2 h. ago Carlo Acutis, ‘God’s influencer’ who died age 15, declared a saint by Pope Leo

London-born Italian, who died in 2006, built websites to spread Catholic teaching and is credited with two miraclesA London-born Italian teenage computer whiz who died in 2006 age 15, has been declared the Catholic church’s first millennial saint during an open-air Mass in a packed St Peter’s Square.Carlo Acutis, who died of leukaemia, built multilingual websites to spread Catholic teaching, later earning him the nickname “God’s influencer”. He was canonised by Pope Leo XIV alongside Pier Giorgio Frassati, another young Catholic activist, who died a century ago. Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago Carlo Acutis, ‘God’s influencer’, declared first millennial saint by Pope Leo at canonisation mass

Carlo Acutis, a London-born computer prodigy who died in 2006, has become the first millennial Catholic saint.

Science

3 h. ago California Schemin’ review – James McAvoy’s directorial debut is an unlikely rap tale

Toronto film festival: the actor makes for a hit-and-miss first time film-maker with the undeniably involving true story of Scottish rappers who pretended to be AmericanAt the start of the century, a struggling Scottish rap duo decided to overhaul their image in extreme fashion: they began posing as two Americans from California, and managed to secure themselves a record deal with a label in London. Eventually the hoax was revealed, and one of them released a memoir about the charade. That wild story has now been adapted into a film, California Schemin’, which marks the alternately confident and unsteady directorial debut of actor James McAvoy.McAvoy is a son of Scotland himself, and perhaps feels some kinship with rappers Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd, who found the cultural tastemakers of the south to be indifferent or even hostile to Scottish artists. Though McAvoy has fared just fine as an actor, Bain and Boyd – who would come to be known as Silibil N’ Brains – had a much tougher go...

Politics

3 h. ago Saint Carlo, film festivals and a colourful giant: photos of the weekend

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Culture

4 h. ago Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery review – whodunnit threequel is murderously good fun

Toronto film festival: after Glass Onion underwhelmed, Rian Johnson’s self-aware, star-packed Benoit Blanc series makes a barnstorming return to formIf Glass Onion wasn’t quite the deserving follow-up to Knives Out that many of us had hoped it would be (it was more focused on the bigger rather than better), it was at the very least a deserved victory lap. Writer-director Rian Johnson’s 2019 whodunnit brought us back to the starry, slippery fun of the 70s and 80s, when films like this would be a dime a dozen and it was a surprise hit, making almost eight times its budget at the global box office. While Kenneth Branagh had seen commercial success already with his Poirot revival two years prior, his retreads felt too musty, and the actor-director too miscast, for the genre to truly feel like it was entering an exciting new period.Johnson’s threequel, Wake Up Dead Man, is the second as part of his Netflix deal (one that cost an estimated $450m) and arrives as the whodunnit genre has fou...

Events

5 h. ago The Voice of Hind Rajab should have won Venice’s top prize. But the result wasn’t a cop

Many felt Kaouther Ben Hania’s Gaza docufiction was robbed when Jim Jarmusch’s latest took the top prize. Yet accusations of moral cowardice on the part of the jury are naive and unfairThere are standing ovations and there are jury decisions.Jim Jarmusch’s droll, quirky, very charming film Father Mother Sister Brother got a mere six minutes for its standing ovation at Venice – though one day we’re going to have to introduce some Olympic-style standardisation to these timings. But it got the top prize, the Golden Lion, from Alexander Payne’s jury. Continue reading...

Politics

5 h. ago The Voice of Hind Rajab was better than the film which won Venice. But that result wasn’t a cop

Many felt Kaouther Ben Hania’s Gaza docufiction was robbed when Jim Jarmusch’s latest took the top prize. Yet accusations of moral cowardice on the part of the jury are naive and unfairThere are standing ovations and there are jury decisions.Jim Jarmusch’s droll, quirky, very charming film Father Mother Sister Brother got a mere six minutes for its standing ovation at Venice – though one day we’re going to have to introduce some Olympic-style standardisation to these timings. But it got the top prize, the Golden Lion, from Alexander Payne’s jury. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Pope tells young crowd at huge canonisation of Gen Z's first saint 'Make your lives a masterpiece' as London

Acutis, who died of leukaemia in 2006, was raised to sainthood in a solemn ceremony in St Peter's Square, with his family watching on.

