Prophecy News Watch - February 20, 2019

Around the World
Turkey confirms plans to buy Russian missile system despite U.S. complaints
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country is determined to buy and field a Russian-made missile-defense system, despite efforts by the White House to head off the deal.
Venezuelan soldiers to guard border ahead of aid entry, minister says
Venezuelan troops will remain stationed along the country's borders to prevent territorial violations, the defense minister said on Tuesday, ahead of the opposition's plan to bring in humanitarian aid to alleviate an economic crisis.
White House pushed Saudi nuclear power plan, report says
Senior White House officials pushed a project to share nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia despite the objections of ethics and national security officials, according to a new congressional report citing whistleblowers within the administration.
Trump administration launches global effort to end criminalization of homosexuality
The Trump administration is launching a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality in dozens of nations where it's still illegal to be gay, U.S. officials tell NBC News, a bid aimed in part at denouncing Iran over its human rights record.
State Department uses social media targeted at Iranian citizens to pressure 'corrupt' regime
The Trump administration on Tuesday made a direct appeal to the Iranian people to reject what it called the 'corrupt religious mafia' running their country, rolling out a targeted social media campaign to paint the government in Tehran as an oppressive force more focused on exporting violence and funding terrorism than caring for its own population.

Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Palestinians clash with police on Temple Mount amid efforts to end crisis
Dozens of Palestinians tried to force their way into the Golden Gate site on the Temple Mount on Tuesday, triggering scuffles with police officers, eyewitnesses said.
'The Israeli Flag Will Soon Fly on the Moon' : Israel to Send First Spacecraft to the Moon
Israel's nonprofit SpaceIL organization has announced it will launch a spacecraft from Florida's Cape Canaveral on board a Falcon 9 rocket. It is scheduled to land on the moon on April 11.
Netanyahu urges Europe to take a stand against ‘plague’ of anti-Semitism
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday urged European leaders to take a strong stand against anti-Semitism after the overnight vandalism of dozens of graves in a French Jewish cemetery.
19 Palestinians arrested in fresh Temple Mount clashes
Palestinian worshipers clashed with Israeli police on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount on Tuesday, trying to force their way into an area of the flash-point holy compound that has been closed for years. Police said 19 Palestinians were arrested.

Inside the United States
U.S. agency to cancel $929 million in California high-speed rail funds
The U.S. Transportation Department said on Tuesday it will cancel $929 million in federal funds awarded by the Obama administration for a California high-speed rail project and is 'actively exploring every legal option' to seek the return of $2.5 billion the state has already received.
'Rebels without a clause': 10 times Dem. senators questioned Trump nominees' religious beliefs
One of the nation’s leading Christian conservative advocacy organizations has called out 12 senators who have employed 'unconstitutional religious tests' on Trump nominees in the past two years.
Trump orders Space Force to be established as part of Air Force
President Donald Trump signed a directive Tuesday ordering the Department of Defense to create the Space Force -- a sixth branch of the military -- initially as part of the Air Force.
Judicial Watch Sues DOJ: We Face DOJ/FBI 'Cover-Up' of Planned 'Coup Against President Trump'
Because of previous news reports and now the revelations of former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe that he ordered a counterintelligence investigation of President Trump in May 2017, and that his FBI team, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, discussed secretly wire-recording the president and invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office, the government watchdog Judicial Watch is suing the Justice Department.
Bernie Sanders enters 2020 presidential race: 'Complete the revolution'
Bernie Sanders is campaigning for president again, officially entering the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential field on Tuesday with a vow to finish what he started in his last race for the White House.

Christian News
Violence and Civil Unrest Forces Dozens of Missionaries to Flee Haiti or Cancel Their Trips
Civil unrest in Haiti is forcing missionaries to leave the country and has halted many others from heading there.