How NC Attracted Amgen, Roche To Become a Next-Gen Obesity Drug Production Hotspot

 

Infrastructure and location have helped make Holly Springs a future hub for obesity drug production, with Amgen and Roche planning to manufacture GLP-1 therapies there to compete in the growing market.

A North Carolina town with around 50,000 residents has emerged as a vital launchpad for two planned attacks on the obesity market. Amgen and Roche are pouring more than $3.5 billion into Holly Springs to make medicines that could challenge Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk for the market. The quick-fire investments are built on a 20-year campaign to create an attractive environment for drugmakers.

Novartis put Holly Springs on the biopharma map when it unveiled plans to build a vaccine manufacturing plant in the town in 2006. Holly Springs’ support for the facility, which is now run by CSL Seqirus, led to the town being overextended financially and facing significant gaps in meeting Novartis’ demands for cleared land, a new road, water and sewer service and a fire truck. Yet the project set the stage for a series of industry commitments, including a recent obesity-focused investment surge.

Amgen broke ground on a $550 million drug substance production plant in the town in 2022. The biotech committed a further $1 billion in late 2024 as the magnitude of the opportunity open to its obesity drug candidate MariTide became clear.

Roche’s Genentech was even quicker to double down on Holly Springs, committing $700 million in May 2025 and adding another $1.3 billion to its plan in January 2026. Roche’s plant will manufacture obesity drug candidates, including its dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist CT-388.

Amgen is running seven Phase 3 trials of MariTide with primary completion dates in 2027 and 2028. The biotech opened its first Holly Springs plant last year and expects to grow headcount across the site to 725 by 2032 as the second facility comes online and scales up.

Roche reported Phase 2 data on CT-388 in January, positioning the company to start two Phase 3 trials in the first quarter of this year. The Swiss drugmaker expects its Holly Springs facility to be operational in 2029.

Michael Haley, executive director of Wake County Economic Development, explained how decisions officials in Holly Springs made years ago put the town in the running when Amgen and Roche began looking for sites to support their obesity ambitions.

“They started planning to be a life science manufacturing hub 15, 20 years ago. They focused on very traditional economic development structures,” Haley told BioSpace. Those included a business park, greenfield sites, a graywater system and water and wastewater infrastructure.

Accessing Talent

Such infrastructure investments helped Holly Springs to capitalize on other advantages it offers. It’s located around 20 miles from Raleigh, North Carolina, which site selection specialist Global Location Strategies (GLS) ranked as the best place in the U.S. to build a biologics production plant.

GLS CEO Didi Caldwell told BioSpace that the Raleigh-Cary metro area, which includes Holly Springs, topped the rankings because of the strength of its biopharma manufacturing workforce and strong pipeline of talent from universities in the area. The Durham–Chapel Hill metro area, which is next to Raleigh-Cary, ranked third on GLS’ list.

“Durham-Chapel Hill is number one for biologic specialization,” Caldwell said. “They have this deep, deep heritage of biotech, pharma and regulated manufacturing, so they have an exceptional concentration of bioprocessing and quality assurance roles.”

The availability of seasoned professionals and new trainees, plus the ability to attract people from other parts of the country and world, is critical because access to talent is a problem nationally. Caldwell said there are 60,000 vacancies in the pharma industry, adding that “you can build more plants, but if you cannot staff them you’re not going to be able to operate them.”

Managing Growth Pressures

Demand for talent in Holly Springs is increasing, with Amgen creating 370 jobs and Roche planning to employ more than 500 people at its site. Haley expressed confidence that the region can fill the new roles, pointing to the tens of thousands of people who annually graduate from local universities and community colleges or relocate to the region.

“Fifteen years ago, we had 35,000 life science employees and people would ask, ‘Can we maintain our talent advantage?’ Now we have over 75,000 people,” Haley said. “We met the challenges through the years and we feel very confident . . . that we can continue to meet the needs of our existing companies.”

As well as nurturing the talent to staff the sites, the region needs to ensure infrastructure including water and energy supply can cope with the rising demand. Holly Springs invested ahead of the local surge in obesity drug manufacturing, but meeting the needs of a growing manufacturing footprint and population, which increased 10% from 2020 to 2024 in the Raleigh metro area, is an ongoing challenge.

