U.S., Russia, China rush for control, intel in the Arctic

1. As China and Russia boost their military presence in the resource-rich far north, U.S. intelligence agencies are scrambling to study potential threats in the Arctic for the first time since the Cold War -- a sign of the region’s growing strategic importance.

2. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered snap checks on troop combat readiness in Russia’s central military district.

3. Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish insurgent targets overnight after the militants staged what appeared to be their deadliest attack since the collapse of a two-year-old ceasefire in July. 

4. The fog created by the ostensibly impending resignation of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas appeared to clear on Monday, as details emerged indicating that the resignation threats were a diversion ahead of a dramatic move planned by the Palestinians: declaring Palestine a state under occupation and reneging on their obligations as detailed in the Oslo Accords. 

5. The Israel Defense Forces is set to unveil a new radar system developed by the army that would improve warning time for southern residents in cases of incoming short-range rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip..

You can read these stories in more detail and get more prophecy-related news at SecondComingHerald.com.

The prophetic passage of Scripture that we are looking at today is Esther 7:3-6.

Our second coming quote for today is from John Piper: He said, "The center of Christianity is the coming of the Son of God into the world as a real man to destroy the works of the devil and create a new people for His own glory. The very heart of our faith is that He did this by obeying the law of God, dying for the sins of His people, rising victorious over death, ascending to God’s right hand with all His enemies under his feet. The second coming of Christ is the completion of His saving work."