KUALA LUMPUR: The country is in a crisis mode.

The economic consequences of a prolonged war.

FOR months, the world has watched what was meant to be a decisive US‑Israeli campaign against Iran. But instead of a quick, surgical victory, we are witnessing something far more instructive: the visible, irreversible deflation of American hegemony — delivered not through a single battlefield defeat, but through a slow‑motion implosion spanning military logistics, internal US political warfare, and the rise of a civilizational state that Washington never even understood.

IN the halls of Putrajaya and within politicians' speeches, Malaysia's Middle 40 per cent (M40) is often celebrated as a success story - proof of a maturing economy and an expanding consumer class.

MALAYSIAN politics has been exceptionally animated lately, with ruling and opposition parties changing sides faster than they are changing clothes, catching many completely off guard.

IN my conversations with global investors, business leaders and policymakers, one theme increasingly stands out – namely how uncertain and even dangerous the world feels today compared to the last few years with all its tumults.

BEIJING (Xinhua): China maintained a tough stance against various crimes in the past year and pledged to continue that momentum into the new year, according to the country's top judiciary officials.

BEIJING (Xinhua): With China's annual legislative and political consultative sessions, known as the "two sessions," underway in Beijing, foreign envoys and international journalists are closely watching the event for signals on the world's second-largest economy's development trajectory and its global implications.

BEIJING (Xinhua): With a draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan under examination and discussion by China's top legislature and political advisory body at their ongoing annual sessions, the new development roadmap is set to shape the country's pathways toward a modernisation that stands out in how it interacts with nature.

BEIJING (Xinhua): China's annual "two sessions" have drawn elevated global attention this year, as lawmakers prepare not only to set the agenda for the coming year but also to approve a plan that could shape the country's trajectory through the end of the decade.

BEIJING (Xinhua): The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, served and supported reform and development through high-quality legislation in the past year, according to a report.

EVERY war has a visible front line and an invisible one. The visible front in this conflict spans the skies of the Middle East, where successive waves of Iranian drones and missiles currently test the air defences of a US-Israeli coalition that expected a quick, surgical victory.