Amid turmoil, world leaders bail on Davos

DAVOS, Switzerland — First Germany's Angela Merkel. Then Francois Hollande of France. And now comes word that Italy's Matteo Renzi might cancel his Davos plans amid a banking crisis at home. 

This year's World Economic Forum takes place against a more dismal backdrop in many countries in Europe, not even counting the plunging markets of the last few weeks.

Refugees, local scandals and a shadow over the future of the European Union with a British referendum on membership coming this summer are casting a pall over the normally ebullient proceedings.

 
Last year, even in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris and the Russian incursion in Ukraine, there was a much stronger feeling of diplomatic cooperation and discussion. It seems, especially with new worries about oil, the Middle East, emerging markets and a stronger U.S. dollar, that it might be a long 2016.