Americas

4 Decades Later, Green Day Is Still Chasing Their Pre-Fame High With ‘Nimrods’

• Nimrods fictionalises Green Day’s formative punk years.
• Three teenagers wrongly believe they will support Green Day.
• The band wanted nostalgia without making a biopic.

Nimrods is a fictional road-trip comedy inspired by Green Day’s early years rather than a conventional biopic, concert film or documentary. It follows three teenage musicians from Kansas City who travel to Los Angeles after mistakenly believing they will open for Green Day, drawing on the band’s own…

Senate Democrats press Rubio on release of US citizens detained by Russia

Senate Democrats are calling on the Trump administration to escalate efforts to rescue Americans detained in Russia, after Moscow on Tuesday released U.S. citizen Robert Gilman after four and a half years in detention. In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday, Democratic senators raised…

Guitar company D’Addario admits that AI music was used in a promotional video

• D’Addario admitted Suno regenerated music in its strings promotional video.
• The company reversed earlier denials after scrutiny of audio files.
• It promises clearer AI disclosure and stronger content checks.

D’Addario has admitted that generative AI music tool Suno was used to regenerate a track in a promotional video for its guitar strings, reversing nearly two weeks of denials. The episode matters because the company initially blamed audio artefacts on export quality, plugins and AI-assisted mastering, before acknowledging…

God of War star Christopher Judge criticizes The Last of Us and similar adaptations for excluding people who made the games: “What are you thinking?”

• Christopher Judge wants game creators included in adaptations.
• He criticised adaptations that exclude original contributors.
• He cited The Last of Us among similar projects.

Christopher Judge, who plays Kratos in the God of War games, has criticised screen adaptations such as HBO’s The Last of Us for failing to involve the people who created or performed in the original games. He argued that excluding those contributors risks losing valuable knowledge of the…

Alan Jackson Is Now One of the 10 Best-Selling Country Artists in US History—and He’s Got the Hardware to Show for It

• Alan Jackson has surpassed 85.5 million certified US sales.
• The milestone places him among country music’s top 10 sellers.
• He received 28 new RIAA certifications in Nashville.

Alan Jackson has entered the top 10 best-selling country artists in US history after surpassing 85.5 million certified units sold, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The milestone was recognised at the finale of his Last Call: One More For the Road tour in Nashville,…

10 PS Plus Extra, Premium Games for August 2026 Announced

• August PS Plus adds Helldivers 2 and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
• Most games arrive on 18 August
• UK members wait until 25 August for five titles

Sony has announced the August 2026 additions to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium, led by Helldivers 2 and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. The line-up broadens the subscription catalogue with recent action and role-playing titles, independent games and older releases, while Premium subscribers also receive two classic games. Extra…

WHO chief: US immunization changes ‘not aligned with decades of evidence’

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) criticized changes to the U.S.’s vaccine policy for children on Wednesday. “@WHO is concerned that recent changes to US immunization policy are not aligned with decades of evidence that show when children are most vulnerable to disease, when vaccines provide…

Jon Hassell’s First Posthumous Album to Arrive This Fall

• Jon Hassell’s final live performance becomes a posthumous album.
• Music Is Invisible arrives on 2 October.
• The record completes his Pentimento trilogy.

Jon Hassell’s label, Ndeya, will release his first posthumous album of new music, Music Is Invisible (Pentimento Volume Three), on 2 October. The release completes a trilogy begun with 2018’s Listening to Pictures and 2020’s Seeing Through Sound, offering a final document of the influential composer’s late-career work.…

GODFLESH Announces New Album ‘Decay’, Shares ‘Living/Ending’ Single

• Godflesh announce ‘Decay’ for 25 September 2026.
• ‘Living/Ending’ is the album’s new single.
• The six-track record follows sessions for 2023’s ‘Purge’.

Godflesh have announced their tenth and penultimate album, ‘Decay’, due for release on 25 September 2026 through Relapse Records, alongside the new single ‘Living/Ending’. The release matters as it marks another major chapter for the influential industrial metal band, formed 38 years ago by Justin Broadrick and bassist…

Multiplayer Witcher spin-off Project Sirius reportedly hit by layoffs again, in “broader shift in development strategy” at CD Projekt Red

• Project Sirius reportedly lost nine staff amid a strategic development shift.
• Another nine employees are reportedly being reassigned internally.
• The Witcher 4 remains CD Projekt Red’s top priority.

CD Projekt Red has reportedly made nine redundancies on Project Sirius, its multiplayer-linked Witcher spin-off, while moving another nine staff to other internal teams. The reported changes are said to reflect a broader shift in development strategy, adding fresh uncertainty around a project that has already been rebooted…