Closer than ever: It is now 89 seconds to midnight by Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists   28 Jan. 2025   In 2024, humanity edged ever closer to catastrophe. Trends that have deeply concerned the Science and Security Board continued, and despite unmistakable signs of danger, national leaders and their societies have failed to do what is needed to change course. Consequently, we now move the Doomsday Clock from 90 seconds to 89 seconds to midnight—the closest it has ever been to catastrophe.   Our fervent hope is that leaders will recognize the world’s existential predicament and take bold action to reduce the threats posed by nuclear weapons, climate change, and the potential misuse of biological science and a variety of emerging technologies.   In setting the Clock one second closer to midnight, we send a stark signal: Because the world is already perilously close to the precipice, a move of even a single second should be taken as an indication of extreme danger and an unmistakable warning that every second of delay in reversing course increases the probability of global disaster.   In regard to nuclear risk, the war in Ukraine, now in its third year, looms over the world; the conflict could become nuclear at any moment because of a rash decision or through accident or miscalculation.   Conflict in the Middle East threatens to spiral out of control into a wider war without warning. The countries that possess nuclear weapons are increasing the size and role of their arsenals, investing hundreds of billions of dollars in weapons that can destroy civilization.   The nuclear arms control process is collapsing, and high-level contacts among nuclear powers are totally inadequate given the danger at hand. Alarmingly, it is no longer unusual for countries without nuclear weapons to consider developing arsenals of their own—actions that would undermine longstanding nonproliferation efforts and increase the ways in which nuclear war could start.   The impacts of climate change increased in the last year as myriad indicators, including sea-level rise and global surface temperature, surpassed previous records. The global greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change continued to rise. Extreme weather and other climate change-influenced events—floods, tropical cyclones, heat waves, drought, and wildfires—affected every continent.   The long-term prognosis for the world’s attempts to deal with climate change remains poor, as most governments fail to enact the financing and policy initiatives necessary to halt global warming. Growth in solar and wind energy has been impressive but remains insufficient to stabilize the climate.   Judging from recent electoral campaigns, climate change is viewed as a low priority in the United States and many other countries.   In the biological arena, emerging and re-emerging diseases continue to threaten the economy, society, and security of the world. The off-season appearance and in-season continuance of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), its spread to farm animals and dairy products, and the occurrence of human cases have combined to create the possibility of a devastating human pandemic.   Supposedly high-containment biological laboratories continue to be built throughout the world, but oversight regimes for them are not keeping pace, increasing the possibility that pathogens with pandemic potential may escape.   Rapid advances in artificial intelligence have increased the risk that terrorists or countries may attain the capability of designing biological weapons for which countermeasures do not exist.   An array of other disruptive technologies advanced last year in ways that make the world more dangerous. Systems that incorporate artificial intelligence in military targeting have been used in Ukraine and the Middle East, and several countries are moving to integrate artificial intelligence into their militaries.   Such efforts raise questions about the extent to which machines will be allowed to make military decisions—even decisions that could kill on a vast scale, including those related to the use of nuclear weapons.   Tensions among the major powers are increasingly reflected in competition in space, where China and Russia are actively developing anti-satellite capabilities; the United States has alleged that Russia has tested a satellite with a dummy warhead on it, suggesting plans to place nuclear weapons in orbit.   The dangers we have just listed are greatly exacerbated by a potent threat multiplier: the spread of misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories that degrade the communication ecosystem and increasingly blur the line between truth and falsehood.   Advances in AI are making it easier to spread false or inauthentic information across the internet—and harder to detect it.   At the same time, nations are engaging in cross-border efforts to use disinformation and other forms of propaganda to subvert elections, while some technology, media, and political leaders aid the spread of lies and conspiracy theories.   This corruption of the information ecosystem undermines the public discourse and honest debate upon which democracy depends. The battered information landscape is also producing leaders who discount science and endeavor to suppress free speech and human rights, compromising the fact-based public discussions that are required to combat the enormous threats facing the world.   Blindly continuing on the current path is a form of madness. The United States, China, and Russia have the collective power to destroy civilization. These three countries have the prime responsibility to pull the world back from the brink, and they can do so if their leaders seriously commence good-faith discussions about the global threats outlined here.   Despite their profound disagreements, they should take that first step without delay. The world depends on immediate action. It is 89 seconds to midnight.   http://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2025-statement/ Visit the related web page
