http://www.smh.com.au/world/samoa-leads-partying-for-the-new-year-20111231-1pg9k.html Samoa leads partying for the new year January 1, 2012 a.. Click to play video Samoa cancels Dec 30 in time leap Samoa skips 24 hours ahead as it ditches a time-zone alliance with the United States.
a.. Autoplay OnOff b.. Video feedback c.. Video settings APIA: Samoa used to be the last place on earth to ring in the new year. But the South Pacific nation was the first last night - after a historic leap on the calendar. The day before, at midnight on what was then Thursday local time, Samoans had wiped Friday off the calendar with a song, a prayer and the ringing of bells. The midnight switch from Thursday, December 29, to Saturday, December 31, brought the small country in line with its main trading partners, Australia and New Zealand, which had been a day ahead. The switch is also being observed by neighbouring Tokelau. People crowded into the capital, Apia, to be photographed near the town clock on the stroke of midnight on the 29th. Car horns blared and people clapped and cheered. ''There were a lot of parties. People were excited about it. There was a massive turnout in the town,'' journalist Cherelle Jackson said. Advertisement: Story continues below The first to greet the new year ... Samoa. ''Tonight is a momentous and noteworthy occasion that will be documented and recorded in the history of Samoa,'' the Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, said in a speech. Alignment with Australia and New Zealand would benefit Samoa, facilitating direct trade with weekday communication five days a week with the regional powerhouses, which were also home to large expatriate Samoan communities, Mr Tuilaepa said. Previously, when Samoa was a day behind the two trading partners on the other side of the International Dateline, it shared business weekday hours only four days a week. Samoans were able to party twice after the dateline move. A day later came last night's celebrations hailing the new year. At Aggie Grey's hotel, events manager Greg Meredith said guests would not have to pay for a Friday that never was. Agence France-Presse Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/samoa-leads-partying-for-the-new-year-20111231-1pg9k.html#ixzz1iEa0GzsU [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
