Fixated on AI, the world has forgotten what is staring it in the face: nuclear annihilation Simon Tisdall

This is no scoffing matter. The accelerating proliferation of advanced nuclear weapons is bringing'end times' closer by the day H umankind has fearfully and sometimes joyfully anticipated the end of the world ever since it began. The Bible's Book of Revelation speaks of "end times", a period of tribulation, war, famine, plague, floods and environmental catastrophe that may seem a less absurd prospect today than perhaps it once did. Christian evangelicals believe that, in the final rapture, a chosen few - the righteous or the "elect" - will be saved while sinners burn. Matthew's gospel predicts most people will defy, ignore or ridicule warnings of imminent Armageddon.