Russian president Dimitri Medvedev has fired Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, after a long feud. Boo-ya.

Here's how politics work in Russia: be as corrupt as you want, as long as you keep your mouth shut; but criticize those above you, and they'll use their media lackeys to crush you. Just like America, in other words.

Anna Chapman's sexy boudoir photo shoot for a Russian men's magazine was only the beginning. The flame-haired spy who stole our hearts has an "Anna cult" that follows her everywhere. Locals are composings hymns to celebrate her!

Seven hundred people are dying in Moscow every day, according to a Russian health official, as the sweltering city is choked by smog from hundreds of peat bog fires. Depressing quote from a morgue worker: "The refrigerators are full." [Guardian]

A cloud of smog in Moscow—caused by nearby forest fires—could kill hundreds.

[For those of you holding out hope that sexy Anna Chapman might parachute from her plane to Russia and sneak her way back into America's pants, sorry: the ten swapped Russian spies have landed in Moscow. Image via AP.]

At least 35 people are dead after a suspected terrorist attack on Moscow subway stations

An internet cafe in Moscow was attacked by two arsonist earlier this week. A security guard fought the arsonist's quite valiantly.. but in the end, the bad guys won.

[This man was one of thousands who emerged from the Moskva River into the -13° air in Moscow today during a Russian Orthodox ritual celebrating Epiphany. Image via AP]

The Box is opening in Moscow! Amy Sacco is still going strong in London. Looks like Manhattan's party scene is better in other countries than here. But get ready, along with the "new Beatrice," 2010 is bringing a reopened Bungalow 8.

Here in New York, advertisers will toss up huge billboards on every flat surface, zoning laws be damned (see here for nice chart illustrating how much the police care about illegal advertising). Well that's pretty embarrassing for us, because they're even cracking down on the insane proliferation of billboards in Moscow. In Russia! Is America poised to take back the international "Rampant and Rapacious Uncontrolled Advertising In Service of Almighty Capitalism" title? Well, only if the economic crisis doesn't force Moscow to quit taking down billboards before it starts. It's a nice idea, but we don't want to cut into revenue here!

Hope you don't have to travel to Moscow on your own dime! According to a corporate travel firm, Hogg Robinson Group, the average room rate in Moscow has jumped by 93 percent in the last four years, making Moscow's hotel rooms among the most expensive in the world. The Baltschug Kempinski will run you a minimum of $1,600 a night. Rooms at the Ararat Park Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton start at $1,300. And the city-wide average of $540 is more than $150 above the average in New York. (Sounds like Moscow needs Sam Chang.) Fortunately, these rooms are all stocked with expansive mini-bars and many varieties of vodka. So if you are, in fact, paying out of your own pocket, you'll be able to drown your worries easily enough.

Here's some good news: New York is only the world's 22nd most expensive city, according to the consulting firm Mercer. As outrageous as it may seem to live in a city where a 500-square-foot apartment will run you a million bucks to buy (or $3,000 a month to rent), at least you don't live in Moscow! Or Tokyo. The list of the 21 even more painful places to live below.