'Doomsday Clock' closest to midnight since Cold War over nuclear threat

Record ID: 990969

  • Title: 'Doomsday Clock' closest to midnight since Cold War over nuclear threat
  • Date: 25th January 2018
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JANUARY 25, 2018) (REUTERS) PAN ACROSS THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK SCIENTISTS DURING THEIR NEWS CONFERENCE, ZOOM OUT TO REVEAL THE CLOCK UNDER A BLACK DRAPE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS PRESIDENT AND CEO RACHEL BRONSON SAYING, OVER WIDE OF THE NEWS CONFERENCE AS MEMBER SCIENTISTS UNVEILS THE CLOCK AND SETS IT TO TWO MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT "It is with considerable concern that we set the time of the 2018 Doomsday Clock and offer a plea to rewind the Doomsday Clock. As of today ... it is two minutes to midnight."
  • Embargoed: 8th February 2018 17:39
  • Keywords: Doomsday Clock Donald Trump nuclear threat Russia nukes North Korea Iran climate change
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0017ZM33UV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Scientists on Thursday (January 25) moved ahead by half a minute the symbolic Doomsday Clock, saying the world was at its closest to annihilation since the height of the Cold War due to world leaders' poor response to threats of nuclear war.
    It was the second occasion the timepiece, created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists as an indicator of the world's susceptibility to cataclysm, and was moved forward since the 2016 election of U.S. president Donald Trump.
    At two minutes to midnight, the clock is at its closest to catastrophe since 1953, due to dangers of a nuclear holocaust from North Korea's weapons program, U.S. Russian entanglements, South China Sea tensions, and other factors, the Chicago-based group said in a statement.
    Unchecked dangers linked to climate change were another factor scientists cited for moving the clock forward.
    An overarching concern was what scientists described as the demise of diplomacy under the Trump administration.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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