by Anna MALPAS Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia – President Vladimir Putin on Thursday agreed to start flights for former residents to visit a disputed island chain as he and Japanese premier Shinzo Abe again struggled to make progress on a decades-old territorial dispute. Russia and Japan have been blocked from signing a formal treaty to end World War II hostilities for seven decades over the island disagreement, hampering closer ties. The Soviet Union seized the […]