1. \u2018It\u2019s been a cesspit, really, my life\u2019: war photographer Don McCullin on 19 of his greatest picturesSurvivor \u2026 Don McCullin. Photograph: Linda Nylind\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
War photographers are not meant to reach 90. \u201cFate has had my life in its hands,\u201d says Don McCullin. Over his seven-decade career covering wars, famines and disasters, McCullin has been captured, escaped snipers, mortar fire and more. How does it feel to be a survivor? \u201cUncomfortable,\u201d he says. No wonder he finds solace in the beautiful still lifes he creates in his shed, or in the images he composes in the countryside around his Somerset home. He spoke to Emine Saner about the stories behind some of his finest photographs.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n 2. Can I learn to be cool \u2013 even though I am garrulous, swotty and wear no-show socks?Not cool \u2026 Elle Hunt. Photograph: Graeme Robertson\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cI am usually wearing head-to-toe Uniqlo. Affordable, yes, practical, certainly \u2013 but hardly cool. My wardrobe is a gen Z punchline: straight-leg (not baggy) jeans, leggings (as opposed to track pants), no-show socks \u2026 \u201d As academics wrestle with the psychology of what makes someone cool, Elle Hunt spent a month investigating the six attributes that define coolness. Could she up her cool score?<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n 3. \u2018No one can do anything worse to me now\u2019: Caroline Flack\u2019s mother on the tragic, preventable death of her daughterChristine Flack. Photograph: Amit Lennon\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Caroline Flack was one of Britain\u2019s most successful presenters \u2013 and also one of the most talked about \u2013 when she was arrested in December 2019 and charged with assaulting her partner. She lost her job. She lost her home \u2013 it was so besieged by the press that she never went back there after her arrest. She felt she lost the public, too. When she took her life nine weeks later, in February 2020, the narrative shifted. Now there were tributes to her talent as well as stories of her struggle with mental illness.<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n 4. Could the internet go offline? Inside the fragile system holding the modern world togetherCreaking \u2026 inside a data centre server room. Photograph: Sergio Azenha\/Alamy<\/p>\n A glitch at a data centre in the US state of Virginia last month<\/a> reminded us that the unlikely is not impossible. The internet may have become an irreplaceable linchpin of modern life, but it is also a web of creaking legacy programs and physical infrastructure, leading some to wonder what it would take to bring it all down. Aisha Down investigated.<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n 5. \u2018People thought I was a communist doing this as a non-profit\u2019: is Wikipedia\u2019s Jimmy Wales the last decent tech baron?Jimmy Wales. Photograph: P\u00e5l Hansen<\/p>\n In an online landscape characterised by doom and division, the people\u2019s encyclopedia stands out \u2013 a huge collective endeavour giving everyone free access to the sum of human knowledge. But with Elon Musk calling it \u201cWokipedia\u201d and AI looming large, can it survive? David Shariatmadari met its founder to find out<\/p>\n