Amid a data center boom, manufacturing facilities are part of a broader set of sites clamoring for water and energy. A company has applied to build a 300-megawatt data center about 10 miles from Holly Springs, sparking pushback from residents concerned about energy and water consumption. Similar situations are playing out across North Carolina as companies apply to build data centers.

Haley said there is “pressure on infrastructure, just because of the sheer growth that we’re seeing” and the complexity of projects has changed dramatically in the past 5 to 10 years, with facilities requiring more capacity for water, wastewater and power. Officials have responded to the changes.

“It’s hard to play catch-up when you’re dealing with infrastructure. You’re always a little behind the eight ball,” Haley said. “For us, the solution is to have as much foresight as possible so that our utility providers are calculating potential demand, putting that into their own models and acting accordingly when they’re developing the infrastructure that they need.”

https://www.biospace.com/business/how-north-carolina-attracted-amgen-and-roche-to-become-a-next-gen-obesity-drug-production-hotspot

OpenAI Rewrites 'Sloppy' Pentagon AI Deal After Backlash Over Surveillance Risks

OpenAI - which millions of users trust with everything from legal documents to tax returns - is revising its newly signed contract with the US Department of War, just days after it was announced that they would replace Anthropic for use in government systems because the rushed rollout "looked opportunistic and sloppy." 

Hours after negotiations collapsed between the Pentagon and rival startup Anthropic on Friday, the San Francisco-based company agreed to supply its AI models for use in classified military operations. The breakdown followed talks with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over how the government could deploy advanced AI tools.

OpenAI initially described its agreement as containing "more guardrails than any previous agreement for classified AI deployments, including Anthropic’s." But on Monday, CEO Sam Altman said the company was working with the department to add explicit contractual language barring the intentional use of its systems for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons or nationals.

"The AI system shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of US persons and nationals," Altman said the revised terms would state, adding that intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency would be excluded from the deal for now.

So - while OpenAI has likely bought some legal cover with these changes, there's always the possibility of unintentional use. 

From a Monday update to OpenAI's statement on the deal: 

Throughout our discussions, the Department made clear it shares our commitment to ensuring our tools will not be used for domestic surveillance. To make our principles as clear as possible, we worked together to add additional language to our agreement. 

This language makes explicit that our tools will not be used to conduct domestic surveillance of U.S. persons, including through the procurement or use of commercially acquired personal or identifiable information. The Department also affirmed that our services will not be used by Department of War intelligence agencies like the NSA. Any services to those agencies would require a new agreement. 

The new language reads:

• Consistent with applicable laws, including the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, National Security Act of 1947, FISA Act of 1978, the AI system shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals.
• For the avoidance of doubt, the Department understands this limitation to prohibit deliberate tracking, surveillance, or monitoring of U.S. persons or nationals, including through the procurement or use of commercially acquired personal or identifiable information.

The Department of War plans to convene a working group made up of leaders from the frontier AI labs, cloud providers, and the Department’s policy and operational communities. OpenAI will participate and expect this will be an important forum for ongoing dialogue on emerging AI capabilities, privacy, and national security challenges going forward. 

These updates build on the framework we announced last week and we hope will help create a pathway for other labs to work with the Department going forward.

* * *

Guardrails, Technical Controls and Legal Debate

OpenAI says it can uphold its own red lines through a mix of contractual provisions and technical controls. The company says it will deploy models via cloud access rather than installing them directly onto military hardware and will keep its personnel involved in the loop. It has reiterated that its technology cannot be used to direct autonomous weapons systems.

Altman suggested the company was comfortable relying in part on existing law. “Anthropic seemed more focused on specific prohibitions in the contract, rather than citing applicable laws, which we felt comfortable with,” he said Saturday.

But by Monday, he acknowledged concerns about how AI systems could enable large-scale data gathering.

“We shouldn’t have rushed to get this out on Friday. The issues are super complex, and demand clear communication,” Altman wrote in a message to employees reposted on X. “We were genuinely trying to de-escalate things and avoid a much worse outcome, but I think it just looked opportunistic and sloppy.”

