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 remnants of a supernova, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud – a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way, 160,000 light years distant. The image combines optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope showing the expanding blast wave in pink, and data from the Chandra space observatory showing x-rays from heated material in green and blue. Photo: NASA/Chandra X-Ray Observatory

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.

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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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Drop the Debt: Protesters call for debt cancellation, wearing face masks of Yoshiro Mori, the then prime minister of Japan. They gathered outside Downing Street, London, during Mori’s meeting with Britain’s leader Tony Blair on 3 May 2000. Photo: Jonathan Evans/Reuters

Who owes whom?

Rising costs, Covid-19 and austerity have pushed too many countries – and households – into unmanageable debt. Amy Hall asks how we got here, and finds a movement shaking off the stigma of debt and getting organized.

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A protester faces off with riot police at an attempted eviction of an occupied building in the Poble Sec neighbourhood of Barcelona. In recent years it’s been revealed that undercover officers in the Spanish National Corps infiltrated several activist groups in the city, including housing rights. One took part in at least four anti-eviction protests during his deployment. Photo: Pau de la Calle/NurPhoto/Alamy

Spies, damned spies

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

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A group of women tend to vegetables in Koyli Alpha, Senegal, in March 2019. They were taking part in the Great Green Wall project which has the ambition of restoring 100 million hectares of degraded land across the African continent by 2030. Photo: Simon Townsley/Panos Pictures

The land is ours

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.

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India’s railways are frequently hailed by defenders of the British Empire as a positive legacy of colonialism. While the country has an extensive network which ranks among the world’s biggest employers, it was designed to serve the interests of imperialism and private profit – with the directors of the sub continent’s first railway drawn from the ranks of the East India Company. Here passengers prepare to eat on board a modern-day sleeper train. Photo: Boaz Rottem/Alamy

Back on track?

On every continent, the railways are experiencing a renaissance. But what will it take to reshape them in the interests of people? Conrad Landin investigates.

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From the archives

A selection of articles from the New Internationalist magazine archives.

Tbilisi, Dissidents Georgia

No room for dissidents

Georgia was once hailed as a ‘beacon of democracy’ by Western powers, but geopolitics and economic interests have taken priority over human rights, writes Onnik Krikorian.

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Reasons to be cheerful

Reasons to be cheerful

Happy families; Radio, live transmission; Eat your greens.

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Nightlife vs Nazis

Nightlife vs Nazis

Tbilisi’s clubbing scene is in the crosshairs of a war on culture led by reactionary elements in Georgia, opposed to its progressive ethos.

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Mixed Media: Books

Mixed Media: Books

The Future of Travel; Joyful Revolution; Benbecula; The Taste of Lightning.

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 Illustration: Sarah John

A life cut short

The murder of Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has shone a spotlight on Uganda’s domestic abuse crisis. Sophie Neiman pays tribute to the determined runner.

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 Photo: Matt Allen

Making Waves: Catherine Shovlin

Thanks to the efforts of Catherine Shovlin, a Syrian refugee camp is building a community spirit. Florence Derrick meets her.

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Riek Machar (left) and Salva Kiir (right) sit for an official photo. Picture: Albert Gonzalez Farran/AFP/Getty Images

Worldbeaters: Sava Kiir Mayardit and Riek Machar

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

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Political parties - The Facts

Political parties - The Facts

Membership, election year, and party types around the world.

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Country Profile: Indonesia

Country Profile: Indonesia

The photos, facts, and politics of Indonesia.

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