a few years the vineyards exploded and the fruit was in high demand. For this reason, it was decided to begin making their wine which soon also became wildly successful. A few years ago, after some local success, Israel entered their wines into over 15,000 “blind bottle taste tests” in Europe and other areas of the world. To everyone’s surprise, Israel has won best wine and has come second in other categories, beating famous and well established wineries in France and Italy.

However, what is also amazing is that during this time, another Scripture was pondered upon. In Isaiah 61:5 we read, “Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks and foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.” Today, many Christians help with the vineyards – they come from all over the world to help – free of charge. Is it God’s blessings or simply a coincidence that today, Israel is full of vineyards and Israeli wines are winning international awards? You decide. Click here to watch this amazing short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yBr2cLVi-s For more information on the film clip you have watched, go to http://www.iamisraelfilm.com/index.html.

BALFOUR 100 - A TIME TO CELEBRATE

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration which paved the way for the re-establishment of what is now the modern State of Israel. However from what was a strong Christian based thinking, many within the church today dismiss this important event and consider Israel simply as a “political mistake”. The Declaration is also often thought to be the product of a relatively ‘modern movement’ for the physical restoration of Jews to a geographical homeland – if indeed one can call ‘100 years’ a modern movement. The fact is however that British support for the Jewish people goes back a long way into the history books. Indeed, the modern State of Israel is a culmination of a vision for the restoration of the Jewish people to their Biblical homeland which had developed within the Church in Great Britain over the previous three hundred years. This vision, supported by the great Christian Revivalists and Bible Teachers such as John & Charles Wesley, Charles Simeon, Robert Murray McCheyne, C H Spurgeon and Bishop J C Ryle, was based on the Covenants of Promise as well as other prophetic Scriptures found in the Bible.

Many Christians were inspired to pray for the fulfilment of this vision and prominent leaders in England and Scotland, including William Wilberforce, Lord Palmerston and Lord Shaftesbury, encouraged the British government to actively support the restoration of Israel. Today however, the world has changed! Thankfully, the British Prime Minister Theresa May told the Arab Palestinians – a name created for political gain in 1964 by Yasser Arafat - that there will be “No apology for the Balfour Declaration”. Her Majesty’s government under Theresa May slammed the door shut emphatically refusing to apologize for the publication, a century ago, of a document that legitimized the re-creation of a future Jewish state, saying instead that it is proud of the role Britain played in re-establishing Israel. This however, does not mean that the Arab Palestinian Authority have given up their demands. Nor does it mean that those in the UK who support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel (BDS) will remain silent.

However, there has been some good news on this released through a survey from the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM), a UK-based think tank, which shows a drop in backing for the BDS movement, particularly among young people, and suggests Britons view Israel as a key ally in the fight against terrorism.

The BICOM research, carried out by the Populus polling company, provided respondents with the text of the 1917 pledge by the British government to support the establishment of a Jewish national home in ‘Palestine’ (a name not to be confused with the modern-day Arab Palestinians). Thirty-eight percent of voters said the UK government had adopted the right policy, with 17% disagreeing. Nearly half of those surveyed — a representative sample of 2,000 British voters - agreed that “hating Israel and questioning its right to exist” is anti-Semitic. Amazingly though, 17% believed that it was not. However, the results were welcomed by the CEO of BICOM, James Sorene, as evidence of “a significant silent majority who support Zionism in Britain today.”

It is most peculiar how the “few in number” do often appear to make the loudest noise, and thus are heard more. An example of this is that the Islamic population is only 4% of the UK population – which means 96% of the 66 million are non-Islamic; and the LGBT’s (Gay/lesbian etc.) are only 2.5% of the UK population (source). So why is it that the UK often appears to be consumed by demands from such groups? While the vocal anti-Israel lobby in the UK has led some to view London as the BDS capital of the world, public support for the boycott movement is limited to a small minority of voters. Only 11% of those surveyed said they backed the BDS movement with 48% agreeing with the statement that they do not support boycotts of Israel “and find it difficult to understand how others do given everything else that is going on in the world.”

