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DAVOS WATCH: King Abdullah mourned, Draghi gets more praise

Mark J. Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, left, speaks with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund IMF Christine Lagarde, right, during a panel session at the 45th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Keystone, Jean-Christophe Bott)
Mark J. Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, left, speaks with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund IMF Christine Lagarde, right, during a panel session at the 45th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Keystone, Jean-Christophe Bott) Mark J. Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, left, speaks with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund IMF Christine Lagarde, right, during a panel session at the 45th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Keystone, Jean-Christophe Bott)

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) – The World Economic Forum held in the Swiss ski resort of Davos has the official goal of “improving the state of the world.” In practice, it’s a massive networking event that brings together 2,500 heads of state, business leaders, philanthropists and artists.

Here are some glimpses of what’s happening and being discussed Friday at Davos:

SAUDI KING MOURNED

The death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah was one of the main talking points, with a host of participants paying tribute. Among them were Shimon Peres, the former president of Israel, who said Abdullah’s death represented a “real loss for peace in the Middle East.”

Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, the Egyptian trade minister, said Abdullah did a lot to unify the Arabs but that Saudi Arabia was “in good hands” with Abdullah’s successor, King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud.