GUTES NEUES

That's the shorthand version of best wishes for the new year. Berlin's street party lived up to expectations: there were eight hundred thousand people packed together and whooping it up. Yvonne and I were in the middle of it all, close to the Brandenburg Gate, approximately where the Berlin Wall stood. It's a place filled with a dark and spectacular history. It was a good place to begin the year.

Like all the other major celebrations, there was another side: the money that revellers spent or donated is on its way to Unicef, to help out in South East Asia. A thousand German people are missing in that area.

My thoughts are with everyone affected. Take care.