Davos Meeting To Be Dominated By Climate Issues - Reuters

[hatrack]

GENEVA - The world's elite will hold discussions on climate change and the Middle East next week at their annual rendezvous in the chic Swiss ski resort of Davos, this time with few distractions from Hollywood stars.

Some 2,400 businessmen and politicians are expected to rub shoulders when the World Economic Forum starts next Wednesday, including 900 company chief executives and board chairs and 24 heads of state -- among them British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

While last year's meeting made media waves with appearances by stars such as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Forum chairman Klaus Schwab said there were weighty matters ahead for the 2007 gathering of political and business leaders.

"There are some very crucial issues in the world that have to be addressed," Schwab told a news briefing at the Forum's headquarters on the shores of Lake Geneva, listing climate change, energy and geopolitics as top concerns.

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