New York

Global conglomerate Libra Group, with origins in Greek shipping, is pressing ahead with its $500 million investments in Greece despite the country’s political turmoil, its chief executive said.

Libra, with headquarters in London and New York, has invested in various projects in Greece, including developing hotels and putting $200 million into renewable energy projects.

Turkish center Ömer Aşık posted the 45th double-double of his NBA career with 16 points and 14 rebounds as the New Orleans Pelicans beat the New York Knicks 104-93 on Dec. 9, handing New York a ninth straight defeat.

Tyreke Evans, who led his team with 27 point, netted eight points and Aşık had seven during a fourth quarter in which New Orleans out-scored New York 27-20.

More NBA players joined ongoing nationwide protests against police violence on Dec. 10 night and dozens of demonstrators again briefly blocked a Californian freeway.

Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate on Dec. 9 crowned their whirlwind tour of New York with a glittering gala dinner to raise money for the university where they fell in love.
      

A Syrian teenager living in Turkey, who has made headlines as a piano “genius,” was set to fly to Russia on Dec. 10 for an international competition after being granted Turkish citizenship after an intense diplomatic procedure.

American embassies were on heightened alert Dec. 9 amid fears of a backlash to a long-delayed US Senate report into the CIA's brutal interrogation of Al-Qaeda suspects after the 2001 attacks.
      

Crowds of jubilant royal watchers cheered as Britain's Prince William and his pregnant wife Kate arrived in New York on Dec. 7, kicking off a three-day trip to the East Coast.
      
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's motorcade pulled up outside the Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side around 5:45 pm (2245 GMT), and the couple smiled broadly before heading into the building.

On Dec. 6 a man was shot by a police officer in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and later died in hospital.

Mourners heard a rallying cry for justice Dec. 6 at the New York funeral of an unarmed black man shot dead by police as nationwide protests against similar killings continued for a fourth night.

Ambassadors: Continue Kosovo dialogue, set up court

NEW YORK -- Envoys of the UN Security Council member-states have called for prompt forming of institutions in Kosovo in order to set up a special war crimes court.

They also urged prompt continuation of high-level Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.