Magic win pushes Pistons to brink of NBA playoff ouster

World champion Lando Norris ended Mercedes' early-season supremacy by steering his upgraded McLaren to pole position on Friday for Saturday's sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix.

The 26-year-old Briton outpaced championship-leading Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli, in his Mercedes, by 0.222 seconds with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri third, adrift by a further 0.239 seconds.

The two McLarens, equipped with a successful upgrade package during F1's five-week hiatus due to the conflict in the Middle East, shone in the Florida heat to finish ahead of their main rivals. 

"It was great, a perfect result for us and a nice way to reward the team," said Norris. "We've got some new upgrades so it's nice for me to feel some grip again. We've known that this track has always been good for us.

"But we knew, too, that what we were bringing would make a good step and it has and our estimations have been correct."

It was the first time this year that Mercedes had been outqualified after dominating the three previous Grands Prix. 

Ferrari also impressed, but were less competitive than they had been earlier in practice with their heavily revised car. Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari ahead of a revitalised four-time champion Max Verstappen in his revised Red Bull, Mercedes' George Russell and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari.

Franco Colapinto was eighth for an improved Alpine ahead of Isack Hadjar in the second Red Bull and Pierre Gasly in the second Alpine. 

In hot conditions in the Sunshine State, Valtteri Bottas led out in his Cadillac with all 22 cars joining the fray immediately at the Miami International Autodrome.

Leclerc, who was quickest in practice earlier, was soon on top ahead of Antonelli by 0.022 with Hamilton third, three-tenths adrift ahead of Verstappen and Gasly. Russell struggled to keep pace before Norris and Piastri grabbed the initiative.

Norris, clearly in the mood, clocked 1:28.723 to top Piastri by four-tenths until Leclerc split the two McLarens ahead of Hamilton and the Mercedes pair, leaving Verstappen down in seventh in SQ1.

The first action saw the expected elimination of both Aston Martins and both Cadillacs along with Haas's Esteban Ocon and the luckless Liam Lawson in his lemon-liveried Racing Bulls.

SQ2 began with another fast lap from Leclerc, confirming the success of Ferrari's upgrades, and Piastri, this time dividing him from Hamilton, the McLaren only 0.036 adrift of Leclerc's pace.

Russell was fourth and Verstappen fifth ahead of championship leader Antonelli and world champion Norris as both Audis missed the cut to reach the top 10 along with Oliver Bearman's Haas, the two Williams and Arvid Lindblad in the second Racing Bulls' car.

After the two runs on mediums, the SQ3 shootout between the top three teams made a slow start on softs, reducing the action to one fast lap each for pole. 

Russell went first but could not deliver the pace to maintain Mercedes' run of qualifying domination this year as he wound up sixth, six-tenths adrift of fastest man Norris, whose upgraded McLaren took him to pole in 1:27.869.

Antonelli made a valiant late effort to beat him, but settled for second with Piastri third and Leclerc fourth ahead of Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton.

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About 1,500 people demonstrated in Venezuela on Friday, denouncing a 26 percent income increase announced by the government as grossly insufficient in a crisis-hit economy.

Acting president Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday hiked the monthly "comprehensive minimum income" from $190 to $240 -- a package comprised mostly of government bonuses that do not count toward retirement benefits or holiday pay. 

Protesters chanted "a bonus is not a salary" as they marched through the center of Caracas, with dozens of riot police looking on. Smaller protests were reported in other parts of the country. 

A family of five's basic food needs are estimated to cost about $700 a month in Venezuela.

Juraina Palacios, a 55-year-old teacher, said of Rodriguez: "What she did yesterday was an outrage." 

"It's a joke, a trick," said union leader Franklin Velasquez, 61.

Rodriguez -- Nicolas Maduro's vice president before US forces captured him in a stunning raid in January -- is grappling with leading a country that has the world's largest proven oil reserves but an economy in shambles.

Announcing the new minimum wage package on Thursday, she said it was "the most significant increase in recent years" but acknowledged that it was still "not enough."

