Tokyo / AFP Russia has released a Japanese citizen detained on a disputed island claimed by both countries, Tokyo’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, ahead of diplomatic talks on the long-running territorial dispute. Tokyo and Moscow are working to resolve decades of tensions over four islands occupied by the Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II and …

  Havana / AFP Colombia’s government and the FARC rebels have reached a historic peace agreement to end their half-century civil war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives. After nearly four years of negotiations in Cuba, the two sides announced a final deal Wednesday, which President Juan Manuel Santos said would be put to a decisive referendum on October 2. …

  Kabul / AFP At least 16 people were killed after militants stormed the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, officials said on Thursday, in a nearly 10-hour raid that prompted anguished pleas for help from trapped students. Explosions and gunfire rocked the campus after the attack began Wednesday evening, just weeks after two university professors—an American and an Australian—were kidnapped …