Seven years late: Ethiopia rings in millennium

Walking into a new millennium: Ethiopian women follow men in a procession through an early morning mist to celebrate a special pre-millennium mass at an Orthodox church.File

Daniel Hailu promised to marry his girlfriend after the millennium. And now she eagerly awaits the arrival of her wedding ring. "She is so relieved that 1999 is nearly over," said Hailu, a 29-year-old television salesman.

Hailu is not living in a time warp, but rather in Ethiopia where, thanks to a quirk of history, the country's calendar lags more than seven years behind the western version.

Only last night, after years of anticipation and months of frenzied preparation, was the year 2000 finally ushered in.