For decades, the "Middle East crisis" was a headline about crude oil, tankers, and the price at the pump. But as of March 2026, the stakes have shifted from the engine to the motherboard. While the world watches drone strikes over Isfahan and naval skirmishes in the Persian Gulf, a more quiet, more lethal war is being fought over the very building blocks of the 21st century: semiconductors. The "Digital Iron Curtain" is falling, and it isn't just dividing East and West—it’s threatening to starve the global AI revolution of its most basic needs. The Helium Hostage: Why the Strait of Hormuz is the New Silicon Valley We’ve long been told that the South China Sea is the "front line" of the chip war because of Taiwan’s dominance in fabrication. But the ongoing U.S.-Israel war with Iran has revealed a terrifying bottleneck: The Middle East is the lungs of the semiconductor industry. To make the world’s most advanced 3nm chips, you don’t just need engineers;...
Ivy Bean the world's older social networker has died at the age of 104. She embraced Facebook at the ripe old age of 102 and has since become a sensation around Social Networking sites. She has 56,566 followers on Twitter and counts Peter Andre among her star followers. During her Star Twitter career she was also invited to meet the Prime Minister, Gordon Browne at 10, Downing Street. She tweeted that she used the private toilet in Mr Brown's study. She is now on the Trending at No.1 on Twitter and this comes as no surprise to anyone. Tweeps are offering their condolences and sharing news about her death. The Manager of the care-home where Ivy has been in for the last few weeks since she became unwell. Came on her Twitter account to announce the sad news. "Hello all of ivys twitter friend by now you will have heard about our daer friend she i cannot explain how we are all feeling here ivy passed away peacefully at 12.08 this morning Im sorry it took me so long to tell you...