The bidding for part of the failed Russian energy company Yukos went pretty much as expected on Tuesday. Rosneft, an energy company that is controlled by the Russian government, won with a lowball offer of $7.6 billion after the only other bidder, a joint venture that included Britain's BP, dropped out after just four minutes. One surprising twist, however, California's state comptroller warned Western companies against taking part in Russian auctions. John Chiang, who overseas the state public pension fund Calpers, said Western companies that join in the auctions risk being sued for “complicity in illegal and unethical activities by the Russian government.”

Also pretty much as expected: A march by anti-Putin protesters in Nizhny Novgorod on Saturday was quickly broken up by police. According to The New York Times, about 10 elderly protesters were knocked to the ground by the officers. More than 100 protesters were arrested at a similar rally in St. Petersburg on March 3.

On a happier note, President Putin hosted a gala celebration on Tuesday night for the 80th birthday of renowned cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Many newspapers picked up the Associated Press report of the event. Rostropovich went into exile from the Soviet Union and was stripped of his citizenship after sheltering the dissident writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Rostropovich was born in Azerbaijan and, according to the AP, now supports a children's charity there.

On Thursday, Reuters reported that Russia and China will cooperate on a joint, unmanned mission to Mars. The exploratory effort is planned for 2009. Chinese news outlets also ran several stories this week on a massive China trade exhibit now taking place in Moscow. The "Year of China in Russia" is spotlighting 15,000 products from 30 industries.

The BBC and many other news sites on Thursday picked up on a Human Rights Watch report, which said that seven Russians who had been detained at Guantanamo Bay were tortured or abused after the U.S. deported them to Russia. The men, who were were arrested after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2002 had repeatedly asked U.S. authorities not to return them to Russia.

Elected officials in Western Siberia have asked Moscow to abolish daylight savings time in Russia. According to RIA Novosti, parliamentarians in Kemerovo believe that the time switch is harmful to the health of all Russians, not only those in Siberia, because of the country's harsh winter weather.

And yet another reminder that you should be careful what you ask for: A Russian court has ordered a retrial in the case of a school principal who was charged with installing pirated Microsoft software in school computers. In February, a lower court stopped the prosecution of Alexander Ponosov. But Ponosov appealed because he wanted to be formally acquitted. Trouble is, the prosecution also appealed because it wants him to be convicted.