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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This year, on the first day of Ramadan in Rafah people gathered around a large table for iftar, the fast-breaking meal, as the sun set. Photo: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo

The Long War for Meaning

Gaza-born journalist Ramzy Baroud traces how Palestinians have turned survival into a struggle for dignity, history and freedom, with Gaza at the heart of the resistance.

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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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Making sense of the world in an age of doubt: people are reflected in mirrors on the 91st floor of The Summit near Grand Central Terminal, New York City. Photo: Gordon Donovan/Alamy

Entering the Matrix

Although far from a modern phenomenon, the potency and complexity of misinformation has increased in the digital age. To tackle it, we need a systemic response that goes further than debunking one lie at a time, argues Nanjala Nyabola.

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Rush hour – Workers scurry speedily to their next destination. Since the 1970s, Singapore and Guangzhou, China have seen the highest increase in pedestrian walking speeds. Calls for effiency in mobility can often come back to bite us with reduced social empathy and ableist attitudes. Photo: Estherpoon/Shutterstock

The connection recession

Loneliness and social isolation have become chronic issues across the world. We must resist attempts to close down meaningful human interaction, writes Husna Ara.

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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.

 Photo: Anna Boyiazis

Learn to swim

The Panje Project in Zanzibar.

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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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Sand dredgers now banned from the Peam Krosaob forests, Koh Kong province. Photo: Mother Nature

Sand dredgers defeated

In Koh Kong province, Cambodia a band of Mother Nature activists have scored a victory in the battle against environmentally destructive sand dredging writes Fran Lambrick.

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Mixed Media: Hot Docs

Mixed Media: Hot Docs

Highlights from the 2025 Toronto Festival by Richard Swift.

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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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 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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Jamila Afghani

Making Waves: Jamila Afghani

A profile of Afghan campaigner for women’s education and rights Jamila Afghani, who started by persuading the imams. Beena Nadeem talks to the unassuming trailblazer

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United Nations - The Facts

United Nations - The Facts

Components, budget, and the peacekeepers of the United Nations.

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Country Profile: Armenia

The photos, facts, and politics of Armenia.

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