The updated language would “prohibit deliberate tracking, surveillance or monitoring of US persons or nationals, including through the procurement or use of commercially acquired personal or identifiable information,” according to the company.

Fallout From Anthropic’s Collapse

The Pentagon’s pivot to OpenAI came after Anthropic’s negotiations unraveled over two core red lines articulated by its CEO, Dario Amodei: no domestic mass surveillance and no use of AI in lethal autonomous weapons systems - and would require the Pentagon to seek approval to use it in the heat of battle.

According to the Financial Times, Hegseth sought language permitting the models for "all lawful use." Anthropic executives argued existing U.S. law could allow mass AI-enabled data collection and pressed for tighter contractual safeguards until new legislation was enacted. Discussions reportedly stalled over terms governing the mass collection of publicly available data.

The Pentagon had signaled openness to revising phrasing that Anthropic viewed as overly broad, and senior figures at the company believed a deal was close. But negotiations ultimately fell apart.

Since then, the Trump administration has moved aggressively against Anthropic. President Donald Trump has directed agencies to phase out the company’s tools. The Treasury Department, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac all announced they would end Anthropic contracts - with full dis-integration to occur within six months. The Pentagon also designated the company a supply chain risk.

Employee Dissent and Public Protest

The deal has triggered unrest inside OpenAI and across the broader tech sector. Employees have voiced concerns internally and on social media, according to people familiar with the matter. Nearly 900 workers at OpenAI and Google signed an open letter urging leadership to refuse government demands for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous killing capabilities.

Over the weekend, chalk graffiti appeared outside OpenAI’s San Francisco office reading “NO TO MASS SURVEILLANCE” and urging staff to “Do the right thing!”

The controversy has also spilled into the consumer market. Anthropic’s chatbot, Claude, briefly climbed above ChatGPT in Apple’s App Store rankings, according to Sensor Tower data, amid calls online for users to delete ChatGPT.

Miles Brundage, OpenAI’s former head of policy research, publicly criticized the company’s handling of the negotiations, writing that employees’ “default assumption” should be that OpenAI “caved + framed it as not caving,” though he acknowledged the organization is complex and that some staff worked toward what they considered a fair outcome.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/openai-rewrites-sloppy-pentagon-ai-deal-after-backlash-over-surveillance-risks

European Commission Wants Your Free Speech. X Is In The Way

 by Adina Portau via RealClearPolitics.ocm,

Last week, Elon Musk’s X launched a landmark legal challenge against a $140 million fine issued by the European Commission last December under the Digital Services Act, an EU censorship law. The case was filed at the General Court of the EU, which hears high-stakes challenges to EU regulatory and enforcement actions.

The commission claims the fine, the first to be issued under the DSA, was for alleged transparency and procedural breaches, all of which X denies. But the real reason the company was targeted is clear: X is a free speech platform, and Elon Musk refuses to implement online censorship in the EU and around the world.

This case, which ADF International is proud to support, concretizes the severe threat to free speech posed by the DSA. The EU law, which came into force in 2024, requires “very large online platforms,” like X, Meta, and Google (platforms with more than 45 million users per month), which operate or are accessible in the EU, to remove so-called “illegal content.”

“Illegal content” is defined in line with a plethora of anti-free speech legislation across EU countries, such as in Germany, where it is illegal to insult a politician (Section 188 German Criminal Code). The legislation additionally requires platforms to “mitigate” so-called “systemic risks,” such as “negative effects” on “civic discourse,” “electoral processes,” and “gender-based violence.”

Codes of conduct have also been added to the legislation regarding “disinformation,” “hate speech,” and guidelines on electoral processes and the protection of minors, resulting in 153 pages of additional regulations that were never voted on. Platforms face massive fines of up to 6% of global annual turnover for non-compliance with the DSA and can even be suspended in the EU.

The vague terms used in the legislation and codes of conduct are extremely broad and lack precise legal definitions, meaning they are ideal tools for the commission to censor disfavored views. And the commission’s reach extends far beyond Europe through the DSA.

