2026: Year of the Great Reckoning

While Britain struggles to open new factories, Beijing is looking to a future of flying cars. How can Europe emulate what its rival intends, and do it better?

As his poll ratings tank ahead of November’s midterms, splits are emerging in his MAGA movement. Can the Democrats unite and capitalise?

The actor, activist and icon didn't care what anyone thought of her. That was both her greatest strength and her fatal flaw

Nothing has been quite the same in the decade since he made his final transformation. Except, that is, our appreciation of his genius

Promises to ourselves have a superficially similar structure to promises to other people – but with a kind of double lock

Write to letters@thenewworld.co.uk to have your views voiced in the magazine

Crime, corruption and cruelty show how leaders like Trump and Bukele exploit power, and why they must be stopped

To survive the club culture of Buenos Aires, you need stamina and a willingness to let go of British ideas about bedtime

Zohran Mamdani didn’t just win an election – his and Rama Duwaji’s story mirrors the city they now represent

Behind locked doors in museums and archaeological sites, priceless works gather dust while the world waits outside

With a media landscape tightly controlled by Aleksandar Vučić’s ruling party, students are keeping the fight for democracy alive in Belgrade

She may be a global superstar, but in her homecoming to Cali, it was Grupo Niche and the city’s centuries-old salsa culture that stole the show

Armed only with pistols and faced with an overwhelming number of Hamas attackers, Remo El-Hozayel rescued hundreds from the Nova Festival massacre

While Britain struggles to open new factories, Beijing is looking to a future of flying cars. How can Europe emulate what its rival intends, and do it better?

As his poll ratings tank ahead of November’s midterms, splits are emerging in his MAGA movement. Can the Democrats unite and capitalise?

If 2026 is to improve on 2025, the UK must start behaving like a serious country at long last

The coming year will be full of intrigue, but the aftermath of the local elections will be the moment Labour rebels will try to oust the PM. Who can replace him?

Putin and Trump want to destroy liberal democracy. Only Europe now stands in their way. Can the continent hold out against the twin threats from east and west?

Digging into the detail and data to separate the noise from the news

The actor, activist and icon didn't care what anyone thought of her. That was both her greatest strength and her fatal flaw

Western leaders and diplomats have spent huge amounts of political capital on Gaza and Ukraine – but not on Sudan. Even now, the slaughter goes on, but where is the response?

Nothing has been quite the same in the decade since he made his final transformation. Except, that is, our appreciation of his genius

Zendaya and Nolan return, Blade Runner expands and Peaky Blinders concludes. What our editor-at-large is most looking forward to in 2026

Maria Semple, Catherine Newman and Jennette McCurdy are among the writers with books to look out for in 2026

Female voices are set to dominate the arts world in 2026

A new Spielberg, a remake of The Bride of Frankenstein and an exploration of the Moroccan outdoor rave scene are among the films to watch out for this year

A new take on Harry Potter, a Legally Blonde prequel and the latest iteration of the Blade Runner franchise are among excuses not to go out in 2026

Beamish, mince on toast and thick burgers are among the food trends set to take off over the next 12 months

The release of GTA6 has been delayed again. It’s not surprising the developers want to get it right – it might just create a whole new online universe

Every new year, we swear we’ll start anew – but literature shows we never really can

In the coming 12 months, one thing is for certain – the American war on science will only get worse

Very few athletes have had to endure what the Hungarian went through in order to compete for her country

The former deputy prime minister is following her ambitious colleague Wes Streeting in penning an autobiography

Jacob Rees-Mogg and David Starkey have combined for an exciting new podcast where social conservatism meets extreme social conservatism

The former comedian used his appearance at a hard right US convention to launch an attack on Katy Perry’s new man, Justin Trudeau

Chris Parry, standing to be mayor of Hampshire and the Solent, seems to be preoccupied with pork

The former chancellor isn’t the new ambassador to the US. But at least he has a new job with the makers of ChatGPT

The paper is targeting the very trade deal it once championed loudly

How perfect can crucial communications be within a hospital with a plethora of languages, dialects and communicative styles?

The Erasmus scheme allowed millions of UK students to broaden their horizons – and also their private lives