In any event, with most of the Russian Federation deep in gloom, if not despair, Estonia's ethnic Russians are beginning to realise how lucky they are.

ECONOMIST: Toomas Ilves, Estonia��s American-European

It's mid-winter in South Africa - a season of clear skies, bone-chilling temperatures, and deep, tetchy gloom.

BBC: Winter means strike time in South Africa

The Boggart Hole, Bleak House, Deep Doom and Gloom.

NEWYORKER: Trench Names