Estonians had a laugh at their neighbour's expense Monday, as Russian media reported as true a fake ban on journalists' footwear after the Iraqi shoe-throwing aimed at US President George W. Bush."It seems we are living in an era of total humour deficit," said the Estonian magazine Eesti Ekspress, which last week had carried the spurious tale.The parody report on the purported shoe ban at press conferences in Estonia had by Monday found its way onto lenta.ru, a leading Russian news portal, as well as into other media there.According to the fake story, which had been published in Eesti Ekspress' regular comic section, Tallinn planned to impose the new rules from February 1.Eesti Ekspress quoted a supposed government expert with the surname Needus -- "curse" in Estonian -- as saying reporters would have to go barefoot but would be allowed to rent woolen socks if temperatures fell.Estonia broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991, and its relations with Moscow have been rocky ever since. Many Estonians complain about unfriendly coverage of their country in the Russian media.The fake ban was a reference to an incident on December 14 in Iraq, where a local journalist hurled his shoes -- and abuse -- at Bush during the outgoing US president's farewell visit to Baghdad.ar/jwf/boc