This month's big story

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.

You may not know them by name, but by the time you get up, turn on a device or have your first cup of tea, you will have engaged with multiple critical minerals.

...

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A note from the editor

Vanessa Baird

Vanessa Baird

Dig, baby, dig! Can critical minerals save the world?

We have Donald Trump to ‘thank’ for putting critical minerals so vividly on the world map of naked greed and ruthless opportunism.

Anyone who had not heard of them before – and rare earth elements, a sub-section of said minerals – may well associate them forever more with the...

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Magazine archive

Here are the most recent magazines we've published.

NI 555 - Critical minerals - May, 2025 Critical minerals Vanessa Baird 1 May 2025 NI 554 - Indigenous sovereignty in Australia - March, 2025 Indigenous sovereignty in Australia Zoe Holman 1 March 2025 NI 553 - Guns and power - January, 2025 Guns and power Amy hall 1 January 2025

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NI 508 - Clampdown! Criminalizing dissent - December, 2017 Clampdown! Criminalizing dissent Richard Swift 1 December 2017

Recent feature articles

A selection of feature articles from each of the latest New Internationalist magazines.

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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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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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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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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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.

Reasons to be cheerful

Reasons to be cheerful

Army of Robins; Fossil fail; Mothers halt HIV

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Reasons to be cheerful

Reasons to be cheerful

A highland welcome; Rhino forensics; Good sex in Rwanda.

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Life after Nauru

Life after Nauru

When Rashid first arrived in Cambodia, he warned other Nauru detainees not to come.

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Mixed Media: Film

Mixed Media: Film

To a Land Unknown; The Fire Inside.

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Books Essay: Mum’s the word

Books Essay: Mum’s the word

A new book traces the history of modern Britain through the practice and political effects of motherhood. By Ruth Gilbert.

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Mixed Media: Music

Mixed Media: Music

Delight; If I Must Die and other works.

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 Illustration: Sarah John

Threats that silence

Amid arrests, harassment and violence, Sophie Neiman reflects on the plight of journalists in Uganda.

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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 Facts

The Facts

Palestine - occupation & apartheid.

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Clockwise from top-left: An aerial view of the island; a street in Centre de Flacq; making puris, a staple of the national cuisine; a swimmer in the country's warm waters. Photos: Myroslava Bozhko/Alamy; Kumar Sriskandan/Alamy; Ibrahim Goolam-Hossen; I G-H.

Country Profile: Mauritius

The photos, facts, and politics of Mauritius.

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 Illustration: Marc Roberts

Only Planet

New administration, by Marc Roberts.

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