Demands for better working conditions are intensifying in a devastated economy that shows no signs of recovery following decades of chronic price hikes. In 2025, Venezuela recorded inflation of 475 percent, the highest in the world.

"Workers cannot continue to bear the burden of a crisis they did not cause," union leader Jose Patines said Friday.

Rodriguez has promised better days ahead thanks to reforms opening the oil and mining sector to investment.

Venezuela has signed agreements with various multinational oil companies, including Chevron, Eni, and Repsol, and on Thursday welcomed the first direct flight from the United States in seven years, the latest sign of thawing relations since Washington deposed Maduro.

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(The Center Square) – In a rare show of solidarity, building trade unions and U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., want to streamline the federal permitting process so that projects stay on time and on budget.

On Thursday, the freshman senator announced the Unlock American Energy and Jobs Act of 2026, which he says will target “four key chokepoints” that are slowing infrastructure projects, driving up costs, and blocking American energy from reaching global markets. 

“Pennsylvania has the workers, resources, and infrastructure to power this region and the country for decades,” said McCormick. “What we’re missing is a federal permitting system with clear rules and predictable timelines.”

More than $1 trillion in infrastructure projects are currently tied up in federal permitting reform, according to McCormick’s office, which represents an estimated $2.4 trillion in unrealized economic activity and thousands of jobs. The federal Permitting Dashboard currently lists more than 650 projects.

Construction costs are 24% to 30% higher when projects are held up, McCormick’s office said. 

His office cited a joint report conducted by the Foundation for American Innovation and the National Association of Manufacturers that showed “nearly 51 percent of manufacturers say permitting uncertainty discourages them from investing in new or expanded U.S. capacity, while nearly 66 percent say they would invest more if the process were faster and more predictable.”

McCormick also referenced rising electricity demands and global competition in his proposal and said the bill establishes “clear timelines, modernizes approval processes, removes unnecessary barriers, and reduces litigation-driven delays that have made it increasingly difficult to build in the United States.”

The four “specific chokepoints” the proposal addresses are water permitting reform, LNG export deregulation, nuclear licensing modernization, and NEPA litigation reform, which deals with the National Environmental Policy Act. 

McCormick’s bill has the support of a wide variety of organizations, ranging from energy companies to organized labor, the latter of whom backed his opponent, former Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, in the 2024 election.

Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council President Rob Bair said they support McCormick’s push to lead on permitting at the federal level. 

“For far too long, this cumbersome process has held up or prevented critical infrastructure and energy projects that Pennsylvania needs to grow our economy,” he said. “We look forward to his legislation passing both chambers and we look forward to working with the senator to build out Pennsylvania.”

Jim Snell, Steamfitters Local 420 business manager, said that they are ready to build, but “too many projects are stuck in permitting delays” and applauds McCormick’s proposal, which he thinks will help keep the state competitive and “unlocks potential to build critical energy infrastructure.”

Ryan Boyer, president of Laborers’ District Council of Philadelphia, echoed a similar sentiment and described the proposal as “commonsense legislation” which will “help create good-paying union jobs, strengthen our economy, and keep Pennsylvania on the rise.”

The announcement of the Unlock American Energy and Jobs Act of 2026 also includes words of support from leaders of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, and Constellation.

“For Pennsylvania’s energy workforce and building trades, this bill is long overdue,” McCormick said. “It’s time we reform our current system and get America building again.”

Permitting reform has been a focus of McCormick’s since he was sworn into office last year. 

During a telephone town hall in March, McCormick said that he believes that there was a “path to permitting reform this year.” 

“I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but I think there’s a decent chance it will happen and that’s a huge deal for the country and Pennsylvania,” he said on March 10. “And it’s necessary to meet the energy demand that’s going up because of data centers and things like that.” 

McCormick referenced some permitting reform that has recently happened at the state level, but said there is a need for the federal government to address the matter, as well.

