Venezuelans lose sleep in bid to curb electricity shortage

Clocks moved forward by half an hour to restrict use of lighting and power as country grapples with economic crisis

Venezuelans lost half an hour of sleep on Sunday as their clocks were moved forward to save power at the order of President Nicolis Maduro.

At 2:30 am local time, the oil-dependent South American nation shifted its clocks forward by 30 minutes, to four hours behind Greenwich Mean Time. The move, announced in mid-April, was part of a package of measures the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) member nation is pursuing to cope with a crippling electricity shortage.