K-pop supergroup SuperM have announced they'll release a new album soon. AFP
K-pop supergroup SuperM have announced they'll release a new album soon. AFP
K-pop supergroup SuperM have announced they'll release a new album soon. AFP
K-pop supergroup SuperM have announced they'll release a new album soon. AFP

K-pop boy band SuperM announces a new album on the way


Evelyn Lau
  • English
  • Arabic

K-pop boy band SuperM are back with new music.

The group once dubbed "The Avengers of K-pop" held their SuperM – Beyond the Future concert on the V Live app on Sunday, April 26. The event allowed for their fans around the world to stream their virtual gig as the band performed in a concert hall.

SuperM performed their yet-to-be-released track Tiger Inside for the first time and also revealed that they "will be returning with a new album soon". While they didn't unveil a date just yet, they did, however, share a highlight medley of the upcoming album at the concert.

The K-pop band was created in 2019 and comprised of seven members from four other popular existing SM Entertainment bands: Taemin from Shinee, Baekhyun and Kai from Exo, Taeyong and Mark from NCT 127 and Ten and Lucas from WayV.

The group released their self-titled EP on October 4, 2019 which debuted at number one at the Billboard 200 albums chart. They also released a music video for their lead single Jopping which was filmed in Dubai. The word is a portmanteau of "jumping" and "popping", which the seven-member band claim is "how they get down".

The video shows band members riding motorbikes around Happiness Street in Business Bay and Al Khail Road, driving down Meydan Bridge, and performing on a stretch of highway in the desert. One of the members, Taemin, sings and dances to his verse in a vast desert expanse, with the Dubai skyline in the background.

Click to watch the music video:

There are also scenes of the band performing their energetic choreography in a futuristic stadium, and an array of jump-cuts featuring robots assembling a structure, helicopters flying over empty highways and a tank running across the dunes.

Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time

Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.

Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.

The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.

The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.

Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.

The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.

• Bloomberg

MATCH INFO

Manchester United 6 (McTominay 2', 3'; Fernandes 20', 70' pen; Lindelof 37'; James 65')

Leeds United 2 (Cooper 41'; Dallas 73')

Man of the match: Scott McTominay (Manchester United)

Tips for job-seekers
  • Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
  • Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.

David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East

Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal 

Rating: 2/5

'Shakuntala Devi'

Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra

Director: Anu Menon

Rating: Three out of five stars

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

From exhibitions to the battlefield

In 2016, the Shaded Dome was awarded with the 'De Vernufteling' people's choice award, an annual prize by the Dutch Association of Consulting Engineers and the Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers for the most innovative project by a Dutch engineering firm.

It was assigned by the Dutch Ministry of Defence to modify the Shaded Dome to make it suitable for ballistic protection. Royal HaskoningDHV, one of the companies which designed the dome, is an independent international engineering and project management consultancy, leading the way in sustainable development and innovation.

It is driving positive change through innovation and technology, helping use resources more efficiently.

It aims to minimise the impact on the environment by leading by example in its projects in sustainable development and innovation, to become part of the solution to a more sustainable society now and into the future.

Honeymoonish
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