Al Majalla | The Leading Arab Magazine

US-Iran war

Special coverage on the attack on Iran

Cover Story

The Syrian solution to Hezbollah

Special coverage

US-Iran war and the regional repercussions

Sara Padovan

Science & Technology

The World Cup puts global disease surveillance to the test

As millions cross borders and continents, could stadiums become the epicentre of a new global outbreak?

Mohammed Mansour

Greater Manchester Mayor and Labour candidate Andy Burnham speaks to the media outside a pub in Wigan ahead of the 18 June Makerfield by-election, in Wigan, Britain, on 5 June 2026.

REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja

Profiles

Andy Burnham: Britain's premier-in-waiting?

The charismatic former Mayor of Manchester is widely regarded as the frontrunner to become the next UK prime minister following Keir Starmer's resignation

Con Coughlin

Lina Jaradat

COVER STORY

The Syrian solution to Hezbollah

Politics

Border security and cooperation with Washington

Al Majalla - London

How Syria and Lebanon can cooperate to shape their collective futures

Why Trump's Syria-Hezbollah gambit could backfire

Why Türkiye is against Syria's army fighting Hezbollah

Why Syrian action against Hezbollah is unlikely

The US should not encourage Syria to enter Lebanon

Syria should stay within its borders ...and limits

Latest

Politics

US plan for Libya: unification or management of division?

Areig Elhag

Culture & Social Affairs

Politics

US envoy meets Kurdish leaders to smooth relations

Rustum Mahmud

Culture & Social Affairs

10 books that showcase how football mirrors the world

Bahaa Iy'ali

Popular
Editor's Pick

Lina Jaradat

Politics

The Syrian solution to Hezbollah

25 June 2026

Border security and cooperation with Washington

Al Majalla - London

Neil Webb

Science & Technology

The G7 grapples with the politics of AI access

23 June 2026

As advanced AI models become strategic assets, the G7 is confronting difficult questions of access, dependence, and control

Marco Mossad

Al Majalla

Politics

The fall of Keir Starmer

23 June 2026

His timid reign served as a how-not-to guide in the exercise of power

John Kampfner

the app of the betting company Bet Nacional is displayed on a smartphone showing a match of the Brazilian national football championship open for betting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 2 October 2024.

MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP

Business & Economy

The World Cup and the meteoric rise of sports betting

24 June 2026

As sports gambling becomes a multibillion-dollar global business, fuelled by digital technology and regulatory change, its influence is extending far beyond the pitch

Abdel-Rahman Ayas

A painting by the Egyptian artist George Bahgory from the series “Love and Football”.

George Bahgoury via Facebook

Culture & Social Affairs

Football and art: fusing a popular sport with culture

22 June 2026

Artists use paintings, sculpture, murals, and digital designs to iconise, idolise, and mythologise football culture in a language understood by all

Mimoza Al-Arrawi

OPINION

Lebanon-Israel deal puts Hezbollah in a tight corner

Alia Mansour

Rubio seeks to reassure Gulf states over Iran deal

Con Coughlin

An emerging international partnership is succeeding

James Jeffrey

Hormuz may reopen, but the deal is strewn with mines

Ibrahim Hamidi

Infographics

World Cup 2026: three countries, one continent

Al Majalla

Politics

US plan for Libya: unification or management of division?

Donald Trump’s Middle East advisor, Massad Boulos, has a tough job when it comes to Libya, a country torn between west and east since the fall of…

Areig Elhag

Why Syrian action against Hezbollah is unlikely

When Hezbollah began attacking Israel on 2 March shortly after Israeli and American bombers killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Israel hit…

Elie Kossaifi

The Syrian solution to Hezbollah

The “New Syria" does not want to return to Lebanon through the gates of tutelage or war, nor does Lebanon wish to summon the memory of 1976, when the…

Al Majalla - London

How Syria and Lebanon can cooperate to shape their collective futures

In recent days, the Syrian government has said that it has no intention of intervening militarily in its smaller neighbour, Lebanon, after a comment…

Subhi Franjieh

Profile

Andy Burnham: Britain's premier-in-waiting?

The dramatic resignation of British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer means that Andy Burnham, the charismatic former Mayor of Manchester, is now…

Con Coughlin

Bill Pulte, nominated to be the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, sits on the day of a Senate committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on 27 February 2025.

Bill Pulte: the Trump-friendly acting intelligence director

In keeping with Donald Trump’s tendency to choose loyalists over specialists for his administration, the US President has appointed his friend Bill…

Tarek Rashed

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (centre), his military secretary Roman Gofman (left) and Likud MK Boaz Bismuth attend a meeting in Jerusalem on 5 February 2026.

