Dresden, Germany - A human rights group criticized plans by a German cultural organization to present an award to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the eastern city of Dresden on Friday.

"He doesn't deserve to be honoured," the German-based Society for Threatened Peoples said, blaming Putin for human rights violations by Russian troops in Chechnya.

During his time as president, the Russian leader was responsible for the deaths of around 80,000 men, women and children in the breakaway republic, the society said in a statement.

Sofia - Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov has called for a new EU energy policy in the wake of the ongoing gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine.

In a speech on national security Friday in Sofia, Parvanonv said that it was "important to build a dependable partnership" between the states of the Caspian littoral.

Parvanov added that the proposed Nabucco pipeline project, which would see gas distributed from the Caucasus without passing through Russian or Ukrainian territory, was not just about a physical project, but also about politics.

Moscow - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Iran and Syria on Friday to bring pressure to bear on the radical Palestinian Hamas movement to accept a plan proposed by Egypt for a truce in the Gaza Strip.

"We need to put all our strength behind Egypt's plan for an end to the fighting in Gaza," Lavrov told journalists at a briefing in Moscow.

"If we take this path in particular, we are sending the appropriate signal to Hamas representatives and to those states that have influence on Hamas, above all this means Iran and Syria," he said.

Moscow  - At least five people were killed in a crash of two military aircraft on a military landing strip in Dagestan, a Russian republic in the North Caucasus, officials told Russian news agencies Thursday.

The aircraft - both type Ilyushin 76 - were carrying members of the military.

The accident happened amidst a fog cover. One aircraft had already landed, and the second was about to land but aborted because of the weather, reports said.

The exact cause of the accident was unclear.

Moscow - Falling energy prices and the ongoing financial crisis have pushed the Russian rouble to an historic low against the dollar, according to the Russian central bank.

As reported by Interfax, the bank moved Thursday for the fourth time since the start of the year to broaden the range for currency fluctuations versus a basket of currencies comprised of the dollar and the euro.

The official exchange rate was posted at 32.21 roubles to the dollar, a rate 65.19 kopeks higher than on Wednesday.

The previous low of 31.88 roubles to the dollar was hit six years ago, according to Interfax.

Moscow - Former German chancellor Gerhard Sc