Satoshi Ikeuchi is professor of religion and global security at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo.

Iran's presidential election ended as expected, with Ebrahim Raisi securing a landslide victory.

A conservative Islamic jurist who presided over Iran's judicial system under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Raisi was widely recognized as the candidate chosen by the powers that be deep within the revolutionary regime. A protege of Khamenei, this was more like a Shiite divine nomination than a democratic election.

Set to take office

SEOUL -- South Korea's former chief prosecutor Yoon Seok-youl, who has been a consistent thorn in the side of President Moon Jae-in, announced his bid Tuesday to replace his nemesis in next year's election.

Yoon said he is ready to run for the Blue House, claiming that principles, and law and order collapsed under Moon's liberal government. The 60-year-old lifelong prosecutor resigned from his position four months ago after clashing with Moon over investigations against his aides and

TOKYO -- Entrepreneur enthusiasm has been ignited in leading nations now that widespread vaccinations have sparked economic activity.

The pursuit of new business opportunities is gaining as great changes challenge societies and ample investment money makes launching an idea all the more enticing.

"During a crisis that sheds light on problems brushed aside in peacetime, the number of people who find business opportunities and set up companies increases," said Gen Isayama, general partner and CEO of World Innovation Lab (WiL), which invests in startups in the U.S

TOKYO -- Investors are in for a busy Tuesday with more than 600 Japanese companies holding their annual general meetings amid a shift to the internet as the country attempts to avoid any resurgence in coronavirus infections.

This is the second year that Japanese companies are hosting general meetings under the COVID-19 pandemic. While the government lifted its state of emergency a week ago in metropolises like Tokyo and Osaka, companies remain cautious and are hustling to implement COVID preventive measures.

Some companies aim to amend their articles of incorporation

HANOI -- Vietnam's gross domestic product increased 6.61 % on the year in the April-June quarter, illustrating the nation's economic recovery, the government said Tuesday.

The Southeast Asian country's economy continues to grow on strong exports of smartphones and other products, despite successive COVID-19 outbreaks among factory workers in northern Vietnam.

The economy expanded 5.64% in the 1st half, marking a jump from 1.82% in the same period a year

HO CHI MINH CITY/SEOUL -- Samsung must switch to using 100% renewable energy in South Korea and Vietnam -- the tech conglomerate's two biggest production bases -- even as those countries plan to build more coal-fired power plants, Greenpeace said in a report on Tuesday.

The environmental group's report lauded Samsung Electronics for hitting a 2020 target of 100% renewables in China, Europe and the U.S., but warned it risked being eclipsed by

TOKYO -- Only 12% of major Japanese companies in a Nikkei survey said they screen for human rights violations, such as alleged forced labor by Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang region, at businesses that supply them indirectly.

The poll, targeting 100 or so leading executives, highlights the challenges of monitoring risks across sometimes global supply chains and the need for companies to work together to address the issue.

At 79.8%, an overwhelming majority of responding companies deemed such violations a growing risk to

TOKYO -- When Kazuki Umezawa saw the volumetric prototype of a figure which had been developed using Japanese imaging company Ricoh's StareReap technology, he was surprised to see how neatly the body parts of characters he had drawn with such wild -- even primitive -- lines and notches had popped up in sharp relief.

"Even though I expected this outcome, I was excited by the immersive feeling it offered when I actually saw it," Umezawa, 36, told Nikkei Asia. "The 2.5D

SINGAPORE -- Singapore Airlines' subsidiary Scoot will debut new Airbus A321neo jets to serve Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines from Monday, as it tries to position itself for an anticipated post-pandemic rebound in Asian travel.

The low-cost carrier said the first flights using the planes will serve its Singapore to Bangkok route on Monday. The A321neos will then be rolled out for travel from the city-state to Cebu in the Philippines and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam from August