Al Majalla’s cover story last week focused on Iraq, where a US troop withdrawal has left a power vacuum Tehran may exploit to further entrench its influence. Ayad Anbar explains how this could affect Iraq’s internal dynamics, while Caroline Rose looks at the regional picture.

And in an exclusive interview, Ibrahim Hamidi sat down with a former Syrian military officer who outed an infamous Israeli spy in Syria. Said Jawish, now an elderly man in his late 80s, recounted never-before-shared details of the 1960s operation that led to Eli Cohen's capture and execution in Damascus.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Sharki wonders if the US is incentivising Morocco to boost its ties with Israel by dangling the Western Sahara issue. And on the other side of the African continent, Sergey Eledinov explains how Ethiopia’s neighbours view the latest turmoil in Tigray.

For her part, Alexandra Sharp links the G7 decision to release 100 million barrels of reserve diesel to the upcoming US midterm elections, which President Donald Trump hopes will lower fuel prices before November. Meanwhile, Con Coughlin explains why Europe is wary of Russia's growing defence budget.

And after neither Trump ally Flávio Bolsonaro nor Brazil’s incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won an outright majority in Brazil’s 4 October election, the two men will face off on 25 October in a race that could serve as a bellwether of Trump's influence in Latin America. Meanwhile, Charbel Barakat explains why Chinese president Xi Jinping’s 24 September visit to Washington was a success even though no agreements were reached.

And in Culture, Ibrahim Haj Abdi reviews Egypt's Oscars entry The Stories, which turns decades of Egyptian history into an intimate family chronicle. For her part, Mimoza al-Arrawi visits veteran Lebanese painter Jamil Molaeb’s latest exhibition in Beirut, where new meets old.