SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged Japan Thursday to be honest with its wartime history and its export curbs against South Korea, which Moon called an economic retaliation for the historical issues.

"Japan must be honest. Japan has yet to even state an honest reason for its economic retaliation. The Japanese government is trying to rationalize its economic retaliation by baselessly shifting its rhetoric as frequently as necessary," Moon said in a cabinet meeting to decide on the government's proposal for next year's budget. (South Korea-Japan-History)

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KUALA LUMPUR -- The violence that has gripped China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is a "criminal activity" and will not be tolerated in any place, said a Malaysian expert.

The recent protests in Hong Kong "are not just protests" but involved "a lot of hooliganism and vandalism," said Bunn Nagara, Senior Fellow of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia.

"It is criminal activity because laws have been broken; people including the police have been attacked and both public and private property has been damaged, including cars on the road," Nagara told Xinhua in a recent interview. (Malaysia-Hong Kong Violence)

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SYDNEY -- Authorities in Australia have seized a record 755 kg of crystal methamphetamine (ice) uncovered inside a shipment of raw animal hides.

As the largest onshore seizure of ice originating from Mexico, Australian Federal Police (AFP) confirmed on Thursday they have charged a 42-year-old Mexican national who allegedly organised the importation on behalf of an international crime syndicate.

With an estimated street value of 566.3 million Australian dollars (381 million U.S. dollars), the operation began on Aug. 13 when a freight of 18 pallets of frozen, raw and untreated cow skins arrived in Sydney labelled "Salty Bovine Skin Cuero Verde Salado De Bovino". (Australia-Drugs)

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TOKYO -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 struck off the eastern coast of Aomori Prefecture, the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island Honshu, the weather agency here said Thursday.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor, which has not resulted in a tsunami warning being issued, occurred at 8:46 a.m. local time and was centered off the coast of Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan, with its epicenter located at a latitude of 41.0 degrees north and longitude of 143.1 degrees east.

The quake occurred at a depth of 10 km, the agency also said. (Japan-Earthquake) Enditem

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