Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) ride on pickup trucks in Kidal after seizing the city in northern Mali

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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(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on European Union cars and trucks to 25%, accusing the EU of violating a trade agreement the bloc says lost its legal foundation after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the authority used to negotiate it.

Trump announced the move Friday on Truth Social, saying the EU "is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal" and pledging no tariff for automakers that produce vehicles in American plants.

The announcement came as American consumers were already stretched by high borrowing costs and eroding confidence. The average auto loan rate hit 9.70% in March, and the typical monthly car payment reached $752, according to Cox Automotive. University of Michigan consumer sentiment fell to 49.8 in April – a new low – as gas prices topped $4 per gallon for the entire month.

Research suggests consumers would bear most of any new tariff's cost. A National Bureau of Economic Research paper found that nearly the entire tariff burden is passed on in the form of higher prices, a finding consistent with research from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Goldman Sachs projected American consumers will pay 55% of tariff costs, U.S. businesses 22% and foreign exporters 18%. A Duke University study found Americans paid more than the tariff amount on European goods during a 2019–21 trade dispute.

A Center Square Voters' Voice Poll conducted in March found 42% of voters already believe American consumers are primarily paying the cost of Trump's tariffs, compared to just 12% who think foreign countries bear the burden.

The EU's car exports to the United States fell 21.4% in value in 2025 to about $36.3 billion, a decline the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) attributed directly to existing U.S. tariffs. ACEA, which represents 17 major automakers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen, said the threatened escalation would be broadly damaging.

"The alternative, a return to 27.5% tariffs – the rate that applied before the Turnberry Deal – and an open-ended trade dispute, would be deeply damaging for Europe's automotive manufacturers, their workers, and the broader EU economy," said Sigrid de Vries, ACEA's director general.

De Vries said around 670,000 new vehicles were exported from the EU to the United States in 2025, making the U.S. Europe's second-largest export market. About 80,200 of those vehicles were battery-electric. European-headquartered manufacturers build about 830,000 vehicles annually in the United States, exporting roughly half – including back into the EU – making transatlantic stability important to both sides of the supply chain.

Trump's threatened tariff would escalate beyond the Turnberry Deal, a trade agreement he announced in July 2025 after a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland. That deal set a 15% tariff on EU goods and called for the EU to buy $750 billion in U.S. energy and invest $600 billion in the United States.

The deal unraveled in February after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump had exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The EU froze the agreement, saying the legal instrument used to negotiate it was "no longer available."

"The ruling by the Supreme Court is clear and unequivocal. Its implications cannot be ignored, and business as usual is not an option," said Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament's International Trade Committee.

Trump responded by threatening higher tariffs on countries that cited the ruling to walk away from their deals.

A White House official said Friday the EU had failed to meet its commitments under the Turnberry Deal, citing auto trade barriers, digital services, carbon taxes and other provisions.

"The White House has always been clear that the President reserves the right to adjust tariff rates if our trade deal partners fail to abide by their commitments," the official said. "The President will accordingly be adjusting Section 232 auto tariffs on the EU."

The administration confirmed the tariff would be applied under Section 232 authority.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had previously said the administration would rely on Section 232 and Section 301 authorities, which he said had been "validated through thousands of legal challenges." The Department of Commerce confirmed in June 2025 that Section 232 auto tariffs of 25% were already in place under a March 2025 proclamation.

Two lawsuits pending before the U.S. Court of International Trade separately challenge Trump's use of Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 for a 10% global tariff imposed after the Supreme Court ruling.

Phillip Magness, a senior fellow at the Independent Institute, said Trump's legal strategy could again face Supreme Court review.

"Trump has effectively adopted a strategy of statute-shopping, meaning he's looking to reenact the same agenda that the court struck down by retrofitting it into different clauses of law," Magness told The Center Square. "There's a good chance we will have another round of court proceedings that could reach the Supreme Court."

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a U.S. industry trade group, declined to comment. The Department of Commerce did not respond to a request for comment.

A tariff is a tax on imported goods paid by the person or company that imports the goods. The importer can absorb the cost or pass it on to consumers through higher prices.

BYU transfer guard and Vashon High School graduate Kennard Davis Jr. committed to Mizzou men's basketball for the 2026-27 season Friday, according to On3 reporting.

The 6-foot-6 rising senior averaged 8.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game this past season at BYU. He started all 32 games he played for the Cougars, averaging 29.6 minutes per game. He connected on 53 of 165 3-point attempts this past season for the Cougars, a 32.1% clip. For his career, he is a 34.1% shooter from beyond the arc (138 of 405) on 4.2 attempts per game.

Before BYU, Davis spent two seasons at Southern Illinois, where he caught the attention of many power schools with his performances and ability to shoot the 3, defend and fill in as a primary ball handler.

The St. Louis product also has declared for the NBA Draft, one of 71 early-entry applicants. With the current setup, players can declare for the draft without giving up their college eligibility, often using the process to gauge interest and collect information from pro teams.

This coming season will be Davis' fourth in college, leaving open the possibility that he will be eligible for a fifth season if the new 5-in-5 rule passes. 

Davis was suspended for three games during the 2025-26 season in Provo, Utah, because of a DUI charge that was recently dropped. Davis was arrested Nov. 13 after being involved in a two-car crash on suspicion of driving under the influence. He was later charged with a Class B misdemeanor for DUI, which has recently been withdrawn.

The four-star transfer was reportedly also receiving interest from Kentucky, Marquette, Ole Miss, Maryland and Virginia, according to 247Sports, before committing to Mizzou.