A recent report from the House Judiciary Committee showed big tech platforms face immense pressure from the commission to set their global content moderation rules to censorial DSA standards. This means the EU law is censoring speech not just in Europe, but also in the United States and around the whole world.

The case of Finnish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen demonstrates what DSA censorship will look like in practice. After six years of criminal prosecution, Päivi is awaiting a verdict from the Supreme Court of Finland for tweeting a Bible verse. She was prosecuted under the “War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity” section of Finland’s criminal code. Under the DSA, censorial laws like this will become the global baseline.

Since Elon Musk bought X and turned it into a free speech platform, Brussels has been clear about its hostility toward the platform. Former European Commissioner Thierry Breton issued a stark warning in 2023 stating: “You can run but you can’t hide … fighting disinformation will be legal obligation under #DSA. … Our teams will be ready for enforcement.” Former commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová added: “Twitter has attracted a lot of attention, and its actions and compliance with EU law will be scrutinized vigorously and urgently.”

In this context, it’s clear why the commission gave X the first-ever DSA fine last December. They were sending a message to all big tech platforms about what will happen to platforms that refuse to accept censorship.

That is what makes X’s legal challenge so important – they are fighting for the right of citizens around the world to freely express their views online. In this case, X is challenging the centralized powers given to the commission by the DSA, which it argues violate its right to due process and are contrary to the rule of law.

The commission is able to set the rules for content moderation, set up the infrastructure, launch investigations, and issue penalties under the DSA, all with no meaningful oversight. If this is allowed to stand, the EU will have the unchallenged ability to police the global public square, with dire consequences for online free speech.

Now the court has an opportunity to hold the commission to account. An oral hearing is expected in the case, potentially by the end of 2026, and the subsequent ruling will affect how all big tech platforms are moderated by the DSA. X is arguing for the fine to be withdrawn, and if the basis for the fine is found not to be compliant with other EU laws, specific provisions in the legislation could be annulled.

This case is the first ever challenge of the commission’s bid to become a global censor. The outcome matters deeply for the free speech rights of billions of people around the world.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/european-commission-wants-your-free-speech-x-way

Oil Spikes To Session High As Iraq Starts Shutting Output At Massive Oil Field

 Here are the most critical developments unfolding in the US-Iran conflict: 

• Iraq's crude oil output is being significantly curtailed. An update from Iraq specifies a shutdown of 460,000 bpd at West Qurna 2 and a cut of 700,000 bpd at Rumaila, while warning that more than 3 million bpd could be forced offline in the coming days if tanker access remains limited.

• Export crude bottlenecks are developing across Iraq. Storage at southern export terminals is nearing critical capacity because tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has been paralyzed. Iraq has also halted most Kurdistan-to-Turkey exports via Ceyhan, leaving only about 50,000 bpd for domestic use.

• Iranian retaliation expanded on Tuesday, with Gulf states' energy infrastructure hit by multiple drones. This included a drone strike on Fujairah in the UAE, a key bunkering and crude-loading hub outside the Strait of Hormuz, as well as a drone strike at the Port of Salalah in Oman.

• The U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran is intensifying. Strikes are said to be hitting major targets, including state media, military command sites, and leadership compounds, with the reported Iranian death toll rising to 787 since the start of Operation Epic Fury.

• The war is spreading into a broader regional conflict. Israel has expanded attacks into Lebanon, including renewed strikes on Beirut and a ground move into the south, while regional actors such as Qatar and possibly Saudi Arabia are portrayed as being drawn more directly into the conflict.

• A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman called on all parties in the conflict to ensure the safe transit of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, as Beijing's cheap crude imports from the region are under threat.

• There are reports that a costly critical air defense missile shortage has materialized in Gulf states. Israel was seen using its Iron Beam laser system in recent days.

*   *   * 

 

Update(0920ET): In a massive though not completely unexpected development, Iraq has shut down 460,000 barrels per day of production at the West Qurna 2 field, Iraqi oil officials told Reuters. Officials warned the country will be forced to cut more than 3 million barrels per day within days if oil tankers cannot move freely and access loading terminals, as confirmed in Bloomberg.