Politics

6 h. ago Carlo Acutis, ‘God’s influencer’ who died aged 15, declared a saint by Pope Leo

London-born Italian, who died in 2006, built websites to spread Catholic teaching and is credited with two miraclesPope Leo XIV has declared the London-born Italian Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 age 15, the Catholic church’s first millennial saint during an open-air mass in a packed St Peter’s Square.Carlo, who died of leukaemia, built websites to spread Catholic teaching, earning him the nickname “God’s influencer”. He was canonised alongside Pier Giorgio Frassati, another young Catholic activist, who died a century ago. Continue reading...

Events

7 h. ago Voices: What teen influencer Carlo Acutis becoming a saint says about Pope Leo’s Catholic Church

As the British-born Italian teenager is canonised, following a campaign by his wealthy family, Catherine Pepinster asks how the Catholic Church can honour the deserving people whose supporters don’t have the means to lobby on their behalf

Politics

7 h. ago Pope Leo makes 'God's Influencer' the first Gen Z saint: St Peter's Square fills for canonisation of British

Acutis, a 15-year-old London-born computer whiz who died in 2006 of an acute case of leukemia, has been declared the first millennial saint today.

Science

8 h. ago Colourful new community artwork in Dorset steals Cerne Giant’s limelight

Consequences Giant figure in the West Country is the result of project involving community groups and schoolsDespite the bright autumn sunshine, the Cerne Giant – the naked, club-wielding figure cut into an English hillside – is looking a little faded, its chalky outline almost ready for its 10-yearly refresh.The same could not be said of a second extraordinary giant that has been unfurled close by on the steep Dorset slopes, its vibrant colours and swirling shapes visible for miles around. Continue reading...

Events

8 h. ago 'God's influencer' Carlo Acutis' surprising connection to famous figure REVEALED as he becomes first millennial saint

British-born Carlo was to be canonised on September 7 after the Vatican recognised him as having performed two miracles since his death in 2006.

Science

10 h. ago Carlo Acutis: Two miracles attributed to Brit teen who becomes saint today

British teen Carlo Acutis shot to fame among many young Catholics for being a relatable, modern-day role model, who used technology to spread the faith

Politics

13 h. ago The 2025 Venice Film Festival is over. Here's everything you need to know

The 82nd Venice Film Festival has wrapped up, but the buzz continues

Culture

15 h. ago Another 'Knives Out' makes another raucous premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival

For the third time, the knives were out at the Toronto International Film Festival

Politics

16 h. ago Winter of the Crow review – Lesley Manville commands cold war thriller

Toronto film festival: the Oscar nominee makes for a compelling heroine in a solid and intermittently suspenseful tale of a professor stuck in a nightmareThe specific brilliance of Lesley Manville had been on display for those who knew where to look long before her first Oscar nomination. She’d been part of the enviable Mike Leigh troupe (her first nomination should have been for Another Year) and a permanent small-screen fixture, even if the size of her roles hadn’t correlated to the size of her talent. But after Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson’s singular magnum opus, Manville has enjoyed a spectacular boom, a long-deserved reward for her and an even bigger one for those of us watching.The role came as she was entering her 60s, a period that can often leave female actors with grimly limited options, but she’s bucked the trend, not just through the sheer amount of work she’s found but also the unusual variety. She’s avoided the post-Book Club subgenre of mostly patronising come...

Events

19 h. ago Millions believe this British boy has performed miracles since his death at just 15. Today, amid dark whispers about the Catholic Church's real intentions, Carlo Acutis will be anointed a saint

The legendary Francis is Assisi's biggest attraction no longer. His popularity has been surpassed by that of the new kid on the town's cobbled blocks: London-born Carlo Acutis

Events

20 h. ago Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother, starring Cate Blanchett, surprise winner of Venice Golden Lion

The Voice of Hind Rajab, a harrowing account of a Palestinian child’s death in Gaza, won the runner-up Silver LionUS indie director Jim Jarmusch unexpectedly won the coveted Golden Lion at the Venice film festival on Saturday with Father Mother Sister Brother, a three-part meditation on the uneasy tie between parents and their adult children.Although his gentle comedy received largely positive reviews, it had not been a favourite for the top prize, with many critics instead tipping the Voice of Hind Rajab, a harrowing true-life account of the killing of a five-year-old Palestinian girl during the Gaza war. In the end, the film directed by Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania took the runner-up Silver Lion. Continue reading...

Politics

20 h. ago Venice Film Festival, by the numbers: From standing ovations to Campari spritzes

From a record-breaking standing ovation to the ever-present Campari spritzes to even on-screen subtitles, the 2025 Venice Film Festival was a bounty of interesting numbers

Culture