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.

A plane surveys a distorted landscape. Photo: Lone Thomasky & Bits&Baume/betterimagesofai.org/creativecommons-by-4.0

AI and its discontents

Imagery generated by artificial intelligence has become the beloved aesthetic of today’s dictators, argues Decca Muldowney. A robust media is needed to combat misinformation and its miseries.

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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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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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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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An oil and gas drilling rig is towed past Teesside Offshore Wind farm off Redcar, North East England. The windfarm is operated by French state-owned energy company EDF. Photo: Alan Dawson/Alamy

Green face, old tricks

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.

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From the archives

A selection of articles from the New Internationalist magazine archives.

White saviours

White saviours

Norwegian activists are challenging ‘white-saviour’ attitudes that over-simplify poverty writes Tom Lawson.

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Sanctuary boroughs

Sanctuary boroughs

A community group is campaigning to turn the London borough of Haringey into a safer place for migrants. Charlotte England reports.

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Post-Hurricane Maria, it’s a long, slow road to recovery for small-island states of the eastern Caribbean. Photo: Communications team of Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit. Public Domain.

Gone with the wind

Hurricane Maria swept through Dominica, destroying 62 per cent of all dwellings and killing 57, Richard Swift reports.

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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

War symphony

Mariam Barghouti explores how the Israeli occupation is transforming the landscapes and soundscapes of the West Bank, and the silence left in its wake.

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 Photo: Goldman Environmental Prize

Making Waves: Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo

He puts his life on the line to protect the Democratic Republic of Congo’s national parks. Veronique Mistiaen talks to the dedicated conservationist.

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 Photo: Agencia Brasil/Alamy Stock Photo

Worldbeaters: Michel Temer

Brazil’s oldest president – and architect of his predecessor’s downfall – is put under the spotlight.

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The arms trade - The Facts

The arms trade - The Facts

State of the industry; Deadly business; At the border; Who’s supplying whom?

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Country Profile: Sierra Leone

Country Profile: Sierra Leone

The photos, facts, and politics of Sierra Leone.

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