AS the clock ticks towards the midnight hour today, we're sure readers will reflect on the private joys - and difficulties - of the past 12 months.

Yet it would be almost impossible not to pause and think, as well, of the terrible events of September 11 and their aftermath.

Much of the world's focus has been on the war against terrorism following the attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

We should not forget that more than 100 Britons died in the rubble of the World Trade Centre and that the Government's support for America's re-sponse has been perfectly understandable.

As the year opens, British troops will be on the ground in Afghanistan, helping to ease that country's suffering, and the next stage in the campaign against terrorism has yet to develop.

But we're sure that, as 2002 unfolds, US forces will be looking to take action wherever terrorists who threaten American interests are found or governments provide them with sanctuary.

Already, British heads have been cautioning our allies across the Atlantic against sabre-rattling in the high-risk Middle East.

It might be a forlorn hope that the power of diplomacy might lessen the prospect of war spreading across the globe but, on this day of all days, it is one to which we should cling.

A happy and peaceful new year to you all.