If a mosque is erected, we won't be able to celebrate the New Year here, because of the presence of a mosque.

WSJ: Turkish Protesters Return to the Streets

Before flying to Rome to celebrate the New Year, Depardieu gave an interview to Le Monde in which he seemed to be joking about having asked Putin for Russian citizenship.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Drawing on dances from other cities demonstrated to them by visiting sailors, the people of Miura began the tradition of Chakkirako to celebrate the New Year and bring fortune and a bountiful catch of fish in the months to come.

UNESCO: Culture

By contrast in Indonesia, the ethnic Chinese this year were allowed to celebrate the Lunar New Year for the first time in a generation, now that Suharto's iron rule is gone.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Asia Buzz: Firecracker Freedom

Fireworks are traditionally set off in China to celebrate the Lunar New Year, which is just over a week away.

BBC: China fireworks truck blast causes deadly road collapse

With the country set to celebrate its lunar new year festival in early February, companies have already started scaling back production and tens of millions of workers have begun their annual mass migration from their factories and city jobs back to their rural homes.

CNN: Growth in Chinese manufacturing slows

He once promised to celebrate new year in Tskhinvali, capital of the breakaway territory of South Ossetia.

ECONOMIST: A worm in the bud of the rose revolution?

The first breakout happened as guards were preparing to celebrate on New Year's Eve.

BBC: Peru juveniles escape from prison in mass breakouts

So, with that I invite you to kick back and celebrate the conclusion of the first few days of work in the new year, and get excited for a crazy week to come.

ENGADGET: Editor's Letter: CES ahoy

So, as we celebrate the 200th birthday of Louis Braille, we lift a glass at the New Year to thank him for the ingenuity, the confidence and the determination that ensured that others like him sought and gained independence, equality and dignity.

BBC: Why Braille is brilliant