Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, nicknamed "The Mother Church of Country Music," has never hosted a hip-hop show. After 125 years, Wu-Tang Clan will be the first rap act to headline at the venue.

Up until Tuesday evening, 50 Cent held the distinction of throwing the worst first pitch in the history of all ceremony.

President-elect Donald Trump made notable inroads with Latino voters this year, particularly among young men. One voter’s family history provides a window into Trump’s appeal.

First responders are looking for workers’ compensation agreement amid the COVID-19 outbreak

Some 12,000 Christians, young, old, male and female, and of various ethnicities, walked through the center of the city of Dublin in excited solidarity for the faith at the first ever “March for Jesus.”

A day after urging sex abuse victims of current or former leaders of the embattled Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, to report their abuse to elders, longtime elder at the megachurch, Tra Willbanks, revised his advice on Sunday urging them instead to “go to the police first.”

A historic African Methodist Episcopal church in Pennsylvania has been appointed its first woman pastor since the congregation was founded in the late 18th century.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that longtime GOP operative Susie Wiles will be his White House chief of staff, making her the first woman to hold the position.

As former President Donald Trump heads back to the White House to serve a second, non-consecutive term, his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, is returning to the national spotlight. Here are four things to know about her background, political views and marriage. 

Delaware elected 34-year-old Sarah McBride as the nation's first trans-identifying individual to serve in the U.S. Congress.

 That's how it started: www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=273122249390826&l=3365249543954861233

Russia is holding its first-ever three-day presidential election on March 15-17. First polling stations opened in the Far East at 23:00 Moscow time. As many as 112.3 million Russians can cast their vote in the election, the Central Electoral Committee said. There are four candidates competing for the post of the head of state: Vladimir Putin, current president; Leonid Slutsky, LDPR leader; Nikolai Kharitonov, candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation; Vladislav Davankov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma, New People party. Vladimir Putin The sitting head of state, Vladimir Putin, is running for election as a self-nominated candidate. In case of victory, it will be Putin's fifth term. Vladimir Putin first took office as President on March 26, 2000, when Boris Yeltsin resigned.

The first launch of the Angara-A5 heavy launch vehicle from the newly built launch complex at the Vostochny Cosmodrome was aborted two minutes before lift off. The rocket with the Orion upper stage and test payload was supposed to take off for the first time from Vostochny on Tuesday, April 9, at 12:00. The launch was postponed. The launch of the Angara rocket was postponed till Wednesday, April 10, Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov said.

The Orion upper stage of the Angara-A5 heavy rocket launched the Gagarinets small satellite into low Earth orbit, Roscosmos said on its Telegram channel. "The Cubesat 3U format satellite was created by Russian private company Avant Space and is intended to test elements of the service platform,” the state corporation said. After the launch of the Gagarinets, the upper stage continued its work.

Sberbank — Russia's largest state-owned bank — has the only foreign branch in India. In early November it was reported that Sberbank was going to open a branch in China. According to Alexander Vedyakhin, deputy chairman of the board, all the necessary documents have been sent to China, RBC reports. "We have been communicating with the People's Bank of China a lot lately. We have sent a massive package of documents there, as the Chinese regulator is very meticulous about documents. I hope that by the end of 2023 we will be able to open a branch in China. It usually takes 1.5-2 years, but we hope that by the end of 2023 we will already have a branch in this country,” Alexander Vedyakhin said. Sberbank opened a representative office in China in 2010; A representative office of Sberbank appeared in Germany in 2009; Sberbank has only one branch abroad — in New Delhi, India. After the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, Sberbank came under sanctions from Western states: the United States and Great Britain froze the bank's assets and banned citizens from doing business with it, whereas the EU disconnected Sberbank from the SWIFT interbank data exchange system.

In Russia, the first case of delta plus coronavirus infection was recorded. "This is the only one case, most likely from abroad,” Darya Danilenko, deputy director of the Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza said. This strain was recorded in isolated cases in the United States and Great Britain.

Dallas Martin, a first-generation senior nursing major from Helena, Arkansas, really does it all. This wife and mom of two is a full-time student at UA Little Rock, set to graduate in December with her bachelor's degree in nursing, while also working full-time as a physician's registered nurse in oncology and hematology at Carti Cancer Center in Little Rock.

