TOKYO -- The Tokyo Olympics are well underway after a long journey filled with controversy, and an unprecedented one-year postponement because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proceedings officially began with the opening ceremony at the National Stadium , a mostly subdued affair mixed with joyous moments like a high-tech drone show, and capped by tennis star Naomi Osaka lighting the Olympic cauldron.

We're tracking the latest medal count .

Read our breakdown of the events to watch .

Here are the latest developments:

Wednesday,

SEOUL -- South Korea's upcoming presidential election has turned into a tightly contested head-to-head race with an ex-prosecutor who initially sought an independent run joining the leading opposition party.

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl officially joined the conservative People Power Party this past Friday. He has led opinion polls as the best suited to replace progressive President Moon Jae-in, whose single five-year term ends in 2022.

Yoon announced his candidacy in June, advertising himself as an independent

Boonsithi Chokwatana is the Chairman of Saha Group, Thailand's leading consumer products conglomerate. This is part 13 of a 30-part series.

As Thailand's economy took off in the 1960s and 1970s, lifestyles rapidly modernized. Changes also emerged in people's dietary preferences, offering us new business opportunities. We formed many tie-ups with Japanese companies handling bread, snack foods, seasonings, beverages and so on.

But it was a Taiwanese company that

DUBAI -- Exactly a year ago, on Aug. 4, 2020, Sarah Copland's world was shattered.

Approximately 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate, stored alongside other flammable items in the busy commercial port of Beirut, exploded and sent a devastating shock wave across the Lebanese capital. More than 200 people died, with some 7,000 injured.

Copland's 2-year-old son Isaac was killed when the blast destroyed her home, not far

TAIPEI -- Apple is tapping more suppliers in China for key roles in producing the latest iPhone, a sign that the country's technological competitiveness is continuing to increase despite Washington's attempts to rein in Beijing's tech ambitions.

Luxshare Precision Industry will build up to 3% of the upcoming iPhone 13 series, winning orders away from Taiwanese rivals Foxconn and Pegatron, Nikkei Asia has learned. Apple is slated to produce between 90 million and 95 million of the new iPhones through January.

Luxshare will

SEOUL -- South Korean energy company SK Innovation said Wednesday that it will spin off its mainstay battery business in October to better focus on the fast-growing electric vehicle market.

SK Innovation's board approved the plan on Tuesday, stressing that batteries have growth potential and that the business is globally competitive. The new entity, provisionally named SK Battery, will be launched on Oct. 1 after a general shareholders' meeting on Sep. 16 signs off on the plan.

"We made this decision to establish a

TOKYO -- Ask a mobile gamer in Japan to name popular titles, and the list is likely to include games with a homegrown touch that actually come from China.

Japan is a hub of major video game companies. And while players here have traditionally stuck to domestic titles, Chinese games are making inroads.

The mobile game market in Japan reached about $9.7 billion in the first half of 2021, according to U.S.-based Sensor Tower -- up 63% from the

NEW YORK -- As the prospect of a Taliban takeover in Afghanistan's south looms, with three provincial capitals under attack by the insurgents, the escalating violence spurred by the U.S. withdrawal is being felt across the war-torn country.

On Tuesday, a bombing near Kabul's heavily fortified "Green Zone" killed at least three and injured seven in a busy market square. A government spokesman said the attack was meant to target a senior Afghan government official.

The explosion occurred soon after a phone

NEW YORK -- The situation in Afghanistan remains turbulent as the U.S. nears the completion of its removal of combat forces by the Aug. 31 deadline President Joe Biden set last month.

A day after U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reiterated a continued engagement with Afghanistan despite the withdrawal, an explosion and gunfire struck near Kabul's Green Zone. Meanwhile, the Taliban continued to make gains in their offensive throughout the country.

Here are some scenes from Kabul to the embattled southern province of