On Tuesday, Iraq reduced output at the Rumaila oil field by 700,000 barrels per day. Rumaila is the second-largest oil field in the world, and storage levels at southern export terminals have reached critical capacity due to disruptions and slowdowns in tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, according to local officials.

Importantly, Iraq also halted crude exports from its semi-autonomous Kurdistan region through the key pipeline to Turkey’s port of Ceyhan, according to sources cited by Bloomberg. Roughly 200,000 barrels per day have been shut in as producers cut output amid escalating regional conflict. Only about 50,000 barrels per day are now being produced for domestic use.

Energy infrastructure in northern Kurdistan has faced repeated attacks during prior unrest. And now with major fields throttling output and exports constrained, oil prices are surging.

Targeting Gulf production from across water in Iran....

* * *

Israeli and US forces pressed forward with their assault on Iran, striking targets across the country, including Iran's state broadcaster and central military command centers, as the official death toll has climbed to 787 Iranians killed since the start of the Trump-ordered Operation Epic Fury. The US has sustained at least six troop deaths and several more seriously wounded.

Fears that this could open to a broader multi-front war appear to be coming to reality, as at the same time Israel escalated operations on a second front, intensifying airstrikes on Lebanon and launching a new ground incursion into the south. Beirut is once again under Israeli bombs, after Israel accused Hezbollah of firing rockets on the north. What's more is that Kann News is citing a senior Israeli official as follows: We assess that Saudi Arabia will attack Iran soon after it was attacked yesterday. The war is expanding.

Beirut on fire, via AP

The conflict has continued to spread across the Gulf. Saudi authorities said two drones struck the US Embassy in Riyadh, igniting a small fire and causing minor damage. However, there's been surprisingly little information or video to come out of this major incident.

Qatar has formally joined the war on the US-Israeli side, having already said it took out a pair of Iranian jets. The tiny oil and gas rich GCC country Foreign Ministry stated that "the two Iranian planes shot down by Qatar yesterday were flying toward Doha and were warned before being shot down. Qatar is searching for the pilots."

Iran has continued its retaliation by targeting energy infrastructure across the Gulf, driving global oil and gas prices sharply higher. As we reported previously, Qatar's state-owned petroleum company suspended all LNG production after two of its facilities were hit.

The status of the vital Strait of Hormuz remains a big unknown, with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announcing that the vital oil transit chokepoint for roughly one-fifth of global oil consumption is now "closed". While the consensus is that after the US blew up all or most of the Iranian Navy's vessels, it doesn't have the maritime power to effect a blockage, the IRGC can certainly wreak havoc through its drone and missile arsenal.

Iran has also continued missile attacks on Israel, with the Israeli military reporting interceptions over West Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Eilat. At least 10 people have been killed in Israel since Saturday. Many dozens, possibly in the hundreds, have been injured and wounded. Fox live shots and correspondent on the ground Trey Yingst have been offering proof that Israel's anti-air defenses are routinely being overwhelmed and significant impacts have resulted.

Costly interceptors are also being expended at a high rate across the Gulf, and these countries are urgently appealing for more from Washington, but they will soon be in short supply at this rate. The Wall Street Journal warns as follows:

Persian Gulf nations targeted by Iran have, so far, managed to limit the damage by deploying sophisticated U.S.-made air defenses against the hundreds of drones and missiles that have rained on their cities.

With costly interceptors and radar, all integrated with the U.S. military, the oil-rich Gulf Arab states have fielded some of the most advanced air defenses in the world, despite their small populations and militaries.

A crucial variable in this war, however, is whether these monarchies start running out of interceptors before the Iranian regime runs out of projectiles. At current burn rates, it could be very soon.

Alarmingly, initial White House talking points of a 'limited' campaign of mere days (and based on pre-war comments during the build-up) have now gone out the window as on Monday President Trump and Secretary Rubio indicated the operation could run for roughly four or five weeks. But they also admitted there's a basically open-ended timeline to "do whatever it takes" to eliminate Tehran’s missile and nuclear capabilities, and to destroy the country's missile arsenal.

