With the war on Iran, Ukraine, AI and climate breakdown increasing the likelihood of a nuclear war, the clock stands closer to midnight than ever before. So who decides how many seconds we have left – and can we buy ourselves more time?

The Earth is getting hotter. Conflicts are raging, in the Middle East and Ukraine, each increasing the chance of nuclear war. AI is infiltrating almost every aspect of our lives, despite its unpredictability and tendency to hallucinate. Scientists, tinkering in labs, risk introducing new, deadly pathogens, more destructive than Covid. Our pandemic response preparedness has weakened. The Doomsday Clock – a large, quarter clock with no numbers, keeps ticking, counting down the seconds until the apocalypse. Tick. Tick. Tick. In January, we reached 85 seconds to midnight. Experts believe humanity has never stood so close to the brink.

“What we have seen is a slow almost sleepwalk into increasing dangers over the last decade. And we see these problems growing. We see science advancing at a rate that defies our ability to understand it, much less control it,” says Alexandra Bell, CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the organisation that sets the Doomsday Clock. She speaks of the “complete failure in leadership” in the US and other countries, which are doing little to address global, catastrophic threats, even as they feed into one another. Climate change increases global conflict, for instance, and the incorporation of AI into nuclear decision-making is, frankly, terrifying.

The world has watched the news of deaths and evacuations anxiously, and those still onboard MV Hondius face a wary reception in the Canary Islands

As the MV Hondius sailed out of Ushuaia, the most southerly city on Earth, on 1 April, the grey skies above Tierra del Fuego lifted, lighting up the fresh snow on the mountaintops and the autumnal tree cover closer to shore.

Eighty-eight passengers and 61 crew of 23 nationalities had boarded the small polar-class vessel for its 35-day “Atlantic expedition” from the Argentinian province to Cape Verde, via some of the most remote islands on the planet. As the ship cleared the narrow channel leading to the open sea, those onboard had already been treated to glimpses of humpback whales, dolphins, black-browed albatrosses and South American sea lions.

Keir Starmer’s party lost out to Reform and the Greens, with no respite in Scotland, Wales or England. These maps show the scale of the historic results

• Full results from England, Scotland and Wales

Labour has suffered heavy losses across England, Scotland and Wales, losing ground to opponents on the left and the right in a fragmented political system.

The graphics below show where Labour’s losses were most severe, and how the electoral landscape has changed as a result.

Barenaked bell ringers, banned opera singers and mind-boggling dog-owner relationships … the art at this year’s biennale has people calling the cops

She’s famous for her extreme performances and Florentina Holzinger upped the ante yet again in Venice with a postapocalyptic pavilion that opened with her suspended upside down from the clappers of a large bell. Inside, there was a woman riding a speedboat in circles, two others suspended at the top of a pole and another sitting entirely submerged in a tank. Oh, and no one was wearing any clothes. Viewers were invited to use two toilets so that their urine could be purified and pumped into the tank – but what looked like a sewage disaster in another section of the pavilion suggested that this project threatened to go dangerously awry. The whole thing was so transgressive that four cops turned up when I was watching to ask what the hell was going on. It was immediately the talk of the town. AN
• Austrian pavilion, Giardini della Biennale

Jonathan, 23, a student, meets Katie, 27, an environmental campaigner

What were you hoping for?
To meet someone outside my usual bubble, have an interesting conversation, and see where it goes.

Israeli PM says he has ‘full coordination’ with US president amid reports that Washington no longer consults him

Benjamin Netanyahu interrupted an uncharacteristically long silence over the Iran conflict this week with a video commentary insisting he had “full coordination” with Donald Trump, with whom he spoke “almost daily”.

The insistence that all was rosy in the US-Israeli relationship followed weeks of reports in the domestic press that Israel was no longer being consulted over the Iran conflict, and even less over Pakistani-brokered peace talks. Such is the scepticism over Netanyahu’s trustworthiness among the general public and independent press that the immediate reaction among observers to his video statement was speculation that the reality could be even worse than they had imagined.

Senior Labour MPs urge prime minister to step down within year as party loses control of 25 English councils and humbled in Wales

• Full results from England, Scotland and Wales

• Mapped: how Labour lost ground in different directions

Keir Starmer is under pressure to set out a timeline for his departure after a crushing defeat in elections across Britain prompted senior Labour MPs to call for him to step down within a year.

In a disastrous set of results, Labour had lost control of more than 25 councils and more than 1,000 council seats in England by Friday night, many to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which made large gains across the Midlands and the north as well as taking seats from the Tories in the south.

Farage said a “truly historic shift in British politics” had occurred after Reform UK won hundreds of seats and control of more councils in England. The gains included Essex where the Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, has her constituency and which the Conservatives held for 25 years.

Plaid Cymru became the largest party in Wales, beating Reform into second place, after Labour admitted it was on course to lose control of the Senedd for the first time since devolution. Morgan, the first woman to lead the Welsh government, became the highest-profile casualty and called on Labour to “go back to being the party of the working class”.

The SNP leader, John Swinney, declared victory in the Holyrood elections – though was expected to fall short of an outright majority. The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, conceded defeat saying his party had failed to counter “national dissatisfaction” with Starmer.

The Greens gained their first two directly elected mayors – in Hackney and Lewisham – although they missed out on some more ambitious targets in London, as their leader, Zack Polanski, declared Britain’s two-party politics “dead and buried”. They also won three councils: Norwich, Hastings and Waltham Forest.

The Tories were on course to lose hundreds of seats – both to Reform and the Liberal Democrats – across the south of England. However, they won back the flagship Westminster council in central London, with Badenoch announcing it meant the party was “coming back”.

Labour appeared to be struggling in its London stronghold, despite early indications that its vote was holding up, unexpectedly losing control of Brent. Party insiders were closely watching councils including Lambeth, Lewisham and Haringey.

But Labour’s vote has held up in Wes Streeting’s Redbridge, which allies said put paid to the idea that he was set to lose his Ilford North seat.

Exclusive: Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham is preferred choice of new leader for 42% of those surveyed

• Full results from England, Scotland and Wales

The majority of Labour members say they do not believe Keir Starmer can turn around the party’s fortunes, while 45% say the prime minister should step down.

The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, was the first preference for 42% of members, who were asked to rank their preferred successor.

Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, concedes his party was comprehensively beaten in election as count puts his party on 17 seats, a tie with Reform

• Election 2026 live: latest news updates

• Full results from England, Scotland and Wales

John Swinney, the Scottish National party leader, has challenged Keir Starmer to show “greater respect” to the Scottish government after winning the Holyrood elections by a comfortable margin.

The Scottish National party secured a record fifth term in office on Friday after securing 58 of Holyrood’s 129 seats.

Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth says he is ready to become first minister and form next Welsh government

• Full results from England, Scotland and Wales

• Elections mapped: how Labour lost ground in different directions

Plaid Cymru has won the Welsh Senedd elections, ending 100 years of Labour dominance in Wales and blocking the momentum of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

The leader of the centre-left Welsh nationalist party, Rhun ap Iorwerth, said he stood ready to become first minister and form the next Welsh government, taking over from Welsh Labour, who have governed in Wales since devolution began in 1999.