MOSCOW -- Politics is always bit of a high-wire act -- and even the most adroit sometimes slip, as Moscow's mayor found out the hard way. The flamboyant Mayor Yury Luzhkov, 60, sprained his ankle Monday while practicing -- no joke -- a trapeze act.


Luzhkov had planned to perform it at a special circus this week honoring the 75th birthday of the famous clown Yury Nikulin.


Nikulin's son, Maxim, said the mayor has to scrap the trapeze act, but still plans to attend the show. "He just sprained his ankle,'' he told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. "Nothing serious happened to him.''