This month's big story

Who owns the skies?

A new space race is set to worsen global inequality and extend conflict. We need to return to seeing space as a place for all humankind, argues Nick Dowson.

In November 1572 a brilliant new star appeared in the sky – initially bright enough to be seen during daylight. Its appearance was recorded worldwide and it stayed v...

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A note from the editor

Nick Dowson

Nick Dowson

Starstruck

As we edited this magazine a rocket exploded on its launchpad at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. This was not owned by NASA but by Blue Origin, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ company, which announced they had ‘experienced an anomaly’. Some euphemism: footage shows a gigantic ball of flame and something that looks very mu...

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Magazine archive

Here are the most recent magazines we've published.

NI 562 - The new space race - July, 2026 The new space race Nick Dowson 1 July 2026 NI 561 - Trade Unions - May, 2026 Trade Unions Henry Fowler 1 May 2026 NI 560 - AI: the people behind the machine - March, 2026 AI: the people behind the machine Decca Muldowney 1 March 2026

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NI 557 - The global far right - September, 2025 The global far right Bethany Rielly 1 September 2025

Recent feature articles

A selection of feature articles from each of the latest New Internationalist magazines.

The world’s first hydrogen bomb, codenamed ‘Mike’ is detonated by the US during ‘Operation Ivy’ in the Marshall Islands. Nuclear weapons testing conducted at Bikini and Enewetak atolls in the Pacific Ocean during 1946–1958 exposed local people to radioactive fallout. Photo: Science History Images/Photo Researchers

Flashpoints to fallout

Could the threat of nuclear war be closer than ever? Amy Hall explores how we got here and the pathways out of the crisis.

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Palestine Action activists occupy the roof of an Elbit Systems building in Bristol, Southwest England on 13 April 2021. Photo: Vladimir Morozov/Akxmedia/Alamy Stock Photo

Deadly trade

People across the world are standing up to the power of the arms trade. Amy Hall explores its threat to life and democracy.

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From left: Leanne Mohamad, who narrowly missed out on unseating senior Labour politician Wes Streeting in Ilford North; Jeremy Corbyn; Andrew Feinstein, New Internationalist contributor and former South African MP who challenged Keir Starmer; and Iqbal Mohamed, who defeated Labour in Dewsbury and Batley. Photo: Zuma Press/Alamy

Political parties Independents’ day

Britain’s general election saw the rightwing Conservatives swept out – and a huge majority for Labour. But the shallowness of the victorious party’s support points to an existential threat to dominant parties across the world, argues Conrad Landin.

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A woman plays the cello amid riot police at a demonstration for safe and legal abortion to mark International Safe Abortion Day in Mexico City, on 28 September 2023. Earlier that month Mexico's Supreme Court decriminalized the procedure. Photo: Raquel Cunya/Reuters

Freeing abortion

The global trend towards liberalizing abortion is being overshadowed by a newly emboldened anti-rights movement that wants to erode bodily autonomy. Bethany Rielly learns how feminist movements are organizing to put abortion back in the hands of the people – and keep it there.

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A study of 10,000 young people across 10 countries found 45 per cent said climate change ‘negatively affected their daily life and functioning’. The impact was significantly higher in the four Global South countries surveyed: Brazil, Nigeria, the Philippines and India. Photo: Media Lens King/shutterstock

A world to win

We don’t just need solutions – we need the courage to imagine they will succeed. Conrad Landin makes the case for collective action to secure a just future.

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Protestors in Panama City in July 2022 demand the government puts a ceiling on the price of fuel, food and medicines. Photo: Erick Marciscano/Reuters/Alamy

Whodunnit?

As the cost of living crisis becomes entrenched, Nick Dowson examines the scene of the crime, tracks down the culprits and proposes a route to resolution.

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From the archives

A selection of articles from the New Internationalist magazine archives.

Deadliest year for eco-defenders

Deadliest year for eco-defenders

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

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A protester stands defiantly at the fence dividing Gaza from Israel in May 2018. Photo: Majdi Fathi / NurPhoto via Getty

‘We can’t be silent’

Palestinians in Gaza have been putting their lives on the line to challenge Israel’s decade long siege of the Strip.

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Introducing... Carlos Alvarado Quesada

The election on 1 April gave Carlos Alvarado Quesada’s National Action Party (PAN) more than 60 per cent of the vote and makes him one of the under-40 club of victors in presidential elections (France, New Zealand and Iceland).

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Books Essay: Shock and awe

Books Essay: Shock and awe

A mythical history of the female body turns scholarly material into a thrilling narrative – but makes a few too many leaps of faith. By Orla Polten.

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Mixed Media: Music

Mixed Media: Music

Uli Costa e Sandália de Prata; Evil Plan.

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 Illustration: Sarah John

My whistle, my voice

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

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 Photo: Goldman Environmental Prize

Making Waves: Prafulla Samantara

The Indian human rights defender who stopped a mining giant in its tracks speaks with Veronique Mistiaen.

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 Photo: Elvis Barukcic / AFP / Getty

Hall of infamy: Milorad Dodik

Bosnian Co-President from Republika Srpska.

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Artificial intelligence - The Facts

Artificial intelligence - The Facts

The bubble; Thirst for data; Ghost workers in the machine.

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Clockwise from top-left: An aerial view of the island; a street in Centre de Flacq; making puris, a staple of the national cuisine; a swimmer in the country's warm waters. Photos: Myroslava Bozhko/Alamy; Kumar Sriskandan/Alamy; Ibrahim Goolam-Hossen; I G-H.

Country Profile: Mauritius

The photos, facts, and politics of Mauritius.

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