	When rights are protected, humanity flourishes by Tirana Hassan Human Rights Watch   Jan. 2025   The events of 2024 have shown that even in the darkest times there are those who dare to resist oppression and demonstrate the courage to seek progress, said Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch, today in releasing the organization’s World Report 2025.   In the face of rising authoritarianism, repression, and armed conflict, governments should respect and defend universal human rights with more rigor and urgency than ever, and civil society should remain steadfast in holding them accountable.   For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.   “Governments that are outspoken about protecting human rights, but ignore the abuses of their allies, open the door to those who question the legitimacy of the human rights system,” Hassan said. “That view irresponsibly and dangerously lets abusive governments off the hook. This isn’t a moment to retreat.”   The past year was marked by armed conflicts and humanitarian crises that exposed the fraying of international protections for civilians and the devastating human cost when it is flouted. This includes horrific instances of international inaction and complicity in abuses that further human suffering, most notably in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, and Haiti.   The year also highlighted an often-disregarded reality that liberal democracies are not always reliable champions of human rights at home or abroad, Hassan said. US President Joe Biden’s foreign policy has demonstrated a double standard when it comes to human rights, as it continues to provide weapons to Israel despite widespread violations of international law in Gaza while condemning Russia for similar violations in Ukraine.   In Europe, economic stagnation and security have been used as a pretext by a growing number of countries to justify their selective jettisoning of rights, especially of marginalized groups and migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees, while failing to take credible action to improve economic and social rights.   Racism, hate, and discrimination drove many elections in 2024. In the United States, Donald Trump won the presidency for a second time, raising concerns that his new administration would repeat and even magnify the serious rights violations of his first term.   In some places, such as Russia, El Salvador, and the Sahel, authoritarian leaders tightened their grip, leveraging fear and misinformation to stifle dissent and entrench their rule.   Yet in other countries, there were glimmers of democratic resilience, Hassan said, as voters rejected populist agendas and held leaders and their parties accountable. In Bangladesh, student protests led to the resignation of Sheikh Hasina, its long-time repressive leader.   Despite violent crackdowns, the protesters persevered, forcing the formation of an interim government that has promised reform. In South Korea, thousands took to the streets to protest President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law, which the National Assembly overturned a mere six hours later.   While it is too soon to tell what Syria’s future holds, the flight of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad illustrates the limits of autocratic power. Autocrats who rely on other governments to maintain their repressive rule are susceptible to their benefactors’ shifting political calculations.   Among the crucial human rights events of the year:   The Taliban intensified their crackdown on women and girls and minority groups. In 2024 they closed one of the last remaining loopholes in their ban on education for older girls and women by forbidding them from attending medical school.   A new national security law in Hong Kong, imposed by China, was used to hand down prison terms to several dozen people in a mass trial. In Xinjiang, hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs remain under surveillance, imprisonment, and forced labor.   Violence in Haiti reached catastrophic levels with criminal groups intensifying large-scale, coordinated attacks, killing thousands of people, recruiting children, and raping women and girls.   In Sudan, the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) resulted in widespread atrocities against civilians, including mass killings, sexual violence, and forced displacement. The RSF’s ethnic cleansing campaign in West Darfur resulted in crimes against humanity.   In Gaza, Israeli authorities have imposed a blockade, committed numerous unlawful attacks and caused forced displacement, which amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity. They have deliberately deprived Palestinians of access to water required for survival, which is a crime against humanity and may amount to the crime of genocide.   Russia continued its large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, hospitals, and other infrastructure, killing and injuring many civilians. Russian authorities in occupied areas have forcibly and methodically sought to erase Ukrainian identity.   “Let us say the unspoken part out loud: when governments fail to act to protect civilians at dire risk, they not only abandon them to death and injury, but they also undermine protections to people worldwide, ultimately leading to a situation where everyone is worse off,” Hassan said.   “This race to the bottom exacts a toll that is far reaching, often extending well beyond those directly affected by the conflict to include forcing people from their homes, preventing healthcare and aid workers from reaching civilians in need, denying children an education, and creating even greater risks for people with disabilities.   Hassan said that the past year reinforced the importance of looking to governments across regions to display bold leadership on human rights and accountability – and they will need to do so more often.   When governments call out violations of international law, as South Africa did in bringing a case to the International Court of Justice alleging Israel’s violations of the Genocide Convention in Gaza, or several states contest the Taliban in Afghanistan for violating the United Nations convention on women’s rights, it can raise the bar for its enforcement.   The international courts offering a path to justice for victims and survivors in Myanmar, Israel and Palestine, and Ukraine; the activists who are fighting for change in Georgia, Bangladesh, and Kenya; and the voters rejecting authoritarianism in key elections like Venezuela – all of these are reminders that the fight for rights is very much alive.   “When rights are protected, humanity flourishes,” Hassan said. “When they are denied, the cost is measured not in abstract principles but in human lives. This is the challenge, and the opportunity, of our time.”   http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025 http://www.hrw.org/news Visit the related web page
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