UNITED NATIONS -- U.S. President Joe Biden delivered his first address to the General Assembly Tuesday, calling for global unity against common challenges such as coronavirus and climate change.

The following is the transcript of his speech:

Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, my fellow delegates, to all those who dedicate themselves to this noble mission to this institution, it's my honor to speak to you for the first time as president of the United States. We meet this year in a moment of intermingled

UNITED NATIONS -- After two decades of war in Afghanistan, the U.S. is ready for a new chapter -- one that will focus on intensive diplomacy and only turn to force as a last resort, President Joe Biden said at his debut address to the United Nations Tuesday.

In line with his Aug. 16 speech after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the president expressed his distaste for military arm-twisting to achieve American foreign policy goals, further narrowing down the conditions of the use of force to

Jeffrey Hornung is a senior political scientist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corp.

Regardless of what you think about his policy achievements, for eight years, Shinzo Abe provided Japan with predictable leadership and a confident regional presence at a time of rising security challenges.

But with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party set to elect a new leader to replace Abe's successor, Yoshihide Suga, who barely lasted 12 months as premier, there is a question of whether this portends a return to the post-Cold War norm of revolving

BEIJING/NEW YORK -- Chinese President Xi Jinping made no mention of embattled property developer China Evergrande Group or the threat of a systemic crisis that is shaking global stock markets as he addressed the United Nations General Assembly via video on Tuesday.

Instead, he called for the world to aim for "balanced, coordinated and inclusive growth" and that the fruits of development be shared among the people.

It echoed his recent emphasis on "common prosperity" and underscored the silence of the Communist Party- and state-run media

TOKYO -- With a week left before the Sept. 29 vote to decide the next president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the four candidates are ramping up their campaigns on social media and other channels amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Watching their efforts, this reporter was reminded of an unusual question from former LDP Secretary-General Koichi Kato while reporting on the leadership race 22 years ago.

The LDP election in 1999 was a three-way race between Kato, the incumbent Prime Minister Keizo

PALO ALTO, U.S. -- The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into Zoom's proposed $15 billion acquisition of American cloud contact center software Five9, as the deal poses potential national security risks due to "foreign participation," a public filing shows.

The Justice Department asked the Federal Communications Commission, which is reviewing the deal, to not take any action until it completes the investigation over the companies' "foreign relationships and ownership," according to a letter

HONG KONG -- Chinese property companies are scrambling to demonstrate their financial strength in the wake of market turmoil over the troubles of leading developer China Evergrande Group.

In a flurry of exchange announcements beginning Monday evening, a string of small and midsize property companies announced new capital injections or redemptions of outstanding bonds, helping to calm Hong Kong's unsettled stock market.

After falling 5.8% on Monday, the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index rose 3% on Tuesday.

Guangzhou R&F Properties, which, like Evergrande

Tobias Harris is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, an independent, nonpartisan policy institute. He is the author of "The Iconoclast: Shinzo Abe and the New Japan."

The race for the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership, which will be decided on Sept. 29, would appear to mark a generational shift for Japan's longtime ruling party.

Three of the four candidates -- Taro Kono, Sanae Takaichi and Seiko Noda -- would be the first prime minister born in 19

TOKYO -- Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is selling the retail banking division of its U.S. regional bank MUFG Union Bank to U.S. Bancorp, the largest regional bank in the country, in a deal worth around 800 billion yen ($7.3 billion), Nikkei has learned.

The sale comes as MUFG reviews its business structure amid lower interest rates and increasing costs from bricks-and-mortar operations. Union Bank has been central to MUFG's U.S