New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) — If you’ve never been to Mardi Gras, you may think it’s all about beads for boobs.

That’s pretty much what artist Cree McCree expected. But that was before the Crescent City transplant actually experienced it, in true New Orleans style.

“I was completely seduced by the magic of it,” she says.

There’s no doubt about it, the Mardi Gras spirit defines the soul of New Orleans and the event itself is the city’s top tourism draw, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Americans honored Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday with a traditional day of service as well as a new wave of economic injustice protests by Occupy Wall Street.

On the first King holiday since the now-global Occupy movement launched in New York City in September, the reignited debate over inequality drew hundreds of protestors to march in wintry temperatures in Manhattan, stopping at a Bank of America branch to shout, “The banks got bailed out, we got sold out.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Revelers erupted in cheers amid a confetti-filled celebration in New York’s Times Square to welcome in the new year, part of star-studded festivities and glittering fireworks displays around the world to usher in 2012.

From New Zealand to New York, the world eagerly welcomed a new year Sunday and hoped for a better future, saying goodbye to a year of hurricanes, tsunamis and economic turmoil that many would rather forget.

In New York, hundreds of thousands gathered at the crossroads of the world to witness a crystal ball with more than 30,000 lights that descended at midnight. Lady Gaga and Mayor Michael Bloomberg led the crowd in the final-minute countdown of the famed crystal-paneled ball drop.

When it comes to celebrating New Year’s Eve with the kids, family-friendly events may be a little difficult to come by during a celebration that seems to revolve around champagne. Boston led the way for First Night celebrations with the very first First Night held in 1976. The New Year’s Eve event banned alcohol, ensuring the countdown to midnight was family friendly. By 2006, more than a million attended the city’s First Night Celebration. Today, First Night in Boston features fireworks at midnight over Boston Harbor, among citywide attractions. Other notable First Night cities include historic Old Town Alexandria, Va., Pittsburgh, Pa., Providence, R.I., and Bethlehem, Pa.

(CNN) – Two days before Christmas, Imam Mohamed Magid, the executive director at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, preached about Jesus at Friday prayers.

“We live in a country with a majority of Christians, where Christmas is a major holiday… It’s a reminder we do believe in Jesus. Jesus’ position in Islam is one of the highest prophets in Islam,” Magid said, adding that Muslims view Jesus as a prophet on par with Abraham, Moses, Noah and Mohammad.

Often when he says the name of Mohammad or Jesus in conversation, Magid adds the Islamic honorific “Peace be upon him” after his name.

“Jesus is a unifying figure, unifying Muslims and Christians,” he said. The Quran, the Islamic scriptures, makes specific mention of Jesus and of his mother Mary. “It’s very interesting that there are many places where the prophet (Mohammad) is quoting Jesus.”

Joanna Reyes was living in uptown Manhattan in February when she came upon a postcard tucked into a pile of junk mail.

“My dear friend. The thought of you inspired me to write,” the note, in flowing cursive, opened. “Dear, how are you doing? The countryside is looking like spring, the hillsides have a soft blanket of green grass, dotted with yellow and white flowers. Beautiful. I guess I’m just a simple girl at heart. Life is romantic adventure. Remember, romance is everywhere. I love you. Love, Rose Carrera.”

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down Friday and handed over power to the military, his nearly three decades of iron rule ended by a groundswell of popular protests that began January 25.

In a somber one-minute announcement on state television, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced Mubarak’s resignation and said the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces will “run the affairs of the country.”

MERIDIAN, Idaho — Tyler Ashton Marx’s lucky number is going to be one, or 11, or maybe both.

The son of Jared and Leslie Marx was born at 11:11 a.m. on Jan. 11, 2011, at St. Luke’s Meridian Medical Center in Meridian, Idaho.

Jared Marx is serving in Iraq and watched his son’s birth over the Internet.

Story: Couple’s babies born 8/8/8, 9/9/9, 10/10/10

Leslie Marx tells KTVB-TV that Tyler was born just as the clock switched to 11:11 a.m.

(CNN) — She was a mother of three living in a small apartment and working four jobs. And then, as if in a fairy tale, she won her state’s lottery last year. But the story doesn’t have the happy ending you might expect.

She didn’t do anything overly extravagant after the $1.3 million got slashed in taxes. She bought a house, got a new wardrobe at the Salvation Army, cut work down to just one job and invested the rest.

And then came the phone calls: promises, marriage proposals, accusations, threats. People who used to volunteer to help her do things wanted money for their trouble. Family members, she says, tried to run her life, and control her money.

t was a brisk December night, and Little Bit, a pregnant Sicilian miniature donkey, was munching hay as little children poked and pet her.

She looked like she could go into labor at any moment there in the parking lot, which an Alexandria, Virginia, church was using for a live nativity scene.

There was no rest for the weary. Little Bit’s schedule was packed. Most weekends, she was double-booked through Christmas Eve.

On average, she and her cohorts at Leesburg Animal Park in Leesburg, Virginia, do 35 to 40 live nativity scenes a year. On Christmas Eve, they have five appointments on the calendar.