Obama hosts Merkel amid deepening Ukraine crisis

US President Barack Obama hosts Angela Merkel at the White House on Monday, as worsening violence in Ukraine confronts them with a choice between throwing more weapons into the war and risky peace talks. The German chancellor will visit the Oval Office for a tete-a-tete as divisions grow over how to stop bloody fighting between Kiev and Russian-backed rebels. At home Obama is facing increasing calls to supply the outmatched Ukrainian army with more weapons to shore up its faltering defenses. Mer