Merkel to open Davos forum in Switzerland GENEVA (AP) - The World Economic Forum says German Chancellor Angela Merkel will headline its annual conference in Davos, Switzerland later this month to address the debt crisis that has gripped global markets for over two years. Organizers say Merkel's opening address will come at the elite forum at which 2,600 leaders are expected to attend. Other public figures expected at the Swiss Alpine resort include Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and League of Arab States Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby. The forum's founder, Klaus Schwab, said Wednesday the world has "failed to learn the lessons from the financial crisis of 2009."