The World Health Organization said Friday that divided member states want up to a year of further negotiations on the missing piece of an international agreement on handling future pandemics.

After a week of grindingly slow progress in talks at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, countries came to a stop and will decide on the next steps at the annual assembly of member states, to be held in the Swiss city from May 18 to 23.

Wealthy countries and developing nations are at loggerheads over how the pandemic treaty, which was adopted last year, will work in practice.

The agreement's unfinalised Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) mechanism deals with sharing access to pathogens with pandemic potential, then sharing benefits derived from them, such as vaccines, tests and treatments.

"Real progress was made on the PABS annex and I am confident through continued negotiations differences will be overcome," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

"Member states should continue approaching the outstanding issues with a sense of urgency because the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if.

"The PABS annex is the last piece of the puzzle not only for the Pandemic Agreement but all initiatives that WHO and member states have implemented as a result of lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic."

- World 'largely unprepared' -

In May 2025, WHO members adopted a landmark agreement on tackling future health crises, after more than three years of negotiations sparked by the shock of Covid-19.

The accord aims to prevent a repeat of the disjointed international response that surrounded the coronavirus crisis, by improving global coordination, surveillance and access to vaccines.

PABS, the heart of the treaty, was left out to get the bulk of the deal over the line.

The outcome of this week's work will be presented to the annual assembly, which will be asked to consider continuing the process "and submit the outcome to the next assembly in May 2027", or an earlier special session later this year.

Only once the PABS annex is complete will countries be able to start ratifying the treaty.

Access to genetic sequences remains a sticking point.

Negotiations are also stalled by a demand from developing countries for guarantees of equitable access to vaccines outside pandemics, as well as wranglings over financial contributions that participating pharmaceutical companies should make.

New Zealand's former prime minister Helen Clark, co-chair of The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, said the failure to reach agreement this week was "deeply regrettable".

"If a new pathogen emerged today, the world remains largely unprepared for it. A lack of action to prevent and prepare for the next pandemic threat is a disservice to humanity," she said in a statement.

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A Swiss museum made a splash on Friday by inviting in the public in their swimwear to enjoy Paul Cezanne's iconic paintings of people bathing.

At the Fondation Beyeler outside Basel, a young woman in a black swimsuit with a towel draped over her shoulder sat gazing at one artwork, while to her right a shirtless man in orange trunks perused the brush strokes.

"It's quite absurd" and "daring" as an idea, but "I like it", Julien Rondez, a 34-year-old Swiss graphic designer, told AFP.

He agreed to "play along" with the concept even though he had already seen the exhibition.

This time, he said, the visitors in their swimming costumes become "a kind of artwork within the museum".

Sat on a green towel on a bench and browsing the exhibition catalogue, he had on his stripey swimming trunks -- and the audio guide headphones.

Walking around the museum in a swimsuit was "difficult at first" because only a minority of visitors were doing likewise.

But in the end, "it's fun", he said, adding it felt a bit like a day "by the pool" -- especially since the weather was hot.

- Knowing smiles -

In the museum garden, visitors sunbathed on the lawn or by a pond bordered by water lilies and rushes.

"It's a rather unusual experience," said Lionnel, who was wearing a colourful sequinned bikini.

"You're always looking" left and right to see if there are other visitors in swimwear, said the 53-year-old, who works in human resources.

"If there are, it's cool. We exchange a quick glance, a knowing smile. It's really nice," he added, while admitting that overall "it might be a little distracting" when it comes to concentrating on the paintings.

Those wishing to switch into bathing gear can do so in a changing room.

To encourage museum-goers to get into the spirit of things, those arriving in swimming costumes can avoid the 25 Swiss francs ($32) entry fee.

Some visitors even donned swimming caps, while others were walking around barefoot.

Laurence Gainet, a gallery owner who came from Dijon in France to see the exhibition, hadn't heard about the contemporary and modern art museum's "Day of the Bathers".

"At first, it's surprising; you wonder if it's a performance," she said.

