The International Cricket Council (ICC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Sanjog Gupta as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). A highly respected figure in global media & entertainment and sports ecosystems, Sanjog will assume office on July 7th, 2025, becoming the seventh CEO of the ICC.
Sanjog Gupta currently serves as CEO – Sports & Live Experiences at JioStar and brings with him over two decades of cross-functional experience. Sanjog is a visionary leader with proven expertise in building successful consumer franchises and is widely regarded as one of the architects of the modern sports ecosystem in India.
ICC Chairman, Jay Shah said: “I am pleased to announce that Sanjog Gupta has been appointed as the CEO of the ICC. Sanjog brings extensive experience in sports strategy and commercialisation, which will be invaluable for the ICC.
“His deep understanding of the global sports as well as M&E landscape combined with his continued curiosity about the cricket fan’s perspective and passion for technology will prove essential in our ambition to grow the game in the coming years. Our goal is to move beyond traditional boundaries and establish cricket as a regular sport in the Olympics, growing its expanse across the world and deepening its roots in its core markets.
“We considered several exceptional candidates for this position, but the Nominations Committee unanimously recommended Sanjog. The ICC Board Directors look forward to working closely with him, and I would like to welcome him on behalf of everyone at the ICC.”
Sanjog’s appointment follows a global recruitment process launched by the ICC in March. The role attracted over 2,500 applications from candidates across 25 countries, reflecting the international appeal and significance of the position. Candidates ranged from leaders associated with sport’s governing bodies to senior corporate executives from across sectors.
The ICC’s HR & Remuneration Committee carefully reviewed and shortlisted 12 candidates, whose profiles were then shared with the Nominations Committee comprising ICC Deputy Chair Imran Khwaja, ECB Chair Richard Thompson, SLC President Shammi Silva, and BCCI Honorary Secretary Devajit Saikia. After a rigorous short-listing process, the Nominations Committee unanimously recommended Mr Gupta. This recommendation was subsequently approved by ICC Chairman Mr Jay Shah after further assessment and evaluation, after which it was ratified by the full ICC Board.
Sanjog Gupta, ICC CEO-designate, commented: “It is a privilege to have this opportunity, especially at a time when cricket is poised for unprecedented growth and enjoys the passionate support of almost 2 billion fans worldwide. These are exciting times for the sport as marquee events grow in stature, commercial avenues widen and opportunities such as the women’s game scale in popularity. Cricket’s inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and the rapid acceleration of technology deployment/adoption could act as force-multipliers for the Cricket movement around the world .”
“I look forward to contributing to the next phase of cricket’s evolution, expanding its global footprint, enhancing the fan experience, and working closely with ICC Member Boards to build on our strong foundations.”
Sanjog Gupta has been a driving force behind the transformation of sports broadcasting in India and globally. Sanjog has played a pivotal role in shaping the continued growth of marquee Cricket properties such as ICC events & IPL, establishing domestic sports leagues like PKL and ISL, furthering the popularity of global sporting events such as Premier League and Wimbledon and scaling the business across consumer and commercial objectives.
He began his career as journalist and joined Star India (now JioStar) in 2010. Over the years, he held multiple leadership roles in content, programming and strategy before becoming Head of Sports at Disney & Star India in 2020. Under his stewardship, the Sports portfolio at Star India scaled across consumer and commercial objectives with a strong emphasis on long-term growth and operational efficiency. Notably, he played a crucial role in developing and executing multi-language, digital-first, and women-centric sports coverage.
Sanjog was appointed CEO of JioStar Sports in November 2024 following the merger of Viacom18 and Disney Star, forming a powerful new sports media entity. Known for combining business acumen with creative storytelling, he has consistently delivered innovation-led growth across media and sports ecosystems.
The ICC welcomes Sanjog Gupta as he prepares to lead cricket’s global journey into a transformative future.
Drinking tea helps, but adding apples, berries, and citrus to your plate to mix up your flavonoid consumption could be the key to a longer, healthier life.
Study: High diversity of dietary flavonoid intake is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality and major chronic diseases. Image credit: marilyn barbone/Shutterstock.com
Increased flavonoid consumption is linked to better health outcomes, but the impact of broadening the range of flavonoids has not been studied. A recent paper published in Nature Food demonstrates the health-promoting effects of consuming multiple types of flavonoids and increasing the total quantity.