House Republicans are preparing a legislative agenda for Trump's first 100 days in office. ...

[Domestic] :
The nation has confirmed its first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza so far this fall season at a poultry farm in Gangwon Province.  Quarantine authorities said Wednesday that the birds at the farm in Donghae had the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the virus. The farm, which raises some 700 ...

[more...]

[Domestic] :
A death from whooping cough or pertussis has been reported in South Korea for the first time since the government began compiling related data in 2011. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) on Tuesday, an infant less than two months old died from the disease on November 4. The ...

[more...]

[Politics] :
A special counsel bill aimed at investigating various allegations surrounding First Lady Kim Keon-hee was passed at the National Assembly's legislation and judiciary committee meeting on Friday. The bill was passed unilaterally at the parliamentary judiciary subcommittee by members of the opposition after ...

[more...]

[Politics] :
Myung Tae-kyun, a self-proclaimed political consultant and a key figure in a high-profile scandal involving the president and first lady, appeared for questioning for the second consecutive day. Prior to interrogation by the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office on Saturday, Myung once again denied ...

[more...]

[Politics] :
The opposition will submit a revised version of its bill mandating a special prosecutor to investigate allegations against first lady Kim Keon-hee, limiting the scope of the probe in an apparent effort to win votes from the ruling party when the bill returns to parliament for a revote after an expected ...

[more...]

[Politics] :
If the opposition unilaterally passes a bill mandating a special counsel investigation targeting first lady Kim Keon-hee, ruling People Power Party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho has said he will strongly recommend a presidential veto.  At a party Supreme Council meeting Monday, Choo said the ruling party ...

[more...]

[Sports] :
South Korea defeated Oman three to one, achieving its first win in the current World Cup qualifying campaign.  The South Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, played Oman on Tuesday at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat in the second Group B match in the third round of the ...

[more...]

[Sports] :
South Korean forward Son Heung-min of the Tottenham Hotspur has picked up his first two assists of the season, helping his club with the second win of the season. Son set up Brennan Johnson's 28th-minute goal in a match against Brentford on Saturday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, breaking ...

[more...]

[Science] :
Seoul, Daejeon and other inland areas experienced the first frost of the fall season Wednesday. In Seoul and Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, the first frost was observed two days earlier than last year and nine days later than average. Daejeon reported its first frost 16 days later than last year and nine ...

[more...]

[Politics] :
The Navy flew a fixed-wing drone from one of its vessels for the first time as part of its efforts to advance technology for unmanned aerial vehicles. The Navy said a prototype of the Mojave drone, developed by the U.S. firm General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, took off Tuesday from the 14-thousand-ton ...

[more...]

[Politics] :
The main opposition Democratic Party(DP) will stage a rally this weekend to denounce alleged influence peddling by President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee and call for a special counsel probe. DP spokesperson Hwang Jung-a said Wednesday that the party will hold the rally in Seoul’s ...

[more...]

[International] :
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim was elected to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, becoming the first Korean American to serve in the Senate.   With elections for the Senate and the House of Representatives taking place the same day as the U.S. presidential election, Kim defeated Curtis Bashaw in the New Jersey senatorial ...

[more...]

[International] :
The price of Bitcoin surpassed the 80-thousand-dollar mark for the first time just days after Donald Trump’s reelection to the U.S. presidency.    According to the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency was worth 81-thousand-110 U.S. dollars at 1:25 a.m. ...

[more...]

P1Harmony is set to release a best-hits album in Japan.According to the six-member boy group's agency FNC Entertainment on Friday, 'Love & P1ece : The Best of P1Harmony' will be released on August 21. It...

[more...]

Rookie girl group Babymonster will embark on its first global fan meet tour this week. “Babymonster Presents: See You There” will begin in Tokyo on May 11. The tour will also travel to Jakarta,...

[more...]

Seventeen has become the 1st K-pop group to be appointed UNESCO's Goodwill Ambassador for Youth. It is also the first time UNESCO has designated a youth ambassador. Seventeen has been supporting the...

[more...]

Minho of SHINee will hold his first solo concert in November. Titled “MEAN: of my first” it will be Minho’s first solo concert since his debut as a member of SHINee in 2008....

[more...]