So far, Dennis Gates and the Tigers have added Jamier Jones from West Virginia, Bryson Tiller from Kansas, Jaylen Carey from Tennessee and now Davis from the portal. They join five-star recruits and McDonald's All Americans Jason Crowe Jr. and Toni Bryant and fellow incoming freshman Aiden Chronister, a four-star prospect, as new Tigers.

Mizzou still has two more scholarship spots to fill, although it is thought that for the time being, at least, it will leave one unfilled — as it did last season — in case it wants to add a player down the road.

US oil giants reported lower earnings Friday with accounting effects muting the benefits of the Middle East oil shock, as ExxonMobil's CEO cautioned that crude prices could still increase.

Oil prices jumped during the quarter from the mid-$60s in early February to more than $100 a barrel at times in March as Iran's almost complete shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz roiled global markets.

While surging prices are ultimately expected to boost US oil company earnings, both ExxonMobil and Chevron suffered a significant hit in the first quarter because of how US accounting rules require the reporting of derivative contracts.

ExxonMobil reported profits of $4.2 billion, down 45.8 percent from the year-ago period. But profits would have been $8.8 billion excluding these "timing effects" that ExxonMobil expects will reverse in future quarters.

At Chevron, profits came in at $2.2 billion, down 36.9 percent. But the hit from timing effects was around $3 billion, said chief financial officer Eimear Bonner.

While oil prices have risen since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, the increase thus far has been measured, ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said, but he warned that prices could spike.

"If you look at the unprecedented disruption in the world's supply of oil and natural gas, the market hasn't seen the full impact of that yet," Woods said.

"You only have to look at the ranges that oil prices have moved at, which are very consistent with the last 10 years in the history versus this (historically) unprecedented disruption," he said. 

"So there's more to come if the strait remains closed."

Woods said the oil market has so far been able to manage the dislocation because of the amount of crude in commercial inventories and the release of some strategic governments reserves.

However, those supplies are running their course, he said.

An April securities filing by ExxonMobil revealed that attacks on facilities in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates had negatively affected its output.

Woods said Friday it was hard to estimate how long it would take to repair a site in Qatar because officials with the project, which is operated by QatarEnergy, have not yet been able to do enough work. 

The Qatar outage dented ExxonMobil's natural gas output, which fell 8.2 percent from the year-ago level.

- Questions on Venezuela -

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth described the outlook for the oil market as extremely uncertain, saying: "I'm not sure I could argue with a lot of confidence that I could describe what it looks like."

Under one scenario, the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened relatively quickly "and we get back into a market that's pretty well supplied," Wirth said. 

But another scenario would yield a much "tighter" market, said Wirth, adding that the company is not ramping up investment or otherwise shifting from its long-term strategy.

On Venezuela, Wirth reiterated that Chevron remains interested in bolstering its long-term position but continues to await key details on issues such as royalty terms and dispute resolution.

"There are still questions," Wirth said. "We need to see further progress before you would put more capital to work."

Shares of ExxonMobil fell 1.2 percent in afternoon trading while Chevron dropped 1.6 percent.

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Charles Leclerc topped the times for Ferrari ahead of Red Bull's revitalised four-time champion Max Verstappen and McLaren's Oscar Piastri in Friday's sole practice session at the Miami Grand Prix.

The Monegasque driver clocked a best time in one minute and 29.310 seconds to outpace his Dutch rival by 0.164 seconds and finish four-tenths clear of Piastri as championship leaders Mercedes were pushed aside.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was fourth in the second Ferrari ahead of Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, the youngest leader of the title race in F1 history, with George Russell sixth in the second Mercedes. 

World champion Lando Norris was seventh in the second McLaren ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Isack Hadjar in the second Red Bull and Carlos Sainz of Williams as the teams with most upgrades appeared to gain from their improvements.

Mercedes, with no significant changes to the cars that had won the first three races before the cancellations of events in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, were unable to exert their usual authority.

After a five-week hiatus due to the conflict in the Middle East, Sainz was the first man out ahead of the two Ferraris, all of them seeking early feedback on their extensive upgrades on a warm morning in the Sunshine State.

- Engine rules issues -

It had emerged overnight that F1's engine rules for 2027 were expected to be decided within two weeks and ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, introducing speculation about a move away from 50/50 to a 60/40 split between engine and electrical power. 

This was an issue sure to provoke more discussion and perhaps decide the futures of some drivers, including four-time champion Max Verstappen and two-time champion Fernando Alonso.

Verstappen has criticised the new hybrid era cars for producing artificial racing and said he was considering ending his F1 career.

Alonso, at 44, had also said he was ready to decide on his future with struggling Aston Martin.  

Hamilton said he welcomed the recent dialogue between drivers and ruling bodies, but wanted to see the drivers offered a permanent voice when future rule changes are discussed. 

"The drivers all work together," he said. "We meet and talk, but we don't have a seat at the table, which I think needs to change."

On track, Norris soon showed McLaren's speed to take control while Russell complained his car's turbo sounded like a steam train and Gasly reported a curious smell from his Alpine.

After 46 minutes, Leclerc grabbed the initiative in 1:29.885 ahead of Antonelli with Hamilton, also in a Ferrari, going third.

It appeared that the heavily revised Ferrari, sporting 11 new parts, was responding well to the team's investment –- the most of any team, ahead of McLaren, while Aston Martin had none and Haas just one.

After an hour of the only practice session, extended to allow more time for preparation with the new cars at a sprint race weekend, both Verstappen and Hadjar were complaining of gearbox problems.

"The shifts are horrendous, up and down," said the Dutchman.

With 15 minutes remaining, the top contenders pitted for soft-tyre runs and an opportunity to prepare for sprint qualifying later in the day. 

Antonelli, who took sprint pole last year, was unable to run due to a power-unit issue as Leclerc stayed top ahead of Verstappen, Piastri and Hamilton.

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