Flavonoids are polyphenols in several foods, from nuts and legumes to tea and wine. Multiple flavonoid categories depend on the chemical structure, including anthocyanins, flavonols, flavon-3-ols, flavanones, and flavones.
Multiple studies show that increased flavonoid consumption from different subclasses is associated with lower incidences of chronic disease. This includes conditions like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cancer, respiratory disease, and neurodegenerative disease.
Different flavonoids have varying types of bioactivity, depending on bioavailability and metabolism. They are potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant molecules, which may explain why they inhibit the development of chronic diseases driven by chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.
Flavonoids are also heart-protective, improving endothelial structure and function and slowing down age-related tissue deterioration by inhibiting senescence pathways. Additionally, their suppression of cell proliferation is a key mechanism in preventing cancer.
The current study sought to estimate the diversity of flavonoid intake in diet, and the associations of flavonoid intake with mortality and disease risk.
The study cohort included 124,805 UK adults aged 40 years or more, predominantly female (56%). Less than 10% smoked, but 60% were overweight or obese. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and high cholesterol was 4%, 25%, and 15%, respectively.
The median flavonoid consumption was 792 mg/day, with nine flavonoids being consumed on average daily. Flavan-3-ols were the most significant component by far, at 87%. Other categories, anthocyanins, flavonols, and flavanones, made up 4.5% each, with flavones accounting for <1%.
Black or green tea was the primary source of flavonoids, at 67%, while apples made up 6% and red wine 5%. Other sources, including grapes and berries, contributed 2%. Oranges, satsumas, orange juice, and dark chocolate each accounted for 1%. Altogether, these made up 85% of daily intake.
People with higher dietary flavonoids had less diversity overall, relying primarily on tea for their flavonoid intake. In contrast, those with a more diverse flavonoid consumption derived it from fruit and red wine. These were more likely to be women with a leaner physique, older, more physically active, and more educated.
Those with the highest flavonoid diversity had a 14% lower risk of all-cause mortality, a 10% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and a 20% lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus incidence. Respiratory and cancer risks were reduced by 8%. No statistically significant association was observed for neurodegenerative disease with total flavonoid diversity.
Quantitatively, compared to the lowest quintile, participants in the second quintile of flavonoid intake (about 500 mg/day) had a 16% lower risk of death from all-cause mortality. The risk of other diseases was lower by 9%-13%. The risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus was lowest in the highest quintile, 25% less than in the first quintile. For neurodegenerative disease, a 20% lower risk was observed only at the highest quintile of total flavonoid intake, not diversity.
These associations remained after adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, and other medical risk factors. Although no statistical interactions were observed between diversity and quantity (Pinteraction > 0.05), both factors independently predicted disease outcomes, suggesting that higher intakes of both contribute more than either factor alone.
In particular, an increased variety of flavan-3-ols and flavanones in the diet reduced the all-cause mortality independent of absolute intake. Quantitatively, the consumption of flavan-3-ols was linked to a stable reduction in mortality risk in the second and higher quintiles. Conversely, a lower chronic disease risk mainly appeared at the fourth or fifth quintile compared to the first.
Class-wise, the most significant reductions included a 13% lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus for flavan-3-ols and a 7% lower cancer risk for all flavanones. For flavones, an 18% lower risk of neurodegenerative disease and a 13% lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus were observed at the highest quintiles. The previously stated “75% cancer risk reduction” was not supported by the data and has been corrected.
Similar benefits were observed for diversity in flavonoid-rich foods. Having 4.5 different servings of flavonoids reduced all-cause deaths by 16% compared to 1.3 diverse servings.
The overall quantity of flavonoids consumed regularly and flavonoid diversity independently predicted mortality and disease risk. Rather than consuming one or a few flavonoids in higher amounts, it is better to include a broad variety of flavonoid-rich foods.
Prior research on flavonoid benefits has led to the recommendation that 400-600 mg of flavan-3-ols be consumed. This recommendation could potentially be modified to include the guideline that multiple sources be included in the diet for maximum benefit. The current study’s authors have developed the Flavodiet Score, which measures the number of servings of flavonoid-rich foods.
The study also used a novel approach to measuring dietary diversity: applying Hill’s effective number, a metric that accounts for both the variety and proportional intake of different flavonoid compounds.
According to this study, mortality and chronic disease risk are reduced among people who had the greatest variety of flavonoids in their diet, both as foods and as specific subclasses.
