Russia, Japan hold 'in-depth' talks on islands dispute

By Vladimir Soldatkin and Kiyoshi Takenaka VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed on Friday to draw up proposals this year to end a row over a group of disputed islands that has bedevilled relations between their countries for over 70 years. The dispute stems from the Soviet Union's decision, in the final days of World War Two, to seize the islands - known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Ku