Home | China | World | Business U.S. Doomsday Clock Reset Toward Danger THU, FEB 28, 2002     The hands of the U.S. Doomsday Clock were advanced two minutes closer to midnight on Wednesday to reflect the increasing danger of terrorism and nuclear war. The clock, a symbol of measuring the extent of the nuclear danger to the world for 55 years, was reset for the first time in four years. In a ceremony at the University of Chicago in Illinois, the directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists overseeing the "running" of the clock, moved the clock hands to 11:53 p.m. from 11:51 p.m. kept since 1998. The bulletin, a magazine that has campaigned for nuclear disarmament, cited a number of factors in making the decision to reset the clock. Foremost among them were the U.S. government's unilateralism and its disregard for weapons treaties as a method of controlling and reducing the stockpile of international arms. Increasing tensions between the nuclear powers of India and Pakistan, the insecurity of fissile materials that can be used to make dirty bombs, and the designs of terrorist groups on those materials were also cited as reasons for readjusting the clock. George A. Lopez, the publication's chairman of the board, said the attacks of September 11 combined with evidence that terrorists were attempting to obtain nuclear weapons should have served as a wake-up call to the world. It was the 17th time the clock in the magazine's office at the University of Chicago has been reset since it appeared in 1947 at the same position it was set on Wednesday, 11:53. The clock came closest to midnight -- just two minutes away -- in 1953, after the United States successfully tested the hydrogen bomb. After the end of Cold war, the minute hand was pushed back to 17 minutes to midnight in 1991. Editor:Liu Hongji Source:Xinhua Recommend to your friend email:    China Central Television,All Rights Reserved