It has been, we think you'll agree, something of a bleak week.
No hilarious Pope stories. No unexpected horsemeat discoveries. Instead, it's been seven days of death, welfare cuts, impending nuclear war and bad weather.
Thank heavens, then, for Twitter - which has managed to keep us sane by weaving comedy gold out of all of the above (and the BBC class calculator). And thank heavens also for the person who launched the petition demanding that Iain Duncan Smith puts his money where his mouth is, and eat £53. Or something.
From IDS's benefit challenge to George Osborne's challenged parking, from Kim Jong Un'ssabre nuclear warhead-rattling to Paolo Di Canio's over-zealous arm movements - here were just some of the tweets that, in the words of Charlie Chaplin, made us smile though our hearts are aching...