Happy New Year! Here's how some celebrated.

A zebra bound for North Carolina made a mad dash for freedom in Florida. She's back in custody. (The zebra's named Ann Curry, after the Today host.)

There are 303,146,284 of us in the U.S. this year -- up 2,846,103 from last year. The Census Bureau says we'll add one birth every eight seconds, one death every 11 seconds and one immigrant every 30 seconds for a net gain of one resident every 13 seconds.

There are new laws to follow. Minnesotans can only sell American flags made in the U.S.A. Kangaroo shoes (that's shoes made from kangaroos, not for kangaroos) can be imported to California. And Texas home sellers must reveal if the house was a meth lab.

France banned smoking in cafes. Merde!

As New Hampshire legalised civil unions, other couples around the world continued to live in uncivil unions.

Cyprus and Malta adopted the euro. Politicians withdrew the first euros from ceremonial ATMs.

Sarah Jane Moore, Gerald Ford's failed assassin, is a free woman. Squeaky Fromme is still in jail. John Hinkley is still crazy. Lee Harvey Oswald is still dead.

New Orleans counted its 209th murder, a new record for the city.

Louisville, Kentucky recorded it's 81st murder, a new record there. Police say most resulted from robberies, domestic disputes or the proverbial drug-deal-gone-bad.

Many cities begged residents not to shoot guns into the sky at midnight. New Orleans E.M.T techs wore Kevlar helmets for the night.

Iraqis welcomed the new year with fireworks, the largest set by a suicide bomber at the funeral of the victim of a suicide bomber. Thirty-seven died this time.

Palestinians in Gaza continued to kill each other; the new year's day death toll was five.

Kenyans celebrated their presidential election -- in which 115% of registered voters turned out -- as members of the loser's tribe hacked and burned to death members of the winner's tribe.

And in Bhutan, where the king decided to make his country a democracy, citizens went to the polls for their first election. There were no bombings, no shootings, no riots in the streets. Legislators were elected.