H1-Key is set to embark on its first fan concert tour next month. The group will kick off the tour called “Find My KEY” in Hong Kong on Nov. 16 and will travel to other regions...

[more...]

Jin of BTS will release his first solo album next month. Titled “Happy” the album will drop on Nov. 15. His label, BigHit Music, said “Happy” is about finding happiness...

[more...]

[Economy] :
Exports fell more than 17 percent year-on-year in the first ten days of November because there were fewer working days. According to preliminary data from the Korea Customs Service on Monday, the country’s outbound shipments reached 14-point-nine billion U.S. dollars during the cited period, down ...

[more...]

[Economy] :
South Korea’s benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) slipped below the two-thousand-500 threshold on Tuesday for the first time since August’s “Black Monday.” The KOSPI dipped 49-point-09 points, or one-point-94 percent, on Tuesday to close at two-thousand-482-point-57. In the ...

[more...]

[Economy] :
South Korea’s tech-laden KOSDAQ fell below the 700 mark during trading for the first time in two months.  As of 10:12 a.m. Wednesday, the secondary KOSDAQ market stood at 697-point-94, down 12-point-58 points or one-point-77 percent from the previous day.  It marks the first time the KOSDAQ has ...

[more...]

BGS completes first mapping expedition to Ascension Island  British Geological Survey

First national-scale groundwater model in Great Britain developed  British Geological Survey

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a major pathogenic oral bacterium that is responsible for periodontal disease. It is linked to chronic periodontitis, gingivitis and aggressive periodontitis. P. gingivalis exerts its pathogenic effects through mechanisms such as immune evasion and tissue destruction, primarily by secreting various factors, including cysteine proteases such as gingipain K (Kgp), gingipain R (RgpA and RgpB) and PrtH (UniProtKB ID P46071). Virulence proteins comprise multiple domains, including the pro-peptide region, catalytic domain, K domain, R domain and DUF2436 domain. While there is a growing database of knowledge on virulence proteins and domains, there was no prior evidence or information regarding the structure and biological function of the well conserved DUF2436 domain. In this study, the DUF2436 domain of PrtH from P. gingivalis (PgDUF2436) was determined at 2.21 Å resolution, revealing a noncanonical β-jelly-roll sandwich topology with two antiparallel β-sheets and one short α-helix. Although the structure of PgDUF2436 was determined by the molecular-replacement method using an AlphaFold model structure as a template, there were significant differences in the positions of β1 between the AlphaFold model and the experimentally determined PgDUF2436 structure. The Basic Local Alignment Search Tool sequence-similarity search program showed no sequentially similar proteins in the Protein Data Bank. However, DaliLite search results using structure-based alignment revealed that the PgDUF2436 structure has structural similarity Z-scores of 5.9–5.4 with the C-terminal domain of AlgF, the D4 domain of cytolysin, IglE and the extracellular domain structure of PepT2. This study has elucidated the structure of the DUF2436 domain for the first time and a comparative analysis with similar structures has been performed.

X-ray ptychography and ptychographic computed tomography have seen a rapid rise since the advent of fourth-generation synchrotrons with a high degree of coherent radiation. In addition to quantitative multiscale structural analysis, ptychography with spectral capabilities has been developed, allowing for spatial-localized multiscale structural and spectral information of samples. The SWING beamline of Synchrotron SOLEIL has recently developed a nanoprobe setup where the endstation's first spectral and resonant ptychographic measurements have been successfully conducted. A metallic nickel wire sample was measured using 2D spectral ptychography in XANES mode and resonant ptychographic tomography. From the 2D spectral ptychography measurements, the spectra of the components of the sample's complex-valued refractive index, δ and β, were extracted, integrated along the sample thickness. By performing resonance ptychographic tomography at two photon energies, 3D maps of the refractive index decrement, δ, were obtained at the Ni K-edge energy and another energy above the edge. These maps allowed the detection of impurities in the Ni wire. The significance of accounting for the atomic scattering factor is demonstrated in the calculation of electron density near a resonance through the use of the δ values. These results indicate that at the SWING beamline it is possible to conduct state-of-the-art spectral and resonant ptychography experiments using the nanoprobe setup.

