FRIENDS got drunk the other night and tried to liberate the dinner table.

THOSE IN THE KNOWLES

The city health department released the most popular baby names for 2001 this week. According to the latest statistics, Ashley and Michael have once again topped the girl and boy list, respectively. Destiny – an apparent nod to the popular pop trio Destiny’s Child – came in at No. 9 for girls. Not far behind were Backstreet, 50 and Linkin.

BLOOMBERG BOB

Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf – famous for his outlandish on-air denials about the Hussein regime’s daily humiliations – is no longer on the lam. The man dubbed “Baghdad Bob” has a new job as chief spokesman for the Bloomberg re-election campaign. “Donations are pouring in from all New York citizens,” al-Sahhaf said in his first statement.

OPERATION LOOT FREEDOM

As images of mass-scale looting went across the globe, The Red Cross tried to distribute food, water and medicine to the Iraqi people amid the chaos. Also pitching in on the relief effort was Russia, which dispatched furniture movers.

MOJO WORKING

Voodoo is now a sanctioned religion of Haiti. An executive decree, issued by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide this week, says practitioners can perform marriages and baptisms as long as they register with the country’s Ministry of Religious Affairs. As soon as Aristide – who hopes to dispel voodoo’s occultish myths – gave the go-ahead, the pain in his back disappeared and his children stopped bleeding from their eyeballs.

MOJO NOT WORKING

Viewers in England, Scotland and yes, even Wales, got treated to some cool live TV when ace knife-thrower, Jayde Hanson, 23, chucked a blade on ITV’s “This Morning” and accidentally nicked the head of his assistant-slash-girlfriend. Yana Rodianova, 22, is doing fine, recovering and no longer afraid of commitment.