These results are biologically plausible due to the known ability of different flavonoids to suppress platelet aggregation and reduce atherosclerosis risk, increase insulin sensitivity and antioxidant capacity, and inhibit inflammation. They also antagonize cancer development processes by killing tumor cells and preventing their proliferation.
“These findings suggest that consuming several different daily servings of flavonoid-rich foods or beverages, such as tea, berries, apples, oranges or grapes, may lower risk of all-cause mortality and chronic disease.”
However, it is essential to note that this was an observational study, and while associations were strong, causation cannot be confirmed. Future studies should validate these findings and explore the sustainability of flavonoid-rich foods.
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It’s estimated that the Mona offshore wind farm could generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of more than 1 million British homes, providing a major boost for the national mission to become a clean energy superpower.
Situated in the Irish Sea, the project is the largest in this area and will drive growth across the country by creating supply chain opportunities.
The developer will launch a portal where local companies can offer their services to deliver the project, boosting local communities in Wales and across the UK.
Offshore wind plays a crucial role in the UK’s transition to a low-carbon energy system and its efforts to combat climate change.
As an island nation with strong and consistent coastal winds, the UK is ideally positioned to harness offshore wind power, which is now one of the country’s fastest-growing and most cost-effective renewable energy sources.
Offshore wind farms contribute significantly to energy security by reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels and help stabilise electricity prices through clean, domestically generated power.
Additionally, the sector supports economic growth, creating thousands of jobs in manufacturing, construction, and maintenance, particularly in coastal communities.
As the UK strives to meet its net-zero emissions target by 2050, offshore wind will remain a cornerstone of the UK’s sustainable energy strategy.
The developer estimates that it will support thousands of jobs, contributing to the approximately 100,000 jobs expected to be supported by the offshore wind sector in Great Britain by 2030.
Jobs at the Mona offshore wind farm are expected to include engineers and maintenance operations during the construction phase. This will drive industrial renewal in proud manufacturing communities as part of the Plan for Change.
The government is engaging with ports and harbours around the Irish Sea that could support construction activities, and eventually, operations and maintenance for the wind farms.
This builds on the already thriving careers in offshore wind, with the government estimating that the offshore and onshore wind sectors could support up to 145,000 direct and indirect jobs across Britain by the end of the decade. This includes 100,000 jobs in the offshore sector.
Proposals for the Mona offshore wind farm deliver on the government’s progress in becoming a clean energy superpower. This year’s actions lay the foundations for clean power by 2030 – all part of the mission to get energy bills down for good.
In its first year, the government has approved new clean energy projects that can generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of nearly two million homes. Mona will add to this by powering the equivalent of more than one million homes.
This reflects the equivalent number of homes that could be powered based on an estimate of the annual generation from the Mona offshore wind farm, assuming generating capacity equivalent to its maximum grid connection (1.5 GW).
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband explained: “This government was elected to take back control of our energy, and in our first year, we have shown that the clean power revolution is here to stay.
“Whether it’s offshore wind, solar or nuclear, we are backing the builders, not the blockers, so we deliver the clean homegrown power this country needs to protect family finances through the Plan for Change.”
All roads lead back home and academy graduate Taylor Hinds is back in an Arsenal shirt once more.
The 26-year-old full-back has officially signed a permanent deal with the club, having spent six years here previously working through the youth ranks.
“I’m just buzzing to be here. Where I am right now, I want to push, I want to compete, and I want to be winning trophies,” said Taylor in her first interview back as a Gunner. “Obviously, the girls just won Champions League. This club – not just the women’s team, but as a whole – you can see what direction they’re going in and that they want to push for more, and I want to push for more.”
As a vice captain at Liverpool, Taylor brings a wealth of WSL and leadership experience to the side.
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“It’s really matured me. I think you don’t just think of yourself, you think of others, and I think that’s what really changed me throughout the years. I was grateful for that opportunity, and hopefully, I can bring that here as well.”
With her history at the club, there will be plenty of friendly faces in the dressing room when Taylor returns.
“You make friends in football, you go away and come back, and they’ll be your teammates again! When I was younger, Leah used to bring me into training! And obviously, I grew up with Lotte and Alessia as well, so I’m excited to be back on the team with them.”
To hear more from Taylor in our exclusive interview, click the play button above.
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
We’re delighted to announce the signing of Jamaica international Taylor Hinds on a permanent deal.
The 26-year-old full-back returns to us for her second spell at Arsenal, following the expiry of her contract with Liverpool.