The structure of cis- or trans-bridged [GeF5]− anionic chains have been investigated [Mallouk et al. (1984). Inorg. Chem. 23, 3160–3166] showing the first crystal structures of μ-F-bridged penta­fluoro­germanates. Herein, we report the second crystal structure of trans-penta­fluoro­germanate anions present in the crystal structure of sodium trans-penta­fluoro­germanate(IV) bis­(hy­dro­gen fluoride), Na[GeF5]·2HF. The crystal structure [ortho­rhom­bic Pca21, a = 12.3786 (3), b = 7.2189 (2), c = 11.4969 (3) Å and Z = 8] is built up from infinite chains of trans-linked [GeF6]2− octa­hedra, extending along the b axis and spanning a network of penta­gonal bipyramidal distorted Na-centred polyhedra. These [NaF7] polyhedra are linked in a trans-edge fashion via hy­dro­gen fluoride mol­ecules, in analogy to already known sodium hy­dro­gen fluorides and potassium hy­dro­gen fluorides.

Synthesis experiments were conducted in the quaternary system K2O–Na2O–CaO–SiO2, resulting in the formation of a previously unknown compound with the composition K0.72Na1.71Ca5.79Si6O19. Single crystals of sufficient size and quality were recovered from a starting mixture with a K2O:Na2O:CaO:SiO2 molar ratio of 1.5:0.5:2:3. The mixture was confined in a closed platinum tube and slowly cooled from 1150°C at a rate of 0.1°C min−1 to 700°C before being finally quenched in air. The structure has tetragonal symmetry and belongs to space group P4122 (No. 91), with a = 7.3659 (2), c = 32.2318 (18) Å, V = 1748.78 (12) Å3, and Z = 4. The silicate anion consists of highly puckered, unbranched six-membered oligomers with the composition [Si6O19] and point group symmetry 2 (C2). Although several thousands of natural and synthetic oxosilicates have been structurally characterized, this compound is the first representative of a catena-hexasilicate anion, to the best of our knowledge. Structural investigations were completed using Raman spectroscopy. The spectroscopic data was interpreted and the bands were assigned to certain vibrational species with the support of density functional theory at the HSEsol level of theory. To determine the stability properties of the novel oligosilicate compared to those of the chemically and structurally similar cyclo­silicate combeite, we calculated the electronegativity of the respective structures using the electronegativity equalization method. The results showed that the molecular electronegativity of the cyclo­silicate was significantly higher than that of the oligostructure due to the different connectivities of the oxygen atoms within the molecular units.

The title complex, (1,4,7,10,13,16-hexa­oxa­cyclo­octa­decane-1κ6O)(μ-oxalato-1κ2O1,O2:2κ2O1',O2')triphenyl-2κ3C-potassium(I)tin(IV), [KSn(C6H5)3(C2O4)(C12H24O6)] or K[18-Crown-6][(C6H5)3SnO4C2], was synthesized. The complex consists of a potassium cation coordinated to the six oxygen atoms of a crown ether mol­ecule and the two oxygen atoms of the oxalatotri­phenyl­stannate anion. It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system within the space group P21. The tin atom is coordinated by one chelating oxalate ligand and three phenyl groups, forming a cis-trigonal–bipyramidal geometry around the tin atom. The cations and anions form ion pairs, linked through carbonyl coordination to the potassium atoms. The crystal structure features C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the oxygen atoms of the oxalate group and the hydrogen atoms of the phenyl groups, resulting in an infinite chain structure extending along a-axis direction. The primary inter-chain inter­actions are van der Waals forces.

Hollywood billboard queen, Angelyne was featured on the first Off-Ramp episode producer Chris Greenspon ever heard.; Credit: Creative Commons via Flickr user Thomas Hawk

After a few semesters of college radio at Mt. San Antonio College, I landed my first radio job: Board Operator! At struggling KFWB Newstalk 980. My career in radio began the way it does for so many, working odd hours and weekends.

A few months into my new gig, I was leaving for work and I thought, “You know, if I’m going to work in radio, I should listen to the radio.” I drove over the bridge on Hacienda Boulevard in La Puente, heading towards the 60, and right in front of my on-ramp, there was a big, orange billboard for KPCC. Why not 89.3?

