It now stands at five minutes to midnight. Before this change, it stood at seven to midnight, having moved forward two minutes in February 2002. That was the same position it stood at when the clock was unveiled in 1947. It is now closer than at any time since 1984, the peak of the Reagan arms race, when it was moved to three minutes to midnight. That, in turn, was the closest it stood since 1953, when the Soviets developed the H-bomb, and the Clock was moved to two minutes of midnight. The furthest it has ever stood was 17 to midnight in 1991, with the end of the Cold War. (Clock Timeline) From the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Jan. 17:

Another step closer to global catastrophe. From Kuwait News Agency, Jan. 9 (emphasis added):

TOKYO -- Japan on Tuesday upgraded the Defense Agency to a full-fledged ministry for the first time since World War II, when the US stripped Japan of its right to a military.

From The Scotsman, Jan. 18, links and emphasis added:

Mullah Omar, leader of the Taleban, is living in Pakistan under the protection of the country's intelligence service, a captured Taleban spokesman has told Afghan interrogators.

Another reason for Iraqis to be grateful. From Human Rights Education Associates, Jan. 16:

Nearly 6,400 Iraqi civilians were killed in the November-December period, slightly less than in the preceding two months, as rampant and indiscriminate killings, sectarian violence, extra-judicial executions -- and impunity for the perpetrators -- continued virtually unchecked, according to the latest United Nations rights report released today.

From Air Force Times, Jan. 16:

A small group of out-of-uniform active-duty service members, supported by veterans and academics, gathered inside a Norfolk, Va., church on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to hold a rally calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Startling claims from Focus on the Global South. But WW4 REPORT was warning of this four years ago. From AP, Jan. 15:

MANILA — U.S. troops, in possible violation of the Philippines' constitution, have taken part in combat operations against guerrillas linked to al-Qaida, an activist group said in a report Monday.

Negroponte's comments on Cuba recall Rumsfeld's on Iraq four years ago, don't they? From AP, Jan. 17 (emphasis added):

Cuban President Fidel Castro, ailing and out of sight, has been meeting with a trickle of international guests in recent months, a U.S. government official said Tuesday.

From The Guardian, Jan. 9:

One in eight Iraqis have left their homes in what is the largest long-term population movement in the Middle East since the displacement of the Palestinians in 1948, the UN's refugee agency said today.