- Breaking the code -

Clad in orange trunks, Marc Schmidlin, a 40-year-old landscape gardener, came from Thurgau, around 150 kilometres away.

"I didn’t want to miss out on this event; I really like events that are unique and special, and it’s not every day you get to visit a museum for free," he told AFP.

The "Bathers" series by French Post-Impressionist Cezanne, who died in 1906 aged 67, depicts nude figures integrated into nature, closely intertwining bodies and the landscape.

"You can feel from Cezanne paintings that he wants to be inspired by nature and expose that organic experience of the nature, of the people," Ana Lopes, a 34-year-old Portuguese architect working in Basel, told AFP, while wearing a one-piece swimsuit.

"Dressing in swimwear is close to that, because you are almost naked."

The project was conceived by the renowned Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.

"This intervention playfully brings the artist's vision of the human body in nature into the present day," the museum says.

"The unusual setting opens a dialogue between art and viewer, shifting perception, dissolving distance, and introducing a touch of humour and freedom."

Lukas Rupt, a 26-year-old environmental engineer, also in swimwear, thought the concept was a smart move.

"I like this idea to break this code," he said. "I like to go out of the comfort zone."

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Cuba said US President Donald Trump's fresh sanctions on the island amounted to "collective punishment" on Friday, as an enormous May 1 procession outside the American embassy in Havana vowed to "defend the homeland."

Trump has mused about taking over Cuba, which lies 145 kilometers (90 miles) from Florida and has been under a nearly continuous US trade embargo since Fidel Castro led a communist revolution in 1959.

In an executive order on Friday, the US leader said he would impose sanctions on people involved in sweeping sections of the Cuban economy, which is steered by the government.

The latest sanctions constitute "collective punishment" of the nation's people, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said.

"We firmly reject the recent unilateral coercive measures adopted by the #UnitedStates government," he posted on X in English. "These actions demonstrate an intention to impose, once again, collective punishment on the Cuban people."

In a Spanish-language statement, he called the sanctions "illegal" and "abusive."

Trump's order said the measures target people known to "operate in or have operated in the energy, defense and related materiel, metals and mining, financial services, or security sector of the Cuban economy, or any other sector of the Cuban economy", as well as Cuban officials judged to have engaged in "serious human rights abuses" or corruption.

Already in the throes of economic stagnation, the situation worsened for Cuba following a fuel blockade imposed by Washington in January, with only one Russian oil tanker making it through since then.

Supply shortages and power cuts have become the norm, and tourism -- once Cuba's most lucrative industry -- has plummeted.

The sanctions come despite moves toward dialogue between the two countries, with senior US officials visiting the island for talks in April.

Friday's fresh measures took effect during May 1 celebrations, which saw huge crowds in Havana march to the US embassy under the slogan "Defend the Homeland." The march was led by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and former revolutionary leader Raul Castro.

The day before, Diaz-Canel had called on Cubans to mobilize "against the genocidal blockade and the crude imperial threats to our country," referring to US actions and rhetoric.

During the rally, authorities claimed to have collected more than six million signatures from Cubans "for the homeland and for peace" over the past six weeks.

Opponents, however, have questioned the method by which the signatures were collected.

State television showed thousands more people assembling in other Cuban cities. 

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Actors created with artificial intelligence will not be eligible for an Oscar, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Friday as it launched a crackdown on the use of AI.

New rules include a requirement that only real, live human performers -- not their AI avatars -- are eligible for the film world's biggest prizes, and screenplays must have been penned by a person, rather than a chatbot.

"In the Acting category, only roles credited in the film's legal billing and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent will be considered eligible," the Academy said.

"In the Writing categories, the rules codify that screenplays must be human-authored to be eligible."

The ruling comes days after an AI version of the late Val Kilmer was unveiled to an audience of cinema owners, a year after the "Top Gun" star's death.

A youthful, digital version of Kilmer appeared in the trailer for archeological action pic "As Deep as the Grave," telling another character: "Don't fear the dead and don't fear me."

