Doomsday Clock live: Scientists announce that it is still 'three minutes to midnight' - latest updates

A panel of some of the world's most eminent scientists and thinkers will tell the world whether it is any closer to 'midnight', or catastrophe

South Korean Foreign Ministry officials attend an emergency meeting after the announcement (AP)

Some of the world's most eminent scientists are about to announce whether the world is closer to oblivion than it ever was before.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists – a group of leading thinkers convened after the creation of the nuclear bomb – is set to announce whether it will reset the "Doomsday Clock". That clock is a way of showing just how at risk humanity is of apocalypse from nuclear warfare, climate change or a range of other threats.

The clock counts forward to midnight, or oblivion. It currently stands at three minutes to midnight, which is most at-risk humanity has been since the height of the Cold War.

The announcement will begin at 1.30pm eastern time, or 6.30pm in the UK.

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The decision is made by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board in conjunction with the Board of Sponsors, which includes 16 Nobel Laureates.

The event will be hosted by speakers including:

• Rachel Bronson, executive director and publisher, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists;
• Lawrence Krauss, chair, Bulletin Board of Sponsors, Foundation Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics departments, and Director, Origins Project, Arizona State University;
• Thomas R. Pickering, member, Bulletin Science and Security Board, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, the Russian Federation, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria, and Jordan;
• Sharon Squassoni, member, Bulletin Science and Security Board, senior fellow and director, Proliferation Prevention Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC; and
• Sivan Kartha, member, Bulletin Science and Security Board, senior scientist and climate change expert, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), and co-leader of the SEI research theme “Reducing Climate Risk.”