russian deputy foreign minister igor morgulov recently told the russian interfax news agency that his country has not been in negotiations with japan on the issue of the islands. he said the matter was settled 70 years ago. he insisted that the islands became russian territory as a result of world war ii. morgulov made the comments following a visit by russian prime minister dimitri medvedev to one of the islands last month. on friday, foreign minister fumio kishida told reporters were told that morgulov's remarks were counterproductive and not true. >> translator: the remarks also go against an agreement between prime minister shinzo abe and president vladimir putin. we cannot accept the remarks. >> the japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of japan's territory. it says the islands were illegally occupied after world war ii. >>> u.s. employment figures for the month of august have come in. key figures show a mixed picture. officials at the labor department say employers in the nonfarm sector added 173,000 jobs. analysts had expected a solid figure in the 220,