The project was created with the enthusiastic support of the actor's family, who granted access to Kilmer's video archives, which were used to recreate the actor at multiple stages of his life.

The use of artificial intelligence remains one of the most sensitive issues in the entertainment industry and was central to the 2023 strikes that shut down Hollywood, as actors and writers warned that unchecked technology threatened their livelihoods.

Other updates to the Academy's rules include a change in the way that films can be nominated for best international feature.

Until this year, only a film selected by an official national grouping could be entered -- a problem for any critical movie made in an authoritarian state.

For example, Iranian director Jafar Panahi's "It Was Just an Accident" was nominated earlier this year as a submission from France.

Under the new rules, a non-English language film also can be submitted in the category if it wins a qualifying award at a major international film festival, including Cannes, Berlin, Busan, Venice or Toronto.

In that same category, the film will be deemed the nominee and not the country, and its director will be "listed on the statuette plaque after the film title" along with the country if applicable, the Academy announced.

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(The Center Square) – An Army veteran lawmen believed was going to travel from the Carolinas to Washington in an attempt to kill President Donald Trump will be in federal court on Monday.

Daniel Swain was taken from Tidal Wave Auto Spa in the North Carolina community of Apex on Wednesday. He’s accused of making violent political threats that drew the U.S. Secret Service, the State Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, and a bomb squad to the Lake Pine Drive location.

According to the federal complaint, "The defendant, did knowingly and willfully make a threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States." He's charged with communicating a threat against the president.

If convicted, he could face five years in prison.

Swain, of Summerville, S.C., was in a Wake County District Court on Thursday, with a detainer applied by the Secret Service. Initial charges were resisting a public officer, possession of methamphetamine and a fictitious license plate. The judge said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina was obtaining a criminal complaint and arrest warrant for threats against the presidency.

Apex police said he had written threatening messages on the outside of his vehicle. One message read, “headed to WSH to kill the Pres.” The rear window messages said, “Tell Donald he is fired,” “5 dead 5 years,” and “3 Navy, Teacher & Trucker.”

A message on the passenger side window told the read to commit suicide. That was among the messages scrawled out after a car wash, according to the federal complaint relying on surveillance video.

According to published reports, a federal warrant says Swain’s motivation is the deaths of his father, uncle and grandfather, and his belief they were wrong. Threatening posts on Swain's social media platform Facebook drew the attention, and interviews with him, by the Secret Service in January and April of 2025.

North Carolina is running up an infamous listing with threats against second-term Republican President Donald Trump.

Former FBI Director James Comey will be in a Greenville federal courtroom on Monday facing two felony counts of threats against Trump. In May 2025 he posted to social media seashells on the Outer Banks arranged to spell out 86 47 – a commonly interpreted reference for eliminating something (86) and the numerical count (47) of presidents.

In February, Austin Tucker Martin of Moore County was shot and killed by the Secret Service when he drove inside what should have been a secured perimeter at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida home. He had a shotgun and gas can with him; the president and wife Melania were about 1,000 miles north at the White House.

Seventeen months earlier, on Sept. 15, 2024, Trump was golfing at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., when the Secret Service encountered Greensboro native Ryan Routh on the outskirts of the course. He was convicted of attempted assassination.

(The Center Square) – The Trump administration has begun returning $166 billion in tariff refunds, launching a new portal for U.S. importers to claim their money back, but consumers who paid higher prices on imported goods are unlikely to see a cent.

President Donald Trump called the court-ordered refunds "a travesty," writing on social media recently that "handing over 159 billion dollars in tariff refunds to people who have been ripping off our Country for years is unexplainable."

Although Trump said $159 billion was at issue, Customs and Border Protection has put the figure at $166 billion, plus interest, in court records.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in February that Trump exceeded his authority by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs, ordering the refunds. A March The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll found that about 42% of voters say American consumers primarily bear the cost of tariffs, while just 12% think foreign countries pay, and by law, the refunds go only to the businesses that imported the goods, not the consumers who absorbed the costs through higher retail prices.