Taylor’s Arsenal journey began with our academy at the age of 11 in 2010. Over the following seven years, Taylor showed strong progression through our youth ranks, developing into a versatile player capable of playing at both full-back and in midfield.
Taylor’s break into our first team came in the 2017/18 season, making her debut from the bench in our 7-0 League Cup win over London Bees in October 2017. A full debut followed in a 5-2 defeat of Millwall Lionesses in the same competition the following month.
Taylor joined Everton on a permanent transfer in January 2018, making 30 appearances and scoring one goal across two and a half seasons with the Toffees, before crossing Merseyside to join Liverpool in July 2020.
The full-back played an integral role in Liverpool’s Women’s Championship title win in the 2021/22 season, becoming vice-captain in 2023 and helping the team secure a fourth-place WSL finish in 2023/24. In total, Taylor made 131 appearances in five seasons with Liverpool, scoring eight goals.
Now a Jamaica international, Taylor represented England at youth level and represented England at both the U17 and U20 FIFA World Cups in 2016 and 2018 respectively. She received her first call-up to the Jamaica squad in October 2024, making her debut in a friendly against France that month.
“I’m so proud to have signed for Arsenal,” said Taylor. “I want to push, compete and be winning trophies – and this club encompasses all of that both on and off the pitch. You can see what direction Arsenal is going in and everyone at the club wants to win.
“This is a full-circle moment for me and I’m grateful to come back to a place I called home when I was younger. I can’t wait to get started and to step out on the pitch at Emirates Stadium in front of all our incredible supporters.”
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Director of Women’s Football Clare Wheatley said: “Everybody at Arsenal is thrilled to welcome Taylor back to the club where she spent several years at the start of her career. She is a player with great quality and vast experience of top-level football, and will be an excellent addition to our group as we aim to compete on multiple fronts next season.”
Head Coach Renée Slegers said: “We’re delighted to welcome Taylor back to Arsenal. She’s a versatile player who has great experience from multiple seasons in the WSL with Liverpool, where she took on a leadership role. I’m excited to get started with Taylor on the training pitch and I’m sure our supporters will join me in welcoming Taylor back to the club.”
Taylor will wear the number 24 jersey here at Arsenal – get your ‘Hinds 24’ shirt in-store and online.
The deal is subject to the completion of regulatory processes.
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Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
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The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has successfully developed a nanomaterial capable of simultaneously performing cancer diagnosis, treatment, and immune response induction. Compared to conventional nanomaterials that only perform one function, this new material significantly enhances treatment efficiency and is expected to serve as a next-generation cancer therapy platform utilizing nanotechnology.
Currently, cancer treatments primarily include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. However, these treatments have significant limitations, as they not only affect cancerous areas but also cause damage to healthy tissues, leading to considerable side effects.
Cancer treatment using nanomaterials has emerged as a next-generation technology that aims to overcome the limitations of conventional treatments. By utilizing the physical and chemical properties of nanomaterials, it is possible to precisely target and deliver drugs to cancer cells and affected areas. Additionally, personalized treatments based on individual genetic profiles are now possible, offering a therapy that significantly reduces side effects while improving effectiveness compared to traditional methods.
The KRISS Nanobio Measurement Group has developed a new nanomaterial that not only allows real-time monitoring and treatment of cancerous areas but also activates the immune response system. The nanomaterial developed by the research team is a triple-layer nanodisk (AuFeAuNDs), with iron (Fe) inserted between gold (Au). The design of the nanomaterial, which features iron at the center of a disc-shaped structure, provides superior structural stability compared to traditional spherical materials. Additionally, by applying a magnet near the tumor site, the magnetic properties of the iron allow the nanomaterial to be easily attracted, further enhancing treatment efficiency.
The nanodisk developed by the research team is equipped with photoacoustic (PA) imaging capabilities, allowing for real-time observation of both the tumor’s location and the drug delivery process. PA is a technique that visualizes the vibrations (ultrasound) generated by heat when light (laser) is directed at the nanodisk. By using this feature, treatment can be performed at the optimal time when the nanomaterial reaches the tumor site, maximizing its effectiveness. In fact, in animal experiments, the research team successfully tracked the accumulation of nanoparticles at the tumor site over time using PA imaging, identifying that the most effective time for treatment is 6 hours after the material is administered.
