Samoa Jumps Forward a Day

Thank God it's ... Saturday? Samoa skipped Friday and moved ahead to Saturday today when it decided to cross over to the other side of the international dateline, coming into line with Australia and New Zealand. Samoa will now be the first country to see the sun rise instead of the last to see it set. The move was made for business reasons. “In doing business with New Zealand and Australia, we're losing out on two working days a week,” said Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi. “While it's Friday here, it's Saturday in New Zealand and when we're at church Sunday, they're already conducting business in Sydney and Brisbane.”