Channel 4 News’ international editor Lindsey Hilsum will be joining us in conversation with BBC Arabic presenter Rasha Qandeel to discuss Libya and her new book charting the country’s history from the beginnings of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime to the dictator’s squalid end.

Sandstorm, Libya in the Time of Revolution is an insightful account of the overthrow of the Arab world’s most bizarre dictator brought down by his own people with the aid of NATO aircraft.

Hilsum will be discussing the history of Gaddafi’s strange regime from its early days when he had looks, charisma and popular appeal – to its paranoid, corrupt final state. She will also be bringing alive the stories of the Libyan people who overcame fear and disillusionment and found the strength to rebel.

By Nicole Hunt

New week, New Year – the Chinese Year of the Dragon, that is.

But while weeks of celebrations are kicking off in China, the mood will be considerably less celebratory in Brussels, where the EU foreign ministers and euro area finance ministers are holding monthly meetings. The Foreign Affairs Council is scheduled to discuss new sanctions against Iran, including the possibility of imposing sanctions on Iranian oil, while finance ministers will hear from Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on his government’s plans for economic and labour reforms.

In Cairo, the Egyptian parliament holds its first sitting following marathon elections between November and January. The need for re-votes and subsequent delays in results reporting means the full make-up of the National Assembly is still unknown, though it’s likely to be dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Libyan authorities have until Monday to submit information to the International Criminal Court in The Hague on the conditions of Saif al Islam Gaddafi’s arrest and detention, and to notify the court whether they intend to hand him over for trial. Gaddafi has been indicted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity.

Spanish Magistrate Baltasar Garzon, who went on trial last week on charges of illegal phone tapping, is back before the court on Tuesday to face the allegations that originally saw him suspended last spring. Right-wing lobby groups have accused Garzon of overstepping his judicial authority by investigating disappearances under Franco’s regime despite a 1977 amnesty.

US President Barack Obama delivers the final State of the Union address of his first term in Washington. While no details of the speech have been released (other than that Obama will follow it up with a five-city tour through the battleground states of Iowa, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan), the focus is likely to be on the economy and employment.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel opens the World Economic Forum Meeting, better known as Davos, on Wednesday. The annual gathering attracts heads of state and government from across the world, with nearly 40 leaders expected to attend this year alongside IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, Arab League Secretary General Nabil El Araby and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Despite the star-studded Davos meeting, all eyes will be on Cairo as the Egyptian revolution marks its first anniversary. However, the mood is likely to be less celebratory than would be expected, as protesters have grown impatient with the rate at which power is being transferred from the military to civilians, as well as the ongoing trial of former President Hosni Mubarak, and activists have continued to clash with police in recent months.

Thursday is a much quieter anniversary, marking one year since the first, tentative protests in Syria, where the death toll has now reached somewhere between 5,000 and 6,500. Widespread demonstrations did not take place in Damascus until 15 March, which is considered the beginning ofthe Syrian uprising, but smaller gatherings were held on 26 January, inspired by Tunisia and Egypt.

Thursday is also seen as a key deadline in the Middle East Quartet’s plan for the progress of peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials. The parties are supposed to have put forward ‘comprehensive proposals’ on border and security improvements by now, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded that a settlement freeze be put in place.

Senegal’s Constitutional Court is scheduled to make a decision on Friday as to the eligibility of candidates for the country’s 26 February presidential election. Incumbent President Abdoulauye Wade maintains that since he was first elected in 2000, three years before the introduction of a two-term limit, he is still eligible to run for another term (despite re-election in 2007). Singer Youssou N’dour is also among candidates.

After a delay of over a month, Silvio Berlusconi’s trial for paying for underage sex resumes in Milan. Both sides will be looking ahead to a 7 February hearing, during which the Constitutional Court is due to hear a motion brought by the Senate requesting that the case be moved to a special minister’s court.

The Cuban Communist Party holds its national convention on Saturday, the first since Raul Castro succeeded his brother Fidel as the Party’s Secretary General last year.

Saturday also marks 100 days since the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

With the lower house elections over and Parliament in place, Egypt begins the first round of voting for the upper house or Shura Council on Sunday. A second stage of elections will be held 14-15 February, with runoffs scheduled for both stages, if necessary. Plans for a three-stage vote, in line with the lower house elections, were abandoned in favour of a shorter timeline that will see the Shura Council sitting by 28 February.

The uprisings that shook the Middle East this year have been a focus of relentless debate. ‘Revolutionary Arab women’ – activists, bloggers and academics – took to the streets and fought both for their country and their rights, capturing the western media’s attention and begging the question ‘what does the future hold for these women of the Arab Spring?’ 

Last night’s Frontline Club event, #FCBBCA: Women of the revolution, in association with BBC Arabic, explored the roles women played in the revolutions and tried to shed light on what lies in store for them.

The panel consisted of three completely different women, united by their desire for change: Mervat Mhani, member of Libyan NGO The Free Generation Movement; Maryam Alkhawaja, Bahraini human rights activist and head of foreign relations at the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights; and Sussan Tahmasebi, a women’s rights and civil society activist from Iran, and founding member of the One Million Signatures Campaign.

The debate was chaired by Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News’ International Editor. Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkul Karman, Yemeni journalist and founder of Women Journalists Without Chains, was unable to attend the event. 

