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 launch of the GRACE-FO spacecraft aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in May 2018. The mission is a joint US-German effort which uses twin satellites to measure the mass of Earth and its atmosphere, and any anomalies. Photo: Bill Ingalls/NASA

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 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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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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Activists from Debt for Climate and Extinction Rebellion shut down traffic in front of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington DC on 13 October 2022. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The long goodbye

Confronting the impact of empire is not about getting stuck in the past, writes Amy Hall. It’s vital to how we build a better future.

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A woman crosses the Qalandiya check point, the biggest in the occupied West Bank, in 2014. Photo: Roger Garfield/Alamy

From accord to apartheid

A new far-right Israeli government’s meddling with the supreme court has Jewish citizens up in arms. But the shredded freedoms of the Palestinian people under Israel’s thumb are still off the table. Zoe Holman looks at how the so-called ‘peace process’ has allowed Israel to deepen its colonial project and regime of control over Palestinian lives.

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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.

 Photo: Idal / Thinkstock

Reasons to be cheerful

It’s always sunny; Find me a river; No more puppy mills.

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Reasons to be cheerful

Reasons to be cheerful

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

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A protester holds blood-stained images of government figures during a demonstration against the annulment of Law 180 in August 2017. Photo: James Brunker News / Alamy

Against mother nature

A highway project threatens indigenous peoples' reserves in Bolivia. Aldo Orellana Lopez reports.

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Mixed Media: Film

The Stranger; The Secret Agent.

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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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Mixed Media: Music

Mixed Media: Music

Tilaye’s Saxophone With The Dahlak Band; Nuevos Ríos.

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 Illustration: Sarah John

A rite of passage

Labouring for hours over six kilos of simmering onions, Maya Misikir reflects on the invisible weight of ‘women’s work’, family and gratitude.

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Environmental campaigner Claire Nouvian. Photo: Courtesy of Goldman Environmental Prize

Making Waves

The untiring campaigner and guardian of the deep, Claire Nouvian, speaks with Veronique Mistiaen about the transformative experience that led to her choosing her path – on to eventual victory.

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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: Haiti

Country Profile: Haiti

The photos, facts, and politics of Haiti.

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 Illustration: Marc Roberts

Only Planet

Trust, by Marc Roberts.

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