☕ Alligator Alcatraz, explained

Good morning!

Big news on the Coca-Cola front - cane sugar may be on its way back.

Overnight, President Trump took to Truth Social to announce a potential recipe change, saying “ have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so”.

“I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!”

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• Israel has bombed the Syrian capital of Damascus, its third strike on the country this week. Syria said the strikes were “a blatant violation” of international law, and killed civilians and soldiers. Israel said it was defending the Druze religious minority, which it said had been targeted by the new Syrian Government. Until December last year, Syria had been ruled by the Assad family dictatorship. Its government was overthrown by a coalition of rebels led by the group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). In the following months, forces associated with the government have attacked, or supported attacks against, some minority groups in Syria. Over the weekend, government forces intervened in a conflict between the Druze religious minority and Bedouin tribes. Israel struck the area where the conflict was taking place before and after a ceasefire was announced, which Syria said killed civilians. Israel said it carried out strikes to defend its borders and the Druze; Israel has a Druze population, some of whom have joined the Israeli Defense Forces.

• The Trump administration cancelled $4 billion in funding for the construction of California’s high-speed rail project on Wednesday, representing nearly a quarter of the funding for the embattled program. It comes as California state officials seek private investment in the project, which was first approved in 2008 and is meant to be completed this decade. Administration officials have slammed the train line, which is intended to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco, as a “train to nowhere,” referencing its delayed completion and its $100 billion price tag. California Governor Gavin Newsom said “all options are on the table” and vowed to fight the funding revocation, which he called illegal.

• Former Vice President Mike Pence broke with Trump Wednesday, calling for the release of sealed Jeffrey Epstein documents after the president dismissed demands as a "big hoax" by Democrats. Pence noted Epstein's prosecution began under Republican President Bush, contradicting Trump's partisan framing of the convicted sex trafficker's case files containing details of his powerful associates. The clash follows DOJ officials' statement that while thousands of sealed documents exist, the rumored "client list" naming Epstein's alleged co-conspirators is fiction. Congressional Democrats have subpoenaed the documents, setting up a potential court battle over materials that could implicate prominent figures from both parties.

• Audun Grønvold, a Norwegian Olympian who won bronze in the ski cross at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, has died after being struck by lightning while on a family holiday. Grønvold was taken to hospital and treated for his injuries, but died on Tuesday evening (local time). The president of the country’s skiing federation, Tove Moe Dyrhaug, said: “Norwegian skiing has lost a prominent figure, who has meant so much to both the Alpine and freestyle communities.”

I’ve got 1 minute

Scale AI has announced it will lay off 14% of its staff - about 200 employees - just weeks after Meta invested billions in the data labeling company and hired away its CEO. The cuts signal challenges in the AI services sector as major tech companies shift their data strategies. Here's what you need to know.

Scale AI

Scale AI uses human workers to label data that trains AI models for major companies like Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI. The company relies heavily on contract workers, often from outside the U.S., to categorize and tag information that helps AI systems learn. About 500 contract workers will also lose their jobs as part of the layoffs.

The cuts

Interim CEO Jason Droege said in an internal memo Wednesday that the company "ramped up our GenAI capacity too quickly over the past year." He cited "inefficiencies and redundancies" created by rapid expansion, including what he called excessive bureaucracy.

The layoffs come as OpenAI and Google have reportedly prepared to stop using Scale AI's services following Meta's investment in the company. Scale AI is also restructuring from 16 teams down to five: code, languages, experts, experimental, and audio.

Meta

Meta acquired a 49% stake in Scale AI for billions of dollars last month and appointed CEO Alexandr Wang to head its superintelligence AI team. The deal marked a wave of major investments and talent acquisitions among top AI companies.

"We are still a well-resourced, well-funded company," Droege said, adding that Scale AI plans to hire in enterprise, public sector, and international markets this year.

Scale AI executives hope the changes will make the company more agile and responsive to market demands.

I’ve got 2 minutes

A new immigration detention facility in Florida is drawing bipartisan criticism after reports of unsanitary conditions, including flooding, overflowing toilets, and swarms of bugs. The facility, nicknamed "Alligator Alcaraz," represents a novel state-federal partnership on immigration enforcement just three weeks after opening. Here's what you need to know.

What happened

Governor Ron DeSantis used emergency state powers to seize a rarely used airfield adjacent to the Florida Everglades to build the detention center. The facility was constructed in eight days using tents for detainees, sleeping pods for guards, and generators for power.

The site costs $450 million annually to operate at $411 per bed—nearly three times more expensive than permanent detention facilities, which cost $157.20 per bed, according to state officials.

What it was built

While state and local authorities cannot enforce immigration laws under Supreme Court precedent, they can hold undocumented migrants until federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents take custody. DeSantis said the facility would also handle deportations.

"We have a runway right there. They can just be flown back to their home country," DeSantis said.

The center supports President Trump's deportation policies, with DeSantis deputizing state and local law enforcement to act as a "force multiplier" for federal immigration authorities.

Conditions

Lawmakers from both parties visited the facility with sharply different assessments. Florida Republican Jay Collins praised the setup, saying: "These are well-built, well-developed tents that are put down in a very safe manner."

Democrats reported being given a "sanitized" tour and said detainees were "crammed in like sardines." They were asked to leave when it started raining, preventing them from seeing potential flooding.

Staff and detainees told media outlets about cold food, faulty air conditioners, lack of hygiene products, and pools of water collecting on cell floors. Staff alleged the facility has no plumbing or waste processing, requiring everything to be shipped off-site.

The response

Florida authorities denied the allegations, saying minimum standards are being met and dismissing logistical concerns as false. President Trump visited the facility and noted the difficulty migrants would have escaping given the swampy surroundings and dangerous wildlife.

DeSantis plans to begin construction on another detention facility in northern Florida, expanding detention capacity for apprehended migrants as part of the broader immigration enforcement effort.

TDU asks