29/01/2026

THURSDAY | JAN 29, 2026

9

‘Doomsday Clock’ closer to midnight

o Nuclear risks, AI among factors cited

WASHINGTON: Atomic scientists set their “Doomsday Clock” on Tuesday closer than ever to midnight, citing aggressive behaviour by Russia, China and the United States, fraying nuclear arms control, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and AI worries among factors driving risks for global disaster. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the clock to 85 seconds before midnight, the theoretical point of annihilation. That is four seconds closer than it was set last year. The Chicago-based nonprofit created the clock in 1947 during Cold War tensions that followed World War Two to warn the public about how close humankind was to destroying the world. The scientists voiced concern about threats of unregulated integration of artificial intelligence into military systems and its potential misuse in aiding the creation of biological threats, as well as AI’s role in spreading disinformation. “Of course, the Doomsday Clock is about global risks, and what we have seen is a global failure in leadership,” said nuclear policy expert Alexandra Bell, the Bulletin’s president and CEO. “No matter the government, a shift towards neo-imperialism and an Orwellian approach to governance will only serve to push TEL AVIV: Israel has cleared land in southern Gaza for the construction of a camp for Palestinians potentially equipped with surveillance and facial recognition technology at its entrance, a retired Israeli general who advises the military said on Tuesday. Retired reservist Brig-Gen Amir Avivi told Reuters in an interview that the camp would be built in an area of Rafah cleared of tunnels, with entry and exit tracked by Israeli personnel. Avivi is founder of the influential Israel Defence and Security Forum, a group representing thousands of RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil has declared the acai berry a national fruit, a move to stamp its ownership on the popular “superfood” as concerns grow about foreign companies staking claims to the Amazon’s biological riches. Acai has been a savoury staple in the Amazon for centuries, eaten as a paste with fish and manioc flour. The dark purple berry went global in the early 2000s after it was reinvented as a sweet sorbet and marketed for its antioxidant-rich properties. Acai’s active ingredients piqued the interest of food and cosmetic companies. In one case cited in parliamentary debates, a Japanese company trademarked the use of the name

the clock toward midnight.” It was the third time in the past four years that the scientists moved the clock closer to midnight. “In terms of nuclear risks, nothing in 2025 trended in the right direction. Longstanding diplomatic frameworks are under duress or collapsing, the threat of explosive nuclear testing has returned, proliferation concerns are growing, and there were three military operations taking place under the shadow of nuclear weapons and the associated escalatory threat. The risk of nuclear use is unsustainably and unacceptably high,” Bell said. He pointed to Russia’s continued war in Ukraine, the US and Israeli bombing of Iran and border clashes between India and Pakistan. Bell also cited continuing tensions in Asia, including on the Korean Peninsula and China’s threats toward Taiwan, as well as rising tensions in the Western Hemisphere since US President Donald Trump returned to office 12 months ago. The last remaining nuclear arms pact between the United States and Russia, the New START treaty, expires on Feb 5. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed in September that the two countries agree to observe for another year the limits set under the pact, which caps each side’s number of deployed nuclear warheads at 1,550. Trump has not Israeli military reservists. He does not speak on behalf of Israel’s military, which declined to comment. The Israeli prime minister’s office did not immediately provide comment on any plans to build a camp in Rafah. Avivi said the camp would be used to house Palestinians who wish to leave Gaza and cross into Egypt as well as those who wish to stay. His comments come as Israel prepares for a “limited reopening” of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing. Sources told Reuters this month that Israel wants to ensure more acai in 2003. It took Brazil four years to cancel the registration. Cases like these drove the law declaring acai a national fruit, first introduced in 2011 and signed earlier this month. Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry said the measure helps showcase acai as a “genuinely Brazilian product” that generates income for thousands of Amazonian families. However, experts say the law is largely symbolic and aimed at highlighting the challenge of growing international interest in fruits native to the Amazon. Brazil is one of several countries increasingly concerned about so-called “biopiracy”, the use of genetic resources without permission or benefit-sharing. – AFP

(From left) Jon Wolfsthal, director of global risk at the Federation of American Scientists, Asha George, executive director of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefence and Steve Fetter, professor of public policy and former dean at the University of Maryland, reveal the location of the minute hand on its Doomsday Clock in Washington DC. – REUTERSPIC

formally responded. Maria Ressa, a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for her journalistic efforts exposing abuses of power in the Philippines, including how social media platforms were used to spread disinformation, participated in the announcement. Ressa lamented the rise of technology that circulates lies more Palestinians leave Gaza than are allowed in. Israeli officials have spoken in the past about encouraging Gazans to emigrate, although they deny intending to transfer the population out by force. “There are no Gazans, almost at all, in Rafah,” Avivi said. The area fell under Israeli military control following an October Israel-Hamas ceasefire, and most Palestinians fled for areas held by Hamas. “You need to build infrastructure in Rafah that can host them, and then they can choose if they want to go or not,” Avivi said.

quickly than facts. “We are living through an information Armageddon that’s brought about by the technology that rules our lives, from social media to generative AI. “None of that tech is anchored in facts. Your chatbot is nothing but a probabilistic machine,” Ressa said. – Reuters He said the structure would likely be “a big, organised camp” capable of hosting hundreds of thousands of people that could enforce ID checks, including facial recognition. In July, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz told Israeli media that he had ordered troops to prepare a camp in Rafah to house Gaza’s population. Officials have not spoken publicly about such plans since then. Ismail Al-Thawabta, head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, said in a statement that the idea amounted to cover for “forced displacement”. – Reuters

SITUATION REMAINS DIRE IN GAZA NEW YORK: Despite continuing aid deliveries and efforts to expand services, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday the situation in Gaza remains dire for hundreds of thousands of families in need. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said the UN and its partners are providing bread to at least 43% of the population in the Gaza Strip every day, which is free or sold at a subsidised price of less than US$1 (RM3.9) per 2kg bundle. Ocha said the bread plan is in addition to the monthly household-level distribution of wheat flour. So far this month, partners have reached 1.2 million people with flour as part of the standard monthly food assistance package. Ocha said over the weekend, another child died from hypothermia, bringing the total of child deaths related to the cold weather to 10. – Bernama LULA, MACRON PUSH FOR STRONGER U.N. BRASILIA: Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and France’s Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday defended the United Nations in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s creation of a “Board of Peace”. Both Brazil and France were invited by Trump to join his new global conflict resolution organisation, to be headed by Trump himself. France has already declined the invitation. Lula has echoed concerns that Trump is seeking to create a rival to the UN “where he is the owner”. In a phone call on Monday, he asked Trump to limit the activities of the “Board of Peace” to Gaza and “include a seat for Palestine”. In a separate call on Tuesday, Lula and Macron “defended the strengthening of the United Nations” and agreed that “peace and security initiatives must be in line with the mandates of the Security Council”. – AFP

BR I E F S

Israel plans large camp for Palestinians

Brazil declares acai a national fruit to ward off biopiracy

Acai has been a savoury staple in the Amazon for centuries. – AFPPIC