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.

In an age of despair, monsters rise from the gutter. Artist James Colomina’s sculpture of Donald Trump crawling from a Manhattan manhole unveiled on 23 July 2024, blurs the line between street art and social warning. Photo: Kylie Cooper/Reuters

A time of monsters

In an age of crisis, despair is the currency of the global far right. How, asks Bethany Rielly, can we turn this reactionary tide?

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London transport users engage with their devices – and indium, terbium, lithium, cobalt, copper and numerous other critical minerals. Photo: PjrTransport/Alamy

Can mining save the world?

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.

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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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Seth Mazibuko, left, served time in Robben Island for his role in leading the 1976 Soweto uprising. He says South Africa’s current president Cyril Ramaphosa, right, and much of the ANC leadership has been ‘found wanting’. Photo: Jacob Mawela

Africa’s pandora’s box

Can South Africa ever fully shake off the shackles of apartheid? Conrad Landin asks whether the country’s historic genocide case against Israel could lead to a reckoning at home.

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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.

Underwater meadows

Underwater meadows

Citizens are coming to the rescue of endangered seagrass meadows.

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Mercury rising

Mercury rising

Update on a large-scale dam in the AmazonTom Lawson.

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Reasons to be cheerful

Reasons to be cheerful

Army of Robins; Fossil fail; Mothers halt HIV

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Mixed Media: Film

Mixed Media: Film

No Other Choice; My Father’s Shadow.

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Mixed Media: Books

Mixed Media: Books

Days of Love and Rage; Pharma Monopoly; The Villain’s Dance; Wilderness of Mirrors.

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 Illustration: Sarah John

Holding on

Mariam Barghouti opens her series from Ramallah by examining the Palestinian city’s coffee boom – and what it says about life under occupation.

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Anabela (right) provides shade during a participatory video session. Photo: Thor Morales via Insight Share

Making Waves: Anabela Carlón Flores

Nick Dowson speaks with an indigenous lawyer and campaigner fighting a gas pipeline in Mexico.

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 Photo: REUTERS/Alamy Stock Photo

Worldbeaters: Rodrigo Duterte

The president of the Philippines he may be, but his reputation is as a Dirty Harry of vigilante politics.

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The global far right - The Facts

The global far right - The Facts

Political Power; Hate Watch; Law and Order; Conspiracy Machine.

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Country Profile: Indonesia

Country Profile: Indonesia

The photos, facts, and politics of Indonesia.

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 Illustration: Kate Evans

Thoughts from a Broad

Lemme help you with that, by Kate Evans.

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