The Yale Budget Lab, a nonpartisan policy research center, previously estimated that the Section 122 tariffs would mean a loss of between $600 and $800 for the average U.S. household.

"Due to the way the tariffs were collected, the legal recipient of most refunds will be the U.S.-based firm that physically paid the tariff at the time of importation," said Phillip Magness, a senior fellow at the Independent Institute, a nonprofit research organization. "Many of these firms have passed through the burdens of their tariffs onto their clients and onto U.S. consumers in the form of higher prices. Consumers will not realize the full relief of court-ordered refunds even though they incurred the burdens through higher prices that they already paid."

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, both Trump appointees, along with liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Samuel Alito dissented. Roberts wrote that the Constitution gives Congress alone the power to impose tariffs during peacetime and that Congress never clearly delegated that authority to the president under IEEPA. Trump has called the ruling "an unnecessary and expensive slap in the face" to the United States.

CBP launched Phase 1 of its refund system on April 20. U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Richard Eaton, who oversees the refund process, said approximately 21% of total entries subject to IEEPA duties have been accepted for processing, and roughly 3% have already been liquidated and are in the active refund stage, with disbursements flowing through the U.S. Department of the Treasury. CBP anticipates issuing the first refund on or about May 11. Previously, more than 26,000 importers, representing 78% of tariff payments, had registered with CBP for electronic refunds. CBP officials told the court the first phase could process about $120 billion in refunds.

Importers are encountering problems accessing the system, including long wait times to reset usernames and passwords and confusion identifying the correct importer to file a claim. CBP told the court it will issue updated guidance, including updates to its frequently asked questions page.

At least two major companies, FedEx and UPS, have said they will refund customers. Others have not. In March, an Illinois man filed a class-action lawsuit against warehouse retailer Costco seeking consumer refunds, arguing that "the truly injured parties possess no direct avenue for redress." Costco is expected to respond in June to the lawsuit. Costco CEO Ron Vachris said on an earnings call earlier this year that, if the company receives tariff refunds, "our commitment will be to find the best way to return this value to our members through lower prices and better values."

Hours after the Supreme Court ruling, Trump imposed a 10% global tariff under a separate statute, Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. That tariff now faces its own legal challenge in the U.S. Court of International Trade. The administration has also been working to rebuild its tariff framework using Section 301 of the Trade Act, which allows the president to impose tariffs after investigating specific trade issues. Hearings under that process are set for May 5, and new tariffs could be implemented as early as July. Those rates could be higher than the existing 10% global import duty Trump put in place after the Supreme Court ruling.

Magness said the administration's legal maneuvering has no modern precedent.

"Trump's attempts to shoehorn his tariffs under different sections of trade law are unprecedented in the modern era," he told The Center Square. "Past uses of Section 301 have generally followed a more conventional approach where tariffs are initiated on an industry-by-industry basis, as opposed to part of a concerted effort to reconstruct a tariff that the courts struck down under a different law."

Magness compared the strategy to former President Joe Biden's efforts to restore student loan forgiveness after courts blocked his initial program, saying both involved searching other statutes for authority following an initial legal defeat.

"Much like Trump's strategy after the ruling, Biden scoured other statutes for loopholes to reinstate loan forgiveness, and faced similar court challenges to each subsequent measure," Magness said.

Actors created with artificial intelligence will not be eligible for an Oscar, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Friday as it launched a crackdown on the use of AI.

New rules include a requirement that only real, live human performers -- not their AI avatars -- are eligible for the film world's biggest prizes, and screenplays must have been penned by a person, rather than a chatbot.

"In the Acting category, only roles credited in the film's legal billing and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent will be considered eligible," the Academy said.

"In the Writing categories, the rules codify that screenplays must be human-authored to be eligible."

The ruling comes days after an AI version of the late Val Kilmer was unveiled to an audience of cinema owners, a year after the "Top Gun" star's death.

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