But then here's what the Trump administration failed to take into account, or perhaps chose to completely ignore. Trita Parsi told The Economist:

"This is not a monarchy in which the shah is gone and you take out all of the male heirs." He explained: "This is a system—not a particularly popular system—but nevertheless one with a security establishment that is not dependent on a single person or a single family."

Pentagon brass doesn't seem to know what the plan is, how long it will last, or why they're there: "The hours, days, and perhaps weeks ahead will challenge you. There will be noise and confusion."

There are reports that in the instance of the Ayatollah's death under US-Israeli bombs, which is the first thing that happened Saturday as he was apparently not in hiding, Iran put a strict emergency protocol in place. This reportedly involved plans for the IRGC and various military units across the country to begin acting autonomously within their respective chains of command, so that a state decapitation strike won't disrupt the ongoing retaliation. 

That retaliation has already killed at least six US service members stationed at Gulf bases:

The U.S. is facing increasing risks to its military forces and diplomatic presence in the Middle East as Iran is launching waves of missile and drone attacks across the region that are testing its ability to defend a swath of territory.

U.S. Central Command said that six servicemembers had been killed in the three-day-old campaign on Monday. The six died in a drone strike on a base in Kuwait, The Wall Street Journal reported. Separately, three American F-15 jets were downed by apparent friendly fire over Kuwait on Monday, in one of the most significant losses of equipment for the U.S. in the operation.

Bases that house U.S. forces have also come under attack in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

In at least one instance troops were in a mobile trailer which served as a makeshift command center or office when an Iranian projectile hit.

The White House has meanwhile said it is not at all in diplomatic contact with the Iranians, who may want to impose a deeper cost before even starting a discussion for an offramp - and it's the same with the Gulf states - there doesn't seem to be any top-level contact.

Rubio and Hegseth have kept repeating that "this is not Iraq" and have insisted this is not another Neocon "endless war". They might be right in that what just opened up might prove far worse than the Iraq war. So far there's no US boots on the ground that we know of, but we're already at that admin talking point of 'we haven't ruled it out'. White House leadership has also been surprisingly open as to Israel's role in the US decision to attack Iran.

More latest headlines via Newsquawk: 

• Israeli defence forces announce that they did not deploy ground troops in Iran, Israeli source report.

• The IDF announces that they have struck Iran's leadership compound in Tehran.

• IAEA confirms recent damage to entrance buildings of Iran's underground Natanz fuel enrichment plan.

• Israel's Home Front announce early warning after detection of rockets fired from Iran toward Israel, Al Jazeera reported.

• Israeli Military Spokesperson said it is not likely that Israel will deploy ground forces to Iran as it is not practical.

• IDF spokesperson said launches detected from Iran and alerts expected in the northern area from the Golan to northern Sharon.

• Iran's military said it targeted the Al Udeid base with missiles.

• Iran's IRCG said they targeted the aircraft carrier "Lincoln" with 4 cruise missiles; The aircraft carrier "Lincoln" headed towards the southeastern Indian Ocean , Al Arabiya reported.

• Member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts said choosing a successor to Supreme Leader Khamenei “won’t take long”, according to ISNA.

• Hezbollah said it targeted the Ramat David Air Base in northern Israel.

• US VP Vance said President Trump wants to make sure Iran never had nuclear weapons, adds the US has a lot of capacity in Iran.

• US President Trump held a call with Kurdish leaders in Iraq on Sunday to discuss the US-Israel war with Iran and what might come next, according to three sources with knowledge of the called cited by Axios.

• US is said to prepare for a 'pickup' of attacks in Iran during the next 24 hours, according to CNN.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/israel-opens-second-front-day-4-trumps-iran-war-irgc-refuses-back-down

Iran Expands Strikes On Gulf Energy Infrastructure As More Oil Hubs Hit

 One day after a reported Iranian drone strike forced Saudi Arabia's largest oil refinery offline, with high-resolution post-strike satellite imagery showing visible damage, multiple reports on Tuesday morning suggest additional energy infrastructure in two Gulf states has also been targeted in suspected Iranian drone attacks.