Furthermore, this nanodisk can perform three different therapeutic mechanisms in an integrated manner, which is expected to treat various types of cancer cells, unlike materials that are limited to single therapies. While conventional nanomaterials used only photothermal therapy (PTT), which involves heating gold particles to eliminate cancer cells, the nanodisk developed by the research team can also perform chemical dynamic therapy (CDT) by utilizing the properties of iron to induce oxidation within the tumor, as well as ferroptosis therapy.
After treatment, the nanodisk also induces immune response substances. The developed nanodisk prompts cancer cells to release danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) when they die, which helps the body recognize the same cancer cells and attack them if they recur. In animal experiments, the research team confirmed that the generation of warning signals through the nanodisk led to an increase in immune cell count by up to three times.
Dr. Lee Eun Sook stated, “Unlike conventional nanomaterials, which are composed of a single element and perform only one function, the material developed in this study utilizes the combined properties of gold and iron to perform multiple functions.”
Reference: Lee ES, Choi S, Lee J, et al. Au/Fe/Au trilayer nanodiscs as theranostic agents for magnet-guided photothermal, chemodynamic therapy and ferroptosis with photoacoustic imaging. Chem Eng J. 2025;505:159137. doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2024.159137
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Scientists are striving to discover new semiconductor materials that could boost the efficiency of solar cells and other electronics. But the pace of innovation is bottlenecked by the speed at which researchers can manually measure important material properties.
A fully autonomous robotic system developed by MIT researchers could speed things up.
Their system utilizes a robotic probe to measure an important electrical property known as photoconductance, which is how electrically responsive a material is to the presence of light.
The researchers inject materials-science-domain knowledge from human experts into the machine-learning model that guides the robot’s decision making. This enables the robot to identify the best places to contact a material with the probe to gain the most information about its photoconductance, while a specialized planning procedure finds the fastest way to move between contact points.
During a 24-hour test, the fully autonomous robotic probe took more than 125 unique measurements per hour, with more precision and reliability than other artificial intelligence-based methods.
By dramatically increasing the speed at which scientists can characterize important properties of new semiconductor materials, this method could spur the development of solar panels that produce more electricity.
“I find this paper to be incredibly exciting because it provides a pathway for autonomous, contact-based characterization methods. Not every important property of a material can be measured in a contactless way. If you need to make contact with your sample, you want it to be fast and you want to maximize the amount of information that you gain,” says Tonio Buonassisi, professor of mechanical engineering and senior author of a paper on the autonomous system.
His co-authors include lead author Alexander (Aleks) Siemenn, a graduate student; postdocs Basita Das and Kangyu Ji; and graduate student Fang Sheng. The work appears today in Science Advances.
Since 2018, researchers in Buonassisi’s laboratory have been working toward a fully autonomous materials discovery laboratory. They’ve recently focused on discovering new perovskites, which are a class of semiconductor materials used in photovoltaics like solar panels.
In prior work, they developed techniques to rapidly synthesize and print unique combinations of perovskite material. They also designed imaging-based methods to determine some important material properties.
But photoconductance is most accurately characterized by placing a probe onto the material, shining a light, and measuring the electrical response.
“To allow our experimental laboratory to operate as quickly and accurately as possible, we had to come up with a solution that would produce the best measurements while minimizing the time it takes to run the whole procedure,” says Siemenn.
Doing so required the integration of machine learning, robotics, and material science into one autonomous system.
To begin, the robotic system uses its onboard camera to take an image of a slide with perovskite material printed on it.
Then it uses computer vision to cut that image into segments, which are fed into a neural network model that has been specially designed to incorporate domain expertise from chemists and materials scientists.
“These robots can improve the repeatability and precision of our operations, but it is important to still have a human in the loop. If we don’t have a good way to implement the rich knowledge from these chemical experts into our robots, we are not going to be able to discover new materials,” Siemenn adds.
The model uses this domain knowledge to determine the optimal points for the probe to contact based on the shape of the sample and its material composition. These contact points are fed into a path planner that finds the most efficient way for the probe to reach all points.
The adaptability of this machine-learning approach is especially important because the printed samples have unique shapes, from circular drops to jellybean-like structures.
“It is almost like measuring snowflakes — it is difficult to get two that are identical,” Buonassisi says.
Once the path planner finds the shortest path, it sends signals to the robot’s motors, which manipulate the probe and take measurements at each contact point in rapid succession.
Key to the speed of this approach is the self-supervised nature of the neural network model. The model determines optimal contact points directly on a sample image — without the need for labeled training data.
