New Year's celebrations around the world

Samoa was the first country to ring in the New Year as thousands of people gathered on the streets to ring in 2012. They celebrated in exuberant fashion and made history in the process.
The South Pacific nation became the first rather than traditionally the last country in the world to celebrate the start of 2012.

How did they do it? Well, both Samoa and neighbouring Tokelau jumped across the international date line, skipping Friday and moving instantly from Thursday to Saturday.

Both sets of islands decided to realign themselves this year from the Americas side of the line to the Asia side, to be more in tune with key trading partners.

The next stop on the New Year clock was New Zealand, however, the festive spirit was somewhat dampened in the capital Wellington due to torrential rains and thunderstorms.

Australia usually captures the spirit of the occasion with a massive fireworks display on Sydney harbour bridge and this year was no different.

Over a million people gathered to watch a spectacular show designed around the theme “Time to Dream”,

In other parts of the world people were getting ready to say farewell to a year that brought the Arab Spring, further economic uncertainty and natural disasters.

Later on Saturday New York’s’ Times Square will become the centre of attention when the United States says “Happy New Year”. Listen to Lydia O'Kane's report