Backing for BDS in Britain has fallen to its lowest level since 2014. Perhaps most significantly, young people appear to be turning away from boycotts – this is an answer to prayer – but do keep praying. Forty- five percent of those aged 18-24 said they opposed BDS, a figure which has risen by 17% over the past two years. Interestingly, since the start of the Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) campaigns in 2005, foreign investments in Israel have nearly tripled!

FRESH ROWS EMERGE FOR CORBYN

In related news, Arab Palestinians and BDS supporters in the UK have welcomed Jeremy Corbyn's decision not to attend events organised for celebrating the Balfour Declaration centenary. A long-term critic of Israel, and what he refers to as “occupation of Palestinian land” - the Labour Party leader has not yet explained his reasons for not attending "About Balfour 100" - a series of country-wide events in November marking the occasion including lectures, dinners, film screenings, and Jewish religious services. Meanwhile, the Labour Party leader is entangled in a fresh row over Israel after it emerged that Jeremy Corbyn has refused to attend the official dinner with the country’s prime minister this week to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration. The Labour leader’s snub came as Israel’s ambassador to London told The Sunday Times that “those who oppose the historic declaration are “extremists” who reject Israel’s right to exist and could be viewed on a par with terrorist groups such as Hamas.” Considering that Corbyn considers Hamas and Hezbollah officials his “friends;” has gone public many times with harsh criticism for the Israeli state, and declined to crack down on openly anti-Semitic members of his party, his refusal is not particularly startling. He also did not attend the annual Labour Friends of Israel reception held last month – the first time in living memory that a Labour leader did not attend. In stark contrast, Prime Minister Theresa May and hundreds of other British officials will be attending the festivities marking the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.

ISRAEL STANDING WITH AMERICA AGAINST TERROR

In breaking news, as I write, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York launched what is certain to be a stream of solidarity messages from Israeli leaders following Tuesday evening’s terrorist attack in Lower Manhattan, in which at least eight people are reported to have been killed, with dozens more wounded. Ambassador Danny Danon stated, “Just as the US has always stood by our side in our times of need, Israel will always stand with America in the fight against terror,” he said in a message to his American counterpart Nikki Haley. “We send our condolences to the families of those killed and we wish a speedy recovery to those injured.” The suspect – Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, a 29 year-old Uzbek national who arrived in the USA in 2010 – drove a rental truck onto a jogging and bike path, ploughing into pedestrians and cyclists until he crashed into a school bus. Exiting the truck, the suspect waved imitation firearms, before being shot in the abdomen by a uniformed police officer. Multiple reports said that Saipov shouted “Allahu Akhbar!” during the attack. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is taking over the lead of the investigation.

BALFOUR DECLARATION’S CENETARY ON FRONTPAGE JERUSALEM

FrontPage Jerusalem is a unique, informative and well-paced weekly broadcast hosted by Earl Cox, Ben Kinchlow and CFI Jerusalem’s Kevin Howard. Brought to you by Christian Friends of Israel Jerusalem, FrontPage Jerusalem is a premier Christian radio talk show direct from Jerusalem featuring exclusive interviews addressing current issues, along with expert analysis and scholarly biblical teaching.

In the latest edition, (October 28, 2017) Tim Vince is featured speaking on the Balfour Centenary. To tune in, click here: http://cfijerusalem.org/web/video/frontpage-jerusalem-radio . Also from the Jerusalem office, you can now download the latest edition of the For Zion Sake magazine. During the recent UK tour of Stacey & Kevin Howard we ran short of this magazine. If you are already on our mailing list and you want to receive it through the post in the UK, simple contact our UK Head Office on 01323 410810.

AND FINALLY...