Bloomberg reports that "falling debris" from an intercepted drone sparked a major fire at the United Arab Emirates' major oil-trading hub of Fujairah.

The Fujairah Media Office wrote on X that civil defense units are suppressing the fire at the energy facility, while operations at the storage terminal and an oil refinery were suspended one day earlier.

Fujairah is a major storage, blending, trading, and ship-refueling hub on the Gulf of Oman, near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz but outside the Persian Gulf. This makes it a partial bypass route if Hormuz is threatened.

The energy hub hosts the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, which lets Abu Dhabi export crude directly to the Arabian Sea, and S&P Global says the port is linked to a 1.5 million b/d pipeline.

Footage circulating on X shows another incident earlier, this time at the Port of Salalah, of what appears to be an Iranian drone striking energy-related infrastructure. 

On Monday, a reported Iranian drone strike on Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura complex caused Saudi Arabia's largest refinery to go offline.

GEOINT from spatial intelligence firm Vantor shows high-resolution satellite imagery of the aftermath:

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures and European natural gas have spiked as the world's most critical maritime energy chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz, remains paralyzed, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander threatening fire and destruction to any ship that transits the narrow waterway.

As of 0630 ET, Brent crude futures are up 7.7% to nearly $84/bbl.

Beyond Iran targeting critical infrastructure, soft targets have also been hit, including skyscrapers, at least one data center, airports, and the list goes on across Gulf states. Bloomberg's top commodities analyst warned that water desalination plants could be next (read report).

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/iran-reportedly-expands-strikes-gulf-energy-infrastructure-more-oil-hubs-hit

Supreme Court Sides With Parents Over Kids' Gender Disclosure In California

 Golden State groomers were dealt a devastating blow on Monday after the Supreme Court sided with parents challenging school policies in California that restrict when educators may disclose changes to a student’s name or pronouns, handing parental rights advocates an early but significant victory in a closely watched culture-war dispute.

In an unsigned 'shadow docket' order, the justices restored a lower court’s injunction blocking enforcement of policies that prevent teachers from informing parents when their child socially transitions at school. The Court said the parents are likely to succeed on their claim that the policies violate their First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion.

“The parents who assert a free exercise claim have sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender, and they feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs,” the Court wrote. “California’s policies violate those beliefs.”

The decision does not definitively resolve the constitutional question. Instead, it reinstates a preliminary order issued by a federal district judge while the case proceeds through the appellate process. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, emphasized in a concurring opinion that the ruling is “preliminary,” underscoring that the Court’s assessment that the parents are “likely” to prevail does not constitute a final merits determination.

The case centers on whether public school officials may withhold information from parents about a student’s gender identity or use of different names and pronouns at school. California officials have argued that such policies are designed to protect student privacy and safety, particularly for LGBTQ youth who may face difficult home environments.

“The State argues that its policies advance a compelling interest in student safety and privacy,” the Court acknowledged. “But those policies cut out the primary protectors of children’s best interests: their parents.”

At least five members of the Court’s conservative majority voted to grant the emergency relief, though Justice Neil Gorsuch did not publicly disclose his vote. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito indicated they would have gone further by also siding with teachers who argue their own constitutional rights are implicated.

The Court’s three liberal justices dissented. Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, criticized the majority for acting through the Court’s emergency docket before the lower courts had completed full review.

“This case cries out for reflection and explanation,” Kagan wrote, arguing that the legal questions are “novel” and deeply contested. She warned that the Court appeared “impatient” to intervene before the appellate process had run its course.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta had urged the justices to deny the emergency request, contending that the district court’s order would require “instant, dramatic changes” to school policies and could cause irreversible harm to students whose gender identity is disclosed without their consent.

“For many students, the consequences of compelling the disclosure of confidential information about their gender identity would be irreversible,” Bonta’s office wrote in court filings.

The case now returns to the U.S. Court of Appeals for further proceedings on the merits. After that court issues a decision, the dispute could return to the Supreme Court for full briefing and oral argument — setting the stage for a potentially sweeping ruling on the scope of parental rights and student privacy in public schools.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/supreme-court-sides-parents-over-kids-gender-disclosure-california