Doomsday clock set at 89 seconds to midnight, closest ever to "global catastrophe"
CBSN
The Doomsday clock was set at 89 seconds to midnight on Tuesday morning, putting it the closest the world has ever been to what scientists deem is "global catastrophe."
The decades-old international symbol, described by the University of Chicago-based nonprofit the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists as a metaphor that shows how close the planet is to reaching "human extinction," is set every year. In January 2024, the clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight, the same as it was in 2023. This is the first time the clock has moved forward since 2023.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists tracks man-made threats and focuses on three main hazard areas — nuclear risk, climate change and disruptive technologies — to determine the clock's placement. The clock's position this year was set based on "nuclear weapons threats, the climate crisis, biological threats, and disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence," according to a press release from the Bulletin.
Over 800 marine species were newly discovered after two years of collaborative efforts by scientists, governments, museums and others participating in the Ocean Census, a global alliance founded to accelerate the discovery of marine life.
In August 2021, Tamim Satari raced to the Kabul International Airport to evacuate Afghanistan after working with the American military as an intelligence officer, helping U.S. forces coordinate aerial bomb campaigns against the Taliban. But in the chaos of the U.S. withdrawal, his wife and newborn son were left behind.
Researchers in Spain have unearthed a fossil from a potential new prehistoric member of the human family tree, and they say it's the earliest known remnants of a face discovered in Western Europe.
One of Guatemala's most wanted drug traffickers has been captured in Mexico and returned to Guatemala to await extradition to the United States, Guatemalan officials said.
It's a confusing time for American diplomacy. After yesterday's meeting in Saudi Arabia, the U.S. appeared on Tuesday to be back in Ukraine's corner — and calling on Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire in the war it started more than three years ago. It remained entirely unclear on Wednesday, however, whether Vladimir Putin might agree to a temporary ceasefire. His forces currently have the momentum on the battlefield but, like Ukraine, Russia is thought to have suffered hundreds of thousands of military casualties.
Quetta, Pakistan — Pakistani security forces were battling hundreds of separatist militants holding roughly 300 hostages Wednesday on a train they hijacked in the country's remote southwest, officials said. At least 30 of the militants had been killed, security officials said, while about 190 of the roughly 450 passengers initially on the train had been rescued.
British police on Tuesday arrested the captain of a cargo ship on suspicion of manslaughter as they searched for answers about why it hit a tanker transporting jet fuel for the U.S. military off eastern England a day earlier, setting both vessels ablaze. One sailor was presumed dead in the collision.
London — An American man who said he was among the crew on the MV Stena Immaculate tanker when it was hit Monday by a cargo ship, causing both vessels to burst into flames off England's east coast, told CBS News the other ship "came from out of the blue" and rammed the Stena.
Manila, Philippines — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested at Manila's international airport Tuesday on order of the International Criminal Court in connection with a case of crime against humanity filed against him, the Philippine government said.
Doctors said Monday Pope Francis is no longer in imminent danger of death as a result of pneumonia that has kept him hospitalized for nearly a month, but have decided to keep him hospitalized for several more days to receive treatment.
Johannesburg — President Trump doubled down Friday on his offer to grant U.S. citizenship to White Afrikaner farmers in South Africa, accusing their government of treating them "terribly." Mr. Trump said the U.S. would offer them "safety" and that they would be given a "rapid pathway to citizenship."
A massive volcano in Guatemala is erupting and authorities have evacuated nearly 300 families while warning another 30,000 people in the area they could be at risk.
Seoul, South Korea — North Korea fired several ballistic missiles into the sea on Monday, South Korea's military said, hours after South Korean and U.S. troops kicked off their large annual combined drills, which the North views as an invasion rehearsal.