And with apologies to people out of reach of this event, on Saturday November 11, 2017 Christian Friends of Israel will be involved with a Day Conference entitled ‘Truth Without Compromise’ at Sunbridge Road Mission, Gaynor Street, Bradford, BD1 2LF. The event starts at 10 am and goes through until 4 pm. The speakers include Andrea Williams (Christian Concern); Roger Carswell (Association of Evangelism); David Soakell (Christian Friends of Israel) and Tony Brown (Cults Investigated). There will be a time of worship and bookstalls (including CFI). Refreshments will be provided, but do bring a packed lunch). Admission is free. Contact tony@sunbridgeroadmission.org.uk for more details.

David Soakell

(CFI Church Liaison Officer (UK) & WoZ News Report Correspondent) Sources: Unless stated, personal sources throughout Israel, The Jerusalem Post, i24news.tv/en/

[instanewstn-blog]

Jewish group cancels Netanyahu dinner over Western Wall decision

Image copyright AFP Image caption Women and men must pray in separate areas at the main section of the Western Wall A leading Israeli Jewish group has cancelled a gala dinner with Israel's PM after his government froze plans to upgrade a mixed-gender area for prayer at Jerusalem's Western Wall.The board of the Jewish Agency, which facilitates Jewish immigration to Israel, said it "deplored" the move.It also rebuked ministers for backing a controversial conversions law.Both decisions were taken in response to pressure from ultra-Orthodox parties in Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition.Why the Western Wall is so important to the Jewish faith What makes Jerusalem so holy? The Western Wall is a remnant of the retaining wall of the mount on which the biblical Jewish temples once stood, and is one of the most sacred sites in Judaism. Every year, millions of Jews from all over the world visit the wall to pray. It is administered by the Orthodox rabbinate and, in accordance with Orthodox tradition, men and women must pray in separate areas. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Benjamin Netanyahu said in 2016 that he wanted "one wall for one people" For years the more liberal Reform and Conservative movements, which have large followings outside Israel, campaigned for a mixed-gender prayer space. Since 2013, a temporary prayer area for mixed worship was opened at the southern end of the wall and in 2016, Mr Netanyahu's cabinet voted in favour of plans to upgrade it. But after two ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition raised objections to the plans, ministers voted at a meeting on Sunday to suspend their implementation.The parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, said the decision reflected "the will of most of the nation that seeks to safeguard the Western Wall's sanctity and status".Later, a ministerial committee also voted to advance a bill that would grant the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate a monopoly over Jewish conversion in Israel. Under the proposed legislation, the state would no longer be able to recognise conversions carried out by independent Orthodox rabbinical courts and would be prevented from recognising non-Orthodox conversions in the future. Critics said it could potentially affect hundreds of thousands of Israelis. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Ultra-Orthodox parties said they wanted to safeguard the Western Wall's "sanctity and status" On Monday morning, the Jewish Agency's board of governors announced that it had cancelled a scheduled dinner with Mr Netanyahu in light of both decisions.The board later passed a resolution warning that the "dangerous and damaging steps" had a "deep potential to divide the Jewish people". "We call upon the government of Israel to understand the gravity of its steps and reverse its course of action accordingly," it added.The United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York said the Israeli government's actions "would destroy the fundamental principle that Israel, our Jewish homeland, is a place where all Jews can and must feel at home".Women of the Wall (WOW), a liberal group that campaigns for the right of women to perform the same prayer rituals as Orthodox men there, said Sunday had been a "terrible day for women in Israel" and accused Mr Netanyahu of "kow-towing to a handful of religious extremists".Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman later issued a statement stressing that it was important to Mr Netanyahu that "every Jew is able to pray at the Western Wall" and that he had issued three directives on Sunday which had "gone unnoticed"."First, the prime minister instructed that work to prepare the southern plaza be expedited so that Jews from all streams may pray at the Western Wall. Second, that Jews from all streams be able to continue praying there - as they are able to do today. Third, the prime minister instructed Minister Tzachi Hanegbi and me to continue dialogue in order to try and reach a solution," the statement said."I recommend that those trying to exploit this issue be precise with the facts."

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