This is the full text of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the United Nations General Assembly, on 29 September, 2020. Portions have been edited for flow and clarity. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,The Middle East is not exactly renowned for producing good news, and few expected this year to be any different.

When I was governor of Hong Kong, one of my noisiest critics was Sir Percy Cradock, a former British ambassador to China.

As lockdowns ease in countries across Asia and the Pacific in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, one thing is clear – a return to business as usual is unimaginable in a region that was already off track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, India’s economy shrunk by 23.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020. This was a historic contraction, going down as the worst in the nation’s history. No other major economic power suffered as greatly during these past six months, and coming on the heels of 3.1 percent growth in the first quarter, it stings.As if to add insult to injury, now China and India are facing increasing tensions along their Himalayan border.

The COVID-19 pandemic has to a considerable degree exposed the Philippines to several vulnerabilities, which include the knock-on effect of the pandemic on the country’s economy, weakness of the country’s existing health care system and infrastructures, and threats to food security because of the fragile agriculture and food systems of the country.

For the past two decades, ASEAN member states have achieved remarkable progress in the energy sector in terms of the acceleration of rural electrification access, rapid provision of large-scale national grid systems, successful mobilisation of indigenous resources, gradual adoption of new technologies and share of renewables into their respective energy mix. Further, ASEAN is also beginning to see cross-country electricity entry trade bilaterally and power exchanges that will promote

As COVID-19 spread earlier this year, governments introduced lockdowns in order to prevent a public-health emergency from spinning out of control.

China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, recently declared that aggression and expansionism have never been in the Chinese nation’s “genes.” It is almost astonishing that he managed to say it with a straight face.

The bilateral relations between the Philippines and the European Union (EU) have been relatively friendly for quite some time until it soured when the Duterte administration launched its war against illegal drugs. The somewhat embittered relationship started when the EU Parliament in September 2016 passed a resolution expressing its dismay, calling on the Philippine government to look at the casualties of its war on drugs, more specifically on the extrajudicial killings.

In any normal year, I would be in New York City now for the annual opening of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The event represents the greatest concentration of global policymakers in one place and is the high point on the diplomatic calendar. But this year is far from normal, and “UNGA week” is going virtual with events held online – a familiar format for us all in recent months.