The modern failures of the United Nations are not an aberration – but a product of its imperial roots, argues Conrad Landin. So how can we create a functioning system for global co-operation?

They are touted as our way out of climate chaos and essential for making the things we use, from mobile phones to electric vehicles. Vanessa Baird sets out to investigate critical minerals – and the rush to get them.

How can we prevent an unjust transition? As the clean economy gets into gear, Nick Dowson asks whether a market-focused, subsidies-led approach will just mean more of the same.

Bethany Rielly explores the chilling impact of the Spanish state’s intrusive surveillance tactics against Catalan civil society. Is there a chance of justice?

We depend on it for food, shelter and work, it’s a cultural marker and a source of identity – but also a site of violence and anguish. It’s time for a reckoning, writes Amy Hall.

We cannot let the ever-expanding oil and gas industry stand in the way of urgently needed climate action. Nick Dowson lays out a path to change.

Will Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s new, gay Taoiseach, live up to high expectations? Richard Swift reports.

Refugees in Germany complain about the lack of support by liberal and left-wing activists, writes Morgan Meaker

For environmental defenders – from activists to indigenous leaders – 2016 was the deadliest year on record, writes Kelsi Farrington

All We Imagine As Light; Black Box Diaries.

In Tessa Hadley’s novels, ordinary lives and homes become charged with memory and unease, where private dramas quietly echo the politics of their time. Words by Conrad Landin.

The Invisible Road; Shetland Suite.

A bold feminist campaign turned a whistle into a protest against street harassment. Maya Misikir tells their story.

Veronique Mistiaen meets Afghanistan’s ‘mother of education’, who for more than two decades has been transforming lives through community-based learning.

Richard Swift takes aim at Sava Kiir Mayardit and Riek Machar, once friends but now foes at the pinnacle of violent South Sudanese politics.

Components, budget, and the peacekeepers of the United Nations.

The photos, facts, and politics of Armenia.

Counter fascism, by Kate Evans.