Roman Gofman: Israel's new Netanyahu-friendly Mossad chief

Israel likes to project to the world an image of military and intelligence prowess. It points to its decapitation of Iran’s leadership, its weakening…

Kamal Alam

Raúl Castro was Cuban president from 2006 to 2018, having served as Minister for the Armed Forces from 1959 to 2008.

Raúl Castro: the soldier who made Fidel’s revolution endure

Cuba’s quieter Castro brother, Raúl, built the military and institutional architecture that allowed the revolution to outlast charisma, crisis, and…

Stefanie Butendieck Hijerra

Documents & Memoirs

Could the US-Iran war spark World War III?

17 Mar 2026

The current conflict is unlikely to go global for now, but the speed at which it has spread regionally is alarming. A look at history shows the geopolitical factors that led to world wars.

Christopher Phillips

READ FULL ARTICLE

Eduardo Ramon

Documents & Memoirs

How the US got the SDF to capitulate to Damascus

02 February 2026

Al Majalla publishes a full account of what transpired during negotiations, the draft integration framework, and proposed constitutional amendments

Ibrahim Hamidi

Sara Gironi Carnevale

Documents & Memoirs

Could Trump actually buy Greenland?

30 January 2026

If history is any indication, then yes. While much of modern-day America was acquired through conquest, large chunks of the country were also bought from reluctant sellers under pressure.

Steve Hewitt

culture & social affairs

Umberto Eco and the construction of the enemy

22 June 2026

A forgotten lecture traces the history of hatred through language, myth, and imagination

Antoine Jockey

Boris Séméniako

Culture & Social Affairs

10 books that showcase how football mirrors the world

All of life can be seen and understood through the world's most popular sport, as authors from different countries and eras have shown. Al Majalla looks at the books with the biggest impact.

Bahaa Iy'ali

George Bahgoury via Facebook

Culture & Social Affairs

Football and art: fusing a popular sport with culture

Artists use paintings, sculpture, murals, and digital designs to iconise, idolise, and mythologise football culture in a language understood by all

Mimoza Al-Arrawi

A picture taken on 24 January 2014 shows covers of the comic series Tintin translated into several languages at the Casterman publisher headquarters in Brussels.

AFP

From Tintin to Tetouan: the rise of Moroccan comics

For years, comics, also known as graphic narratives, were…

Najeeb Mubarak

CARTOON

VIDEOS

22:56

Interview Liugi Di Maio - EU rep. for the Gulf region

Science & Technology

The World Cup puts global disease surveillance to the test

As millions cross borders and continents, could stadiums become the epicentre of a new global outbreak?

Mohammed Mansour

The G7 grapples with the politics of AI access

As advanced AI models become strategic assets, the G7 is confronting difficult questions of access, dependence, and control

Marco Mossad

Neil Webb

A smarter ball, or a safer one? The header dilemma facing world football

The official World Cup ball showcases the latest advances in football technology, but new research questions whether future designs should prioritise brain safety as well as performance

Marco Mossad

Sara Gironi Carnevale

Beware of the trending 'Tayyibat Diet'

A dietary regimen propagated by a doctor in Egypt has spread like wildfire across the Arab world, but blind adherence has proved deadly for some patients. Al Majalla explains.

Mohammed Mansour

Aliaa Abou Khaddour

Business & Economy

The World Cup and the meteoric rise of sports betting

As sports gambling becomes a multibillion-dollar global business, fuelled by digital technology and regulatory change, its influence is extending far beyond the pitch

Abdel-Rahman Ayas

Egypt looks to EVs to slash $21bn in fuel imports

War in the Gulf has left petroleum importers like Egypt urgently reviewing how to wean themselves off fossil fuels. Ditching the combustion engine is top of the list.

Amr Emam

Drivers stand near electric cars, as Egypt began operating first electric taxis service, providing an eco-friendly ride-hailing solution for people in Cairo, on 16 May 2024.

REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Will the GCC train finally leave the station?

From Kuwait to Oman, the Gulf states are building railway links to connect their ports, cities, and industry, but it is a $250bn project that requires political determination. Will it ever happen?

Amer Ziab Al-Tamimi

Al Majalla

Hormuz is open, but obstacles to trade still linger

Even if diplomatic progress continues, the Strait could be closed again. As a result, the geopolitical risk premium attached to Gulf energy exports is unlikely to disappear entirely.

Neil Quilliam

English Edition Soon

25 Jun 2026

WORLD IN PHOTOS

DIEGO CUEVAS / AFP

A man walks his bike as demonstrators stand in front of burning barricades during clashes over the preliminary results of the presidential runoff election in Bogota, Colombia, on 21 June 2026.

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