Just as it was calming down after Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week held its first season there, Lincoln Center is gearing up for another cultural extravaganza beginning this Friday: The 48th Annual New York Film Festival, presented by The Film Society of Lincoln Center. Nearly 50,000 cinephiles are expected to turn out for the 17-day event. The festival celebrates the best of American and international cinema from veteran filmmakers as well as new talent, and 28 feature films from 14 countries will have their New York City debut.

President Barack Obama delivered remarks before the United Nations General Assembly this week, discussing Middle East peace talks during speech on Wednesday night, and delivering a longer address to the assembly on Thursday morning.

Protestors took the streets of Silwan, Jerusalem on Wednesday, following the death of a Palestinian man, who was shot by an Israeli security guard. According to The Associated Press, Israeli police said the guard shot Samir Sirhan, 32, after a group threw stones at him. But Palestinian authorities and Sirhan's neighbors disputed that account. They said Sirhan, a father of five, would not have participated, according to The AP.

The Metropolitan Opera and the Juilliard School have announced they'll collaborate -- for the first time -- on a production of Bedrich Smetana's "The Bartered Bride," premiering at Juilliard in February.

A fast-moving thunderstorm swept across the New York area late this afternoon, pounding the region with heavy rain and gusting winds that caused considerable damage.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. special envoy George Mitchell are wrapping up a visit to the Middle East for a second round of peace talks this week.

New York museums in dire financial straits will be allowed to sell artworks from their collections, but not to cover operating costs. The Board of Regents, which has authority over the state's non-profit museums, is loosening some restrictions on museum sales.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says the nearly $800 billion stimulus program has fallen short of expectations, and that the government should get out of the way and let the market help fuel recovery.

Mayor Bloomberg had harsh words on primary day for the way the election was being run in New York City.

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Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf did admit that if he had known the planned development would result in such a furor, he wouldn't have chosen to build at that site and might have had different stakeholders in this project.

Claude Chabrol, director of stylish French suspense films like "Le Boucher" ("The Butcher") and "La Femme Infidele" ("The Unfaithful Wife"), died Sunday in Paris at the age of 80. He was one of the founders of the New Wave movement,

Indian forces have killed 13 protesters and wounded scores of others in confrontations across Kashmir fueled in part by reports that a Quran was desecrated in the United States. One police officer was also killed.

Residents in San Bruno, California have been allowed to return home after a natural gas pipeline explosion and subsequent fire on Thursday that killed at least four people, injured 50 and destroyed at least 50 homes. California regulators are telling Pacific Gas and Electric to survey all of its natural gas lines in the state, in hopes of heading off another disaster.

President Barack Obama held a news conference at the White House on Friday, fielding questions from the press on topics ranging from the economy to national security to peace talks in the Middle East.

Donald Trump is stepping into the fray over the proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque.

Sir Paul McCartney and Oprah Winfrey are among the recipients.

A 10-mile-long ribbon of red tide has been spotted in the New York Harbor, according to the Associated Press.

Israel's Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, has signed an agreement with Poland to gain access to the country's World War II-era documents, according to the Associated Press.