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Participants gather during lunch on the last day of the 45th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 24, 2015.(Photo: Laurent Gillieron, European Pressphoto Agency)
The World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, wrapped up Saturday after nearly a week of high-powered speeches, workshops, politicking, parties and slipping around on icy sidewalks.
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Davos 2015
Here are 5 highlights from the forum:
1. German Chancellor Angela Merkel calmly took the stage midweek and spoke in vague and measured tones about European unity while offstage the entire European financial community waited with bated breath for the European Central Bank to make a decision on monetary stimulus. In a model of German efficiency, Merkel stepped offstage at precisely the moment the ECB announced it would purchase 60 billion euros in bonds every month — the plan amounts to about $1.3 trillion in total — to ward off inflation and kick-start growth across the 19 nations that share the euro currency.
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2. The Russia-Ukraine conflict was never far away from the minds of delegates. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko made an emotional speech in which he again accused Moscow of being the aggressor in a conflict that has killed close to 5,000 people. Meanwhile, EU leaders said they would continue to firmly back sanctions. Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said Merkel and Poroshenko speak frequently with Russian President Vladimir Putin to push him toward a diplomatic solution.
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Ngaire Woods, dean of the Blavatnik School of Government and Professor of Global Economic Governance at Oxford University, left, Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, John W. Hickenlooper, governor of Colorado, Vitali Klitschko, mayor of Kiev, Ali Tarhouni, president of the Constituent Assembly of Libya and Wang Hui, professor of Modern Chinese Thought and Literature at Tsinghua University, attend the Open Forum event in Davos on Jan. 21.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Jean-Christophe Bott, European Pressphoto Agency)
Mina Al-Oraibi, left, assistant editor in chief of the Arabic international newspaper "Asharq Al-Awsat," academic Hamza Yusuf Hanson, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa Thabo Cecil Makgoba, David Rosen, rabbi and international director of Interreligious Affairs at the American Jewish Committee and Tony Blair, Middle East quartet representative, attend an Open Forum discussion entitled "Religion: A Pretext for Conflict?" at the Swiss Alpine School in Davos.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Valeriano DiDomenico, WEC, via European Pressphoto Agency)
Brian T. Moynihan, left, chairman of the board and CEO of Bank of America, Liu Mingkang, distinguished fellow at Fung Global Institute, Hong Kong SAR, Anshu Jain, co-CEO of Deutsche Bank, Andre Esteves, CEO of Banco BTG Pactual and Douglas Flint, group chairman of HSBC Holdings, attend a panel session the first day of the World Economic Forum.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Jean-Christophe Bott, European Pressphoto Agency)
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3. A lot got discussed behind closed doors with world leaders and bigwig CEOs, including Jack Ma from China's Alibaba and John Chambers of Cisco, that we can't tell you about. World leaders engaged in backroom talks, too, including French President Francois Hollande and Iraqi leader Haider Al-Abadi, who continued to press international supporters for more arms, ammunition and airstrikes for his country's fight against the Islamic State. Abadi revealed during a question-and-answer session that he had received a large arms shipping "free of charge" earlier in the week.
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4. Several leaders including Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak and King Abdullah II of Jordan had to leave early to attend the funeral of the Saudi king. President Obama, who was not here, confirmed that he, too, would travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to pay his respects to the family of King Abdullah. He will also meet with new Saudi King Salam.
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#Davos2015: Friday highlights
5. Gender parity at Davos was just as far off as ever, with just 17% of participants women, according to Quartz, who crunched the numbers. That's the same as two years ago. A WEF study last year concluded it would take 80 years for the number of female CEOs to reach 50%. But EY, a consultancy, released a report ahead of the event that offered three ways companies could quicken the pace toward leadership parity.
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In another attempt at accelerating gender parity, a female protester disrobed on Davos' main strip while shouting, "Women need change." During a panel Saturday, panelists including Melinda Gates and Rwandan President Paul Kagame urged more action on the topic.
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Emma Watson touts gender equality initiative at Davos
Bonus: Your correspondents sampled every form of Swiss cheese known to the Graubunden region. We had fondue, rode trains and funiculars, and missed trains that ran with fabled Swiss precision. We visited the highest brewery in Switzerland and almost got knocked down by Secretary of State John Kerry's security detail. For the second year running, we rubbed shoulders with Bill Gates without realizing it. And for fun, we decided to think of famous natives of Switzerland without resorting to Google. We've got Roger Federer, Karl Jung and Alberto Giacometti. Yes, we know Albert Einstein had Swiss citizenship, but he was born in Germany. Now it's your turn.
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Pinnacle of beers perches high above Davos
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