Researchers have discovered that the underside of the North American continent is dripping away in blobs of rock — and that the remnants of a tectonic plate sinking in the Earth’s mantle may be the reason why. A paper published in Nature Geoscience describes the phenomenon, which was discovered at The University of Texas at Austin. It’s the first time that “cratonic thinning” may be captured in action. “We made the observation that there could be something beneath the craton,” said the study’s lead author Junlin Hua, who conducted the research during a postdoctoral fellowship at UT’s Jackson School of Geosciences. “Luckily, we also got the new idea about what drives this thinning.” Cratons are very old rocks that are part of Earth’s continents. They’re known for their stability and ability to persist for billions of years. But sometimes cratons undergo changes that can affect their stability or that remove entire rock layers. For example, the North China Craton lost its deepest root layer millions of years ago. What makes the discovery of cratonic dripping special, said the researchers, is that it’s happening right now. This allows scientists to observe the cratonic thinning process as it occurs.

In another twist, a police report said the city-leased vehicle was reported stolen by an unnamed woman – who may be a top deputy. Sheriff Rochelle Bilal and police have both launched internal probes.

A three-judge panel on the North Carolina Court of Appeals Friday afternoon voted 2-1 in a ruling that puts Republican Jefferson Griffin on the cusp of overturning Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs’ 734-vote lead for a seat on the state Supreme Court.

The Metropolitan Police Service announced on Friday that the Crown Prosecution Service authorized them to charge Brand, 50, with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape, and two counts of sexual assault following an investigation by detectives. He is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on May 2.

Preorders won’t start April 9th as originally announced.

The toxic substance, used in dry cleaning and manufacturing, has been linked to a host of serious health problems. A Biden-era ban on the chemical has faced multiple challenges since Trump took office.

Violent policing is not a bug of capitalist societies but a feature. To end our dependence on it, we must first understand its connection to exploitation.

South Korea’s Constitutional Court said that President Yoon Suk-yeol ‘violated’ basic rights by declaring martial law.

An Inquirer investigation found a police accountability crisis in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania fueling hazardous and unnecessary chases — and disproportionately endangering kids.

A group of barren, uninhabited volcanic islands near Antarctica, covered in glaciers and home to penguins, have been swept up in Donald Trump’s trade war, as the US president hit them with a 10% tariff on goods. Heard Island and McDonald Islands, which form an external territory of Australia, are among the remotest places on earth, accessible only via a two-week boat voyage from Perth on Australia’s west coast. They are completely uninhabited, with the last visit from people believed to be nearly 10 years ago. Nevertheless, Heard and McDonald islands featured in a list released by the White House of “countries” that would have new trade tariffs imposed. The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said on Thursday: “Nowhere on earth is safe.” Heard Island and McDonald Islands are among several “external territories” of Australia listed separately in the tariff list to Australia, which will see a 10% tariff imposed on its goods. External territories are part of Australia and not self-governing but have a unique relationship with the federal government. Such territories featured on the White House list were the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island and Norfolk Island. Norfolk Island, which has a population of 2,188 people and lies 1,600km (1,000 miles) north-east of Sydney, was slugged with a tariff of 29% – 19 percentage points higher than the rest of Australia. In 2023, Norfolk Island exported US$655,000 (A$1.04m) worth of goods to the US, with its main export being US$413,000 (A$658,000) worth of leather footwear, according to Observatory of Economic Complexity data. But George Plant, the administrator of Norfolk Island, disputed the data. He told the Guardian: “There are no known exports from Norfolk Island to the United States and no tariffs or known non-tariff trade barriers on goods coming to Norfolk Island.” Albanese said on Thursday: “Norfolk Island has got a 29% tariff. I’m not quite sure that Norfolk Island, with respect to it, is a trade competitor with the giant economy of the United States, but that just shows and exemplifies the fact that nowhere on earth is safe from this.” The export figures from Heard Island and McDonald Islands are even more perplexing. The territory does have a fishery but no buildings or human habitation whatsoever. Despite this, according to export data from the World Bank, the US imported US$1.4m (A$2.23m) of products from Heard Island and McDonald Islands in 2022, nearly all of which was “machinery and electrical” imports. It was not immediately clear what those goods were. In the five years prior, imports from Heard Island and McDonald Islands ranged from US$15,000 (A$24,000) to US$325,000 (A$518,000) per year. The White House, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Antarctic Division were contacted for comment.

President Trump told reporters this week that DOGE chief Elon Musk has done an "amazing" job, but noted that the Tesla CEO has "got a big company to run."

Val Kilmer, star of "Batman Forever" and "Tombstone," has died. He was 65.

A new study suggests instead of releasing waste, the first anal orifice was an exit hatch for male sex cells which was given a new task. Researchers from the University of Bergen in Norway investigated the genetics of xenacoelomorphs; distant relatives of flatworms that have a cul-de-sac for a gut. Despite this lack of a dedicated poop-hole, xenacoelomorphs use some of the same genes we use to turn our digestive system into a tube, only to create a genital opening known as a gonadopore instead. "Once a hole is there, you can use it for other things," zoologist Andreas Hejnol told Michael Le Page at New Scientist.

Mangione, 26, faces separate federal and state murder charges for the killing.

A Boston judge dismissed charges and held an ICE agent in contempt after a defendant was arrested during a trial, accusing ICE and state police of obstructing justice.

Indiana University quietly removes profile of tenured professor and refuses to say why.

The people destroying Teslas should really hear about this: You can now beat up Elon Musk, at a party, in front of guests.

Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo are major U.S. trading partners, although they have been at loggerheads among themselves over issues, including territorial disputes.

Workers on a mission to help colleagues were buried in mass grave in southern Gaza, says humanitarian office

It marks the first time Trump has seriously threatened Russia with consequences for dragging its feet in Ukraine ceasefire negotiations.