Dominating world headlines last week was the first—and possibly the last—debate between former US President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris. Christina Lu and Amy Mackinnon highlight the top foreign policy moments from the exchange between the presidential contenders. For his part, Con Coughlin looks at how Harris’s formidable performance bodes well for the Democrats’ fortunes after the “disastrous” performance of Biden in June’s debate when he was still heading the Democratic ticket.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelensky ramped up the pressure on Washington and London last week when he called on them to make a “strong decision” by letting him use long-range missiles to strike deep into Russia. With British officials quietly lobbying the Biden administration to lend its approval, Al Majalla says this could be the game-changer Kyiv so desperately needs to roll back Moscow's battlefield gains.

In Palestine, Ahmed Draghmeh talks to residents in the West Bank city of Jenin following Israel’s deadly and destructive raid of the refugee camp. They tell him they will rebuild even though they know it’s only a matter of time before the next military raid. And Sami Moubayed says Israel's ongoing war on Gaza and the West Bank puts the final nail in the coffin of the Oslo Accords, which marked its 31-year anniversary last week.

For his part, Ibrahim Hamidi pens a poignant commentary titled Where there is opportunity in the Middle East, disappointment is not far behind. With no progress being made on the “last 10%” of the Gaza ceasefire deal, he says, “Once again, diplomacy looks to have come up short, falling into a familiar pattern for a region all too familiar with disappointment."

Zooming in on Libya, Manaf Saad pens a piece titled Saddam Haftar: The nepotistic rise of a Libyan general. In it, he says, “While he never underwent any real military training, he has been crucial to his father’s bloody power struggle. A range of international and regional powers are now backing him to be Libya's next leader.”

Switching to technology, Macro Massad looks at how Microsoft’s security flaws make America vulnerable after its ability to cope with cyberattacks from Russia and China has increasingly come into question. For his part, Bryn Haworth looks at the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in France and explains what it means for social media privacy. Meanwhile, Khaled Kassar details how AI is draining the world of its energy sources. In his piece, he says, “The technology powering our current industrial revolution needs so much energy and water that data centres are now competing with cities, with the environment and net-zero targets  losing out.”

Over to Lebanon, Salwa Baalbaki writes, “The dragging of the country's former central bank governor through the courts on embezzlement charges may be linked to increased monitoring by an influential finance body charged with combating money laundering.” But will Riad Salameh’s arrest keep Lebanon off the FATF greylist? Baalbaki is doubtful.

Meanwhile, Hussein Bin Hamza interviews Lebanese novelist Hassan Daoud on the science behind his craft. Forty years after the release of The House of Mathilde, the acclaimed and widely translated writer tells Al Majalla why his debut work still defines him.