The researchers also accelerated the system by enhancing the path planning procedure. They found that adding a small amount of noise, or randomness, to the algorithm helped it find the shortest path.
“As we progress in this age of autonomous labs, you really do need all three of these expertise — hardware building, software, and an understanding of materials science — coming together into the same team to be able to innovate quickly. And that is part of the secret sauce here,” Buonassisi says.
Once they had built the system from the ground up, the researchers tested each component. Their results showed that the neural network model found better contact points with less computation time than seven other AI-based methods. In addition, the path planning algorithm consistently found shorter path plans than other methods.
When they put all the pieces together to conduct a 24-hour fully autonomous experiment, the robotic system conducted more than 3,000 unique photoconductance measurements at a rate exceeding 125 per hour.
In addition, the level of detail provided by this precise measurement approach enabled the researchers to identify hotspots with higher photoconductance as well as areas of material degradation.
“Being able to gather such rich data that can be captured at such fast rates, without the need for human guidance, starts to open up doors to be able to discover and develop new high-performance semiconductors, especially for sustainability applications like solar panels,” Siemenn says.
The researchers want to continue building on this robotic system as they strive to create a fully autonomous lab for materials discovery.
Reference: Siemenn AE, Das B, Ji K, Sheng F, Buonassisi T. A self-supervised robotic system for autonomous contact-based spatial mapping of semiconductor properties. Sci Adv. 2025;11(27):eadw7071. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adw7071
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The girl group kicked off their Deadline tour at Goyang Stadium on Saturday night
Blackpink debuted a new song, titled “Jump,” during the opening night of their world tour at Seoul’s Goyang Stadium. The dance-ready track is reportedly the band’s forthcoming reunion single and is expected to be released later this week.
The group reunited over the weekend for their first live performance together in nearly two years. The concert, which was attended by BTS member J-Hope, marked the opening night of Blackpink’s Deadline tour. The singers performed 21 songs, with “Jump” coming towards the end of the set.
Blackpink previously confirmed they planned to debut a new song during the South Korea concert. In June, the group’s record label, YG Entertainment, announced that the band was filming for a new music video. “We are filming in Korea with a famous overseas director,” the label said in a statement. “This will create another iconic music video that encapsulates Blackpink’s identity and musical color.”
Blackpink will perform 18 shows on the Deadline tour, which marks the musicians’ comeback as a group. It kicks off in Seoul before four shows in North America: in Los Angeles, Toronto, Chicago, and New York in mid-July. The band will also play at Japan’s Tokyo Dome in mid-January 2026.
The group’s last album arrived in 2022 with Born Pink. While speaking to Tyla for Rolling Stone‘s Musicians on Musicians issue last year, Lisa shared her excitement about reuniting with her fellow members. “By next year, I think I would just keep releasing music and get together with the girls. I can’t wait to share with the girls what I’ve been doing,” she said at the time.
In May, after launching her Bose collaboration, Lisa told Variety that a new Blackpink was “coming soon, I promise.” She added, “We’re all so super excited to get back together and go on tour. We really miss the blinks. We can’t wait to see them.”
King Abdulaziz International Airport received the first direct British Airways flights coming from Heathrow Airport in London, as the company began operating its flights between the two airports at a rate of (6) flights per week, giving travelers additional options for traveling between the two destinations.
Eng. Mazen bin Mohammed Johar, CEO of Jeddah Airports Company, praised this cooperation with British Airways to operate regular flights between London and Jeddah, pointing out that this coincides with the growing demand for travel between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, and the selection of King Abdulaziz International Airport as a preferred international destination for major global airlines, as it is a hub airport linking East and West, thanks to its distinguished geographical location and the capabilities it provides to provide a comfortable travel experience that exceeds travelers’ expectations.
Jawhar pointed out that this step comes as part of Jeddah Airports’ strategy to increase the number of travel destinations linked to King Abdulaziz International Airport, in implementation of the national strategy for the aviation sector, which is in line with Saudi Vision 2030. The strategy aims to connect the airport to 150 international destinations, serve 114 million passengers, and handle 2.5 million tons of cargo by 2030.
For his part, Neil Shernoff, Executive Director of Planning and Strategy at British Airways, said: “We are excited to be operating the air route to King Abdulaziz International Airport again within our network, having last operated a scheduled flight in 2021.
He pointed out that British Airways has a long history of facilitating travel for families, friends, and businesses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to and from Heathrow Airport in the capital.