Net-literate prostitutes have shamed Russia's government into putting up Web sites for their various offices. The number of Web sites produced by Russian tarts has caused a senior official at the Kremlin, Alexei Violin, to order government bodies to shape up and follow their lead.

Not that the agriculture ministry will start posting pictures of animals in saucy poses but the bureaucrats are a little embarrassed that ladies of the night are more technically literate than themselves.

The departments have until the end of the year to set up their Web sites. Mr Violin plucked at the heart strings and admonished the state's fiddling about when he said: "The situation in which Moscow's prostitutes have their own Web sites and federal ministries don't is a little strange."

Our thanks to Mark Franchetti from Inside Moscow for this gem of information. ®