Although each of the panellist’s contributions to the uprisings were radically different, they were all adamant that women had a key role to play in the future of the Middle East, and were not going to stand back now.

Mhani, a Libyan mother of two who was dubbed an ‘accidental activist’ by Hilsum, described her experiences of wreaking civil disorder, which eventually led to her arrest by Gaddafi’s security forces. Sincere and softly spoken, she apologised to the audience for her nervousness while addressing them:

“I’ve faced Gaddafi’s brigades and interrogation, but this is a lot more difficult,”she joked. 

But despite her shy demeanour, her story demonstrated what a fierce fighter she is.

“Before the revolution I lived a normal life," she said. "When there were uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, I was following very closely. We were wondering whether it would happen in Libya. We had so much fear in us that we didn’t think it was going to happen – I never believed it would.”

But when the Libyan people began to mobilise on social networking sites to protest against the 42 year-long oppressive regime of Muammar Gaddafi, Mhani, like many others, grasped the opportunity to speak out: 

“No Libyan wanted to stay home. We didn’t want to stand for the killing, or the murders, or the regime any more.

“It was very difficult. They started shooting at protesters in Tripoli – there was indiscriminate killing. Protesting wasn’t an option any more – going out was basically suicide.”

The crackdown on protesters forced her and her family to think of alternative, nonviolent ways to do their bit for their country – from her brother returning to Libya from living in Cardiff and starting up The Free Generation Movement – an NGO working towards the development and progression of Libyan society – to committing acts of civil disobedience, and being sure that the world was aware of Gaddafi’s atrocities.

“I hung flags for independence, smuggled reporters from the Rixos hotel, and talked to the international community,”she said.

“The internet was cut, so my brothers and cousins stole a satellite from a government building and tweeted out to the rest of the world. We tried our best – we never carried guns, we were never armed.”

But she was arrested by Gaddafi’s security forces after she was interviewed by Reuters and BBC journalists .

“Someone must have seen the footage and could determine where our location was. Gaddafi’s platoons came to my parents’ house, stormed in, and turned it upside down," she said. “I was one of the lucky ones – I was released at midnight the same day. A lot of people we know just disappeared.”

Despite the relentless threats and attacks on her and her family – her 19 year old cousin was killed by Gaddafi’s forces in August – she remained determined to fight.

She knows there is a difficult road ahead, but Mhani is optimistic about the future of Libya and the role women have to play in it.

“With the NTC [National Transitional Council] having one woman, it’s still early days, I believe. But we’re not going to stand back and not take a role – no way.”

“We tried to do our best, and here we are – and thank God, we’re free.”

Following this week’s announcement of arrest warrants against Muammar Gaddafi and co., The Hague continues its stint in the limelight next week with the high-profile hearing on Monday for former Bosnian Serb Commander Ratko Mladic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen lead a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Sochi, the first since military action began in Libya. Russia has been increasingly vocal about its opposition to the NATO action.

Focus shifts back to Greece on Tuesday as the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany hears challenges to the constitutionality of a law adopted last year which guarantees the maintenance of Greece’s financial stability and solvency, authorising up to €22.4bn in loans.

8,500km away, Chavez-watchers are keeping an eye out to see whether the President Hugo Chavez will return for Venezuela’s bicentennial. Chavez has been in Cuba since he travelled there on 8 June to undergo surgery, and, until a video aired on 28 June showing him with Fidel Castro, he had not been seen since.

The International Olympic Committee takes a break from its four-day AGM in Durban on Wednesday to announce whether Munich, Annecy or PyeongChang will host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Closer to home, American news site Huffington Post launches its UK version, following the arrival of Huffington Post Canada in May. Founder Arianna Huffington has promised the website will be live in 12 countries by the end of the year.

On Thursday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon leads the latest round of discussions between Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and his Turkish counterpart Dervis Eroglu in Geneva. Back in New York, the UN launches its annual Millennium Development Goals report, assessing MDG progress worldwide.

In London, families mark the sixth anniversary of the 7 July bombings, which killed 56 people on the Tube and bus network.

Egyptian activists return to Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday, just under five months after the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. Protesters say elections planned for September should not go ahead under the current constitution.

In France, the Cour de Justice de la République is expected to rule on whether to initiate a judicial inquiry into new IMF Managing Director (and erstwhile French Finance Minister) Christine Lagarde’s role in the 2007 Tapie Affair. The decision was delayed from 10 June.

Saturday marks the official independence of South Sudan, following a referendum in January and despite ongoing violence in the Abyei region.

Back to the Arab Spring on Sunday, as Syria’s National Dialogue Commission holds a consultative meeting to discuss constitutional amendments, including changes to Clause 8, which enshrines the leadership of President Bashar al Assad’s Baath Party.

In Israel, the final hearing is scheduled to take place in a case brought against the state by the family of Rachel Corrie, and American activist who was killed in 2003 when an Israeli bulldozer poured soil over her while she tried to block the demolition of Palestinian homes in the Gaza strip.

Highlights: Mladic hearing and NATO-Russia Council (4 July); German court hearing on Greece and Venezuelan independence day (5 July); 2018 Olympics host and Huffington Post UK launch (6 July); UN activity and 7/7 anniversary (7 July); Egypt protests and Christine Lagarde decision (8 July); South Sudan independence (9 July); Syrian National Dialogue and Rachel Corrie trial (10 July).