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Jane Austen and executive demands

There is nothing that the geeky Davos guests like better than rubbing shoulders with celebs.
One of this year's main draws is Emma Thompson, the actress, who turned the tables on her fans here with a morality tale about corporate mentality.

Gates' $306m pledge for world's poorest farmers

Bill and Melinda Gates have dipped into their $50 billion (£25.2 billion) fortune to donate $306 million through their foundation to help increase the yields and incomes of small farmers in Africa and other areas in the developing world.

US, UK and Japan to discuss oil supply since $100 milestone

Representatives from the US, UK and Japan are set to meet tomorrow to discuss the global supply of oil after fuel prices topped $100 a barrel earlier this year.

Sovereign wealth funds and the US: so far, so good

The US has no fear about sovereign wealth funds investing in its companies, a senior official told delegates at Davos this morning.

Robert Kimmitt, the US Deputy Treasury Secretary, said that so far the funds had played a positive role without generating political controversy.

Bono and Father Al

We always suspected that Bono worships Al Gore, but now we know for certain. "He is rabbinical or like an Irish priest," said the rockstar campaigner, sharing a platform with the former US vice-president and environmental Nobel laureate this morning.

Real talk takes place behind closed doors

Davos is often seen as purely a talking shop. But events and discussions with real substance take place too, though usually in private.

Lessons in disaster

Lord Levene, the Chairman of Lloyd's, knows a thing or two about risks and disasters. His view today is that lessons have not been learnt from the fall of Barings Bank, which spectacularly lost oversight of its financial dealings in 1995.

Where the US leads...

One of the unplanned themes of this year's Davos already seems to be the decline and fall of the United States empire, so it was good to hear the US praised for leading the way by the moderator of a discussion on global risks, Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group risk management consultancy. "The last couple of days we have at least seen that the US does have global leadership - on the downturn."

Davos 2008

Welcome to the Davos 2008 blog. Watch this space for news, analysis and an insider's take on developments at World Economic Forum from our team of correspondents tracking the delegates in Switzerland.