The first thing I heard (and I should clarify that this was also my first time ever hearing public radio) was Janis Joplin getting her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, on Off-Ramp. Clive Davis, the CBS A&R executive who signed Joplin, told the crowd about how Joplin had suggested sealing their new relationship by having sex (though he demurred), and that his heart was broken when she died. Then Kris Kristofferson sang “Me & Bobby McGee,” and I was smiling, until I heard a chorus of hippies singing "Mercedes Benz." Pee-yew!

“Should I stay?” I asked myself. How could I not, when someone named Dylan Brody came on and told a story about letting his dogs poop on the neighbor’s lawn? But then, the real cheese, for a 20-something year old, biracial kid who loved space ships and tough punk girls; "Love and Rockets" cartoonist Jaime Hernandez talking about drawing for Junot Diaz.

All this was to say nothing of the loud, defiant-sounding host, who kept saying. "This is Off-Ramp, I’m John Rabe." I listened to him slide between all of these topics, and even report from the field himself, talking about museums in a way that wasn’t – boring. After a few more pieces and a few more uses of the Off-Ramp theme song, I had a new favorite show. And I suspect a few other people did too.

That was November 2013. Five months later, I was on the show. At the end of the episode, I noticed that they had an intern in the credits, and after many repeated scourings of the KPCC careers page, the position finally opened up. So what’d I do? I went out with my chintzy audio recorder, and recorded a story so if I got an interview, I wouldn’t go in empty-handed. I didn’t get the internship then, but John did buy the piece. Remember the one about the Burmese Café run by an ex-biologist?

I kept freelancing after that, and honestly, I got a lot of my ideas from stuff that Off-Ramp wasn’t doing. John would have Angelyne, and her famous Hollywood billboard, but what about the giant neon sign at Rose Hills Cemetery in Pico Rivera? Kevin Ferguson would hang out with Mike Watt from the Minutemen, but what about punk supergroup, the Flesh Eaters? And could we talk about a domestic violence shelter in a Thanksgiving Special, or the fact that a home-abortion movement started in Los Angeles?

John eventually asked me to intern after turning the Jim Tully mini-documentary in, and even after joining the company, writing these kinds of stories for Off-Ramp was still not easy, but there was room for all of them. I would be beyond thrilled if somebody heard even one of them when they heard Off-Ramp for the first time.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Off-Ramp producer Queena Kim acts on behalf of millions of Angelenos. The meter didn't stand a chance.

; Credit: John Rabe/KPCC

Off-Ramp began eleven years ago, just as digital technology was beginning to overtake radio. No more cassette tape or mini-discs; host John and producer Queena Kim thought they could take on all of Los Angeles with two digital audio recorders and a different approach to public radio.

Short-handed as they were, John and Queena had to adopt slash-and-burn tactics to get each show produced on time. The majority of interviews were conducted in the field; at the homes, workplaces, and favorite hang-outs of their subjects (instead of waiting for guests to come to the station) and many of the stories were edited as simple two-way interviews with life in Southern California picked up as ambient, background noise. After all, a show called Off-Ramp had better be ready to brave some LA traffic.

At this juncture, John feels free to say what he has always wanted to, but hasn't for fear of self-aggrandizement: "I think we were trendsetters. I think Marketplace and NPR heard the stuff we were doing, and started doing stuff like it." Once again, Kim chalks it up to being in the right place at the right time technologically, and the two person team's willingness to break out of the old-school, public radio way writing a story: with a very clear sonic difference between studio narration and field audio.

Of course, it wasn't just Marantz recorders and minimal rewriting that gave Off-Ramp its flavor. There was a whole lot of weird spewing up out of Los Angeles during the show's formative years and Kim's tenure (2006-2010). She recalls covering a ten-theremin orchestra at Disney Hall, and the excitement of working on a show that let her (and the listeners, vicariously) do things she always wanted to do. "It was almost like having a free pass to the city."

In order to capture what was new and exciting, John and Queena both agree that it was absolutely vital to abandon the reporter's instinct for safely packaging the story ahead of time. John cites his editor at Minnesota Public Radio's philosophy, Mike Edgerly; "Go find what the story is, go out and explore and figure out what the story is. Don't figure it out at your desk first." The collaboration between John's ideas and Kim's sense of logistics formed a dialectic relationship, valuing the "third, better idea" over either of their original perspectives. In light of that, John says Queena Kim was the perfect person with whom to start Off-Ramp. 

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.