She had most of the attributes of sainthood: a dauntingly selfless life, devotion to a higher cause, rude single-mindedness, a thick skin, and a capacity to wring the withers of the rich and powerful.

ECONOMIST: Mother Teresa

Drawn in by easy-to-digest prices and a traditional take on fish and chips, cabbies are known to queue up here for thick slices of fresh cod, fried skin-on in beef fat.

BBC: Chipping away at the history of fish and chips

Such an explanation would perhaps be easier to believe, were it not for the fact that the Kursk is the largest submarine in the world, and, unlike any Western submarine, has a twin-hull, the inner skin of which alone is 40cm thick.

BBC: Aftermath of the Kursk tragedy