NEWS “with comment”
AS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT YEARS THE WORLD HAS EXPERIENCED DRAWS TO A CLOSE AND WE WELCOME THE NEW YEAR 2021 – A FEW THOUGHTS TO PONDER OVER:
First to see 2021:
The Pacific island of Tonga is first to ring in the New Year and celebrated at 10am GMT on December 31 – making the tiny island nation the first to head into a fresh year.
Last to see 2021:
The last place or places to ring in 2021 will be Baker Island and Howland Island (USA) the uninhabited islands will see the New Year at 12pm GMT on January 1.
Whereas the second to last ise American Samoa at 11am. Only 558 miles from Tonga, where they were celebrating a full 25 hours before.
It’s therefore possible to get a quick flight in between the two and countdown to 2021 twice.
Using GMT, the world will welcome 2021 at:
December 31, 2020:
10am – Samoa and Christmas Island/Kiribati
10:15am – New Zealand
1pm – Most of Australia
3pm – Japan, South Korea and North Korea
4pm – China, Philippines, Singapore
5pm – Thailand, Cambodia and large parts of Indonesia
6pm – Bangladesh
6.15pm – Nepal
6.30pm – India and Sri Lanka
7pm – Pakistan
8pm – Azerbaijan
8.30pm – Iran
9pm – Turkey, Iraq, Kenya and most of Russia
10pm – Greece, Romania, South Africa, Hungary and other central and eastern European cities
11pm – Germany, France, Italy, Algeria, Belgium, Spain
Midnight – UK, Ireland, Ghana, Iceland, Portugal
January 01, 2021:
2am – Regions of Brazil
3am – Argentina, regions of Brazil, Chile, Paraguay
4am – Some regions of Canada, Bolivia, Puerto Rico
5am – Eastern Standard Time in the US – New York, Washington, Detroit and Cuba
6am – Central Standard Time in the US – Chicago
7am – Mountain Standard Time in the US – Colorado, Arizona
8am – Pacific Standard Time in the US – LA, Nevada
9am – Alaska
10am – Hawaii
11am – American Samoa
12pm – Baker Island, Howland Island
A Thought for a New Year:
“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go. They merely determine where you start.” —Nido Qubein
To all WAPI Members, eGroup Subscribers and other Readers;
Wherever you are, whatever time your midnight tolls – WAPI wishes you a happy, positive and better New Year 2021
Posted by: Ian (D. Withers)