News Headlines - 23 November 2020

▽Ex-Japan PM Abe's secretary, supporters questioned over 2018 dinner function - The Mainichi

Prosecutors have questioned aides of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, including one of his secretaries, over allegations that his office illegally subsidized costs for supporters to attend a 2018 dinner function, investigative sources said Monday.
The voluntary questioning came after a criminal complaint was filed in May against Abe and his aides, claiming the former premier's office violated the election law and political funds control law in connection with the event held at a Tokyo hotel on the eve of a publicly funded annual cherry blossom viewing party in April 2018.

▽Hong Kong activists Wong, Chow and Ivan Lam in custody after guilty plea | The Japan Times

Three young Hong Kong dissidents including Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow were remanded into custody on Monday after pleading guilty to inciting a rally during last year’s pro-democracy protests, deepening the crackdown against Beijing’s critics.

▽China launches historic Chang'e 5 mission to collect the first moon samples since 1976 | Space

The first lunar sample-return mission since the 1970s is underway.
China's robotic Chang'e 5 mission launched today (Nov. 23) from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, rising into the sky atop a Long March 5 rocket at about 3:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT; 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 24 local time in Hainan).
If all goes according to plan, the bold and complex Chang'e 5 will haul pristine moon samples back to Earth in mid-December - something that hasn't been done since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 mission in 1976.

▽Trump And GSA Authorize Biden To Begin Presidential Transition

The head of the General Services Administration officially authorized President-elect Joe Biden to begin his transition to the presidency on Monday as President Donald Trump tweeted his support for the move after a long period of resistance amid the president’s continued refusal to concede the election.

▽UN: Yemen on the verge of a ′catastrophic′ famine | DW

The United Nations warned on Friday that war-torn Yemen is on the brink of experiencing the worst famine the world has seen in decades.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement: "In the absence of immediate action, millions of lives may be lost."