His humor and resilience were remarkable, despite a difficult illness.
The crime reduction is despite a difficult global economy.
Sebastian Vettel will not be retiring just yet, despite a difficult season with Ferrari.
And yes, raising the rates is his priority, despite a difficult debut in the job.
"Despite a difficult economic environment, we delivered in 2009," the chief executive, Antonio Perez, said.
Citigroup's earnings rose 12percentt in the fourth quarter, despite a difficult environment for capital markets and corporate lending.
Mark Morris can breathe a sigh of relief for his dancers, despite a difficult economic climate for arts organizations.
Despite a difficult seven months since Sept. 11, Millennium is taking the branding idea a step further.
The portfolio returned £1.1bn or 6.1% in the year to 30 September 2015, despite a difficult market backdrop.
Despite a difficult financial position, her organisation decided to invest in growth over the past year and came out of deficit as a result.
The decision to invest in the building and to persuade national companies like McDonald's and Starbucks to go there came despite a difficult history.
