UN calls for nuclear disarmament-as Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight

UN member states must work towards nuclear disarmament and reduced tensions to move the hands of the Doomsday Clock away from nuclear midnight, the UN chief’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

"It is incumbent on all member states, especially those nuclear powers, to move to return to a path of nuclear disarmament, of lowering tensions so we can bring that doomsday clock back to at least 86 [seconds to midnight]," Dujarric said.

Earlier, scientists participating in a video conference organized by The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands of the symbolic Doomsday Clock four seconds closer to nuclear midnight.

The Doomsday Clock is a metaphorical measure of how close humanity is to extinction. It is intended to warn the global community about danger.