Monday 4 February

President Hollande, hosts US Vice President Joe Biden in Paris for talks on Monday, likely to be focused significantly on the mission in Mali, as well as the conflict in Syria. This follows talks between Biden and Russian Foreign Minister on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference. Biden’s next and final stop is London, where similar issues are likely to come up.

Europol, meanwhile, is scheduled to hold a press conference in the Netherlands to announce the results of its investigation into football match fixing.

Finally, there is talk of a three-way summit between Prime Minister David Cameron, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in London (confirmation pending).

Tuesday 5 February

On Tuesday, EU ministers are due to meet in Brussels to discuss the training mission to Mali, which could become operational as early as 12 February, according to its head Brigadier General Francois Lecointre.

Joe Biden, as mentioned earlier, is due to visit London where he will holds talks with Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

Finally, French President Francois Hollande, is scheduled to address a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Wednesday 6 February

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague will be grilled on Britain’s relationship with the EU by MPs on Wednesday, when he appears before the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Hague’s cabinet colleague George Osborne, meanwhile, will join OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría at the launch of the OECD’s economic survey of the UK.

Finally, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected in Paris to meet French leader Francois Hollande. The anticipated travel comes as the two nations’ football teams square up in a friendly match, which they may attend.

Thursday 7 February

In the US, President Barack Obama’s nominee to lead the CIA, John Brennan, will be grilled in an open session of the Senate Intelligence Committee to consider his nomination. Republicans will no doubt focus on the 11 September attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Tripoli. While Democrats are more likely to be interested in drone attacks and extrajudicial killings (which, incidentally, are the subject of a UN inquiry launched last month).

Incoming Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will appear on Thursday before the UK Treasury Select Committee. The Canadian central banker has already been making waves ahead of his arrival, with provocative policy suggestions and expensive housing requirements.

Friday 8 February

On Friday Samuel Mullet, the delightfully-named leader of an Ohio Amish group found guilty last year of federal hate crimes after cutting off the beards of a rival group, is due to be sentenced alongside his co-defendants.

Also Friday, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will be discussing prospects for growth in Europe at an event in Singapore.

Saturday 9 February

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah are said to be planning to hold a further round of reconciliation talks in Cairo.

Images courtesy of ldambies / Frontpage / Shutterstock.com

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, called off early elections after a deal was reached between his Likud party and the opposition Kadima party. Five years after Hamas took power in Gaza there are signs of a shaky reconciliation between them and Fatah that could lead to elections. There is concern in Israel about the growing power and influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Across the world, the one-state solution is now openly discussed as a possible outcome. We will be bringing together an expert panel to explain the implications of these political shifts.

With:

Antony Loewenstein, an Australian freelance journalist, author and blogger. He has written for The Guardian, Haaretz, the BBC, The Sydney Morning Herald and others. He is author of My Israel Question and The Blogging Revolution, and co-editor of After Zionism: One State for Israel and Palestine. He is a research associate at the University of Technology, Sydney’s Australian Centre for Independent Journalism.

Dimi Reider, an Israeli journalist and blogger. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. He is also a co-founder and contributing editor of +972 Magazine. His translation of Yehouda Shenhav‘s new book, Beyond the Two State Solution: A Jewish political essay is forthcoming in September with Polity Press.

Ahmed Moor, a Palestinian-American, born in the Gaza Strip, he was a Beirut-based journalist before he moved to Cairo where he covered the Egyptian revolution. He is co-editor of After Zionism: One State for Israel and Palestine. His writing has been published in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Review, Al Jazeera English, The Guardian, the San Francisco Chronicle, Mondoweiss, the Huffington Post and others. In 2012, he became a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow.

Ghada Karmi, a leading British-Palestinian academic and writer. Currently she is co-director of the European Centre of Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter. She is a frequent media commentator on Middle Eastern issues. She is the author of a memoir, In Search of Fatima; a Palestinian story. Her most recent book is Married to another man: Israel’s dilemma in Palestine.

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, called off early elections after a deal was reached between his Likud party and the opposition Kadima party. But following a split of the coalition he faces fresh calls for an early election. Five years after Hamas took power in Gaza there are signs of a shaky reconciliation between them and Fatah that could lead to elections. There is concern in Israel about the growing power and influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. 

Across the world, the one-state solution is now openly discussed as a possible outcome. We will be bringing together an expert panel to explain the implications of these political shifts.

Chaired by Tim Llewellyn, the BBC’s Middle East Correspondent for ten years, during which time he covered the Lebanese civil war, the Iranian Revolution, the Iran-Iraq war, the First Gulf War and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since leaving the BBC in 1992, he has been a regular broadcast and print commentator on Middle East politics.

With:

Antony Loewenstein, an Australian freelance journalist, author and blogger. He has written for The Guardian, Haaretz, the BBC, The Sydney Morning Herald and others. He is author of My Israel Question and The Blogging Revolution, and co-editor of After Zionism: One State for Israel and Palestine. He is a research associate at the University of Technology, Sydney’s Australian Centre for Independent Journalism.

Dimi Reider, an Israeli journalist and blogger. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. He is also a co-founder and contributing editor of +972 Magazine. His translation of Yehouda Shenhav‘s new book, Beyond the Two State Solution: A Jewish political essay is forthcoming in September with Polity Press. 

Ahmed Moor, a Palestinian-American, born in the Gaza Strip, he was a Beirut-based journalist before he moved to Cairo where he covered the Egyptian revolution. He is co-editor of After Zionism: One State for Israel and Palestine. His writing has been published in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Review, Al Jazeera English, The Guardian, the San Francisco Chronicle, Mondoweiss, the Huffington Post and others. In 2012, he became a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow. 

Ghada Karmi, a leading British-Palestinian academic and writer. Currently she is co-director of the European Centre of Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter. She is a frequent media commentator on Middle Eastern issues. She is the author of a memoir, In Search of Fatima; a Palestinian story. Her most recent book is Married to another man: Israel’s dilemma in Palestine.