Prophecy News Watch - February 4, 2019

Around the World
Trump suspends arms treaty, citing Chinese, Russian threats
The Trump administration is pulling the plug on a decades-old nuclear arms treaty with Russia, lifting what it sees as unreasonable constraints on competing with a resurgent Russia and a more assertive China. The move announced Friday sets the stage for delicate talks with U.S. allies over potential new American missile deployments.
Russia to pull plug on nuclear arms pact after US does same
Following in the footsteps of the U.S., Russia will abandon a centerpiece nuclear arms treaty but will only deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles if Washington does so, President Vladimir Putin said Saturday.
Trump says U.S. military intervention in Venezuela 'an option;' Russia objects
U.S. President Donald Trump said military intervention in Venezuela was 'an option' as Western nations boost pressure on socialist leader Nicolas Maduro to step down, while the troubled OPEC nation’s ally Russia warned against 'destructive meddling.'
Iran says new cruise missile successfully fired on revolution’s 40th anniversary
Iran on Saturday said it had successfully fired a new long-range cruise missile, amid events marking 40 years since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran controls new Lebanese government, Netanyahu tells visiting UN envoys
Iran controls the new Lebanese government via its proxy Hezbollah group, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, in his first public comments on the government formed in Beirut last week.

Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Trump team says PA wants to skirt U.S. courts
The administration of US President Donald Trump confirmed on Friday that it has ended security funding and training to the Palestinian Authority, claiming that Ramallah itself had requested that the aid be cut in order to circumvent the jurisdiction of US courts.
Israel Begins Building Massive Fence on Gaza Border
Israel says it has started construction of a galvanized steel barrier 20 feet high that will run the length of its frontier border with the Gaza Strip.
New Right said seeking bloc with Likud, Kulanu and Yisrael Beytenu
With Benny Gantz’s Israel Resilience party soaring in the polls after announcing a merger with fellow former chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon’s Telem faction last week, the newly formed New Right party is now reportedly seeking to form a united bloc of all the major right-wing parties in order to counter a challenge from the center.

Inside the United States
Pentagon sending thousands more troops to southern border
The Pentagon announced on Sunday 3,750 additional U.S. forces will be deployed to the southern border to provide support to Customs and Border Protection.
Labor Force Participation at Trump-Era High of 63.2% in January
The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said the economy added 304,000 jobs last month, higher than analysts were expecting.
Virginia Rally Rejects Radical Democratic Abortion Agenda for State
Hundreds of pro-life advocates gathered in Lorton, Virginia Saturday to hold what they labeled as a Rally Against Abortion Extremism. It comes after a week in which a Democratic bill was defeated in Virginia's legislature that would have allowed unrestricted abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.
State legislatures consider expanding use of Bible in high school curricula
Legislatures from the Bible Belt to the Dakotas are mulling bills that would establish biblical literacy courses in high schools, but some education analysts say classes focusing on the Bible’s cultural and historical relevance already are offered in public schools in those states and elsewhere.

Christian News
Churches step in to help people fleeing chaos in Venezuela
Churches are offering practical and psychological help to people fleeing political and economic turmoil in Venezuela.