Instead of turning their attention to solving the myriad problems facing the country, the political class has spent the past week arguing the toss over the Supreme Court’s ‘statement of the *** obvious’ ruling that someone with a penis cannot by law – or by any stretch of the imagination in a sane society – be described as a woman.

Meanwhile, back on Fantasy Island, everyone from Labour ministers to the overpaid bureaucrats who run the NHS were busting a gut to ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling. The health service is falling apart at the seams but those in charge are more concerned about continuing to insist biological men can use women’s wards and toilets than tackling interminable waiting lists and sorting out the GP crisis.

From the car crash which is the NHS; to the piles of rubbish in Birmingham and the pot holes everywhere; to the refusal of the police to patrol the streets or investigate everything from burglaries to phone thefts – 66,000 in London alone last year – while at the same time nicking people for ‘non-crime hate incidents’, we are being betrayed, bullied and treated with contempt at every level.

At a special Board meeting on April 20, the Board unanimously appointed Vice Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe as interim Chair and formed a Search Committee to identify a permanent successor. The Board paid tribute to Schwab’s remarkable contributions, stating, “He created the leading global platform for dialogue and progress,” and emphasized the Forum’s commitment to its founding mission amid global transformation.

The World Economic Forum, with over 800 employees across Geneva, New York, Beijing, and Tokyo, continues to play a pivotal role in shaping global agendas. As the leadership baton passes, the need for inclusive and informed dialogue remains more critical than ever.

The controversy that enveloped him stems from remarks he made in the 2005 documentary “We Feed the World.” He described the idea that water is a public right as “extreme” and argued that water should be treated as a foodstuff with a market value. He suggested that putting a price on water would make people more conscious of its value, but also stated that specific measures should be taken to ensure access for those who cannot afford it.

These comments sparked backlash from activists, NGOs, and the public. Critics accused Brabeck-Letmathe and Nestlé of seeking to profit from a basic human necessity, and memes and negative commentary proliferated online. The controversy was further inflamed by Nestlé’s global bottled water operations, which were criticized for extracting water from communities and contributing to water scarcity.

At the centre of the operation a shadowy military unit trained in drone warfare, typically deployed in conflict zones, now mobilised to keep a silent watch over the skies of the Eternal City. According to Corriere della Serra, anti-drone weaponry are being deployed, a no-fly zone patrolled by NATO AWACS surveillance jets will be put in place, as well as sophisticated anti-drone jamming systems.

Snipers will be placed strategically on nearby roofs and barriers have already been erected inside and outside the basilica in an attempt to control the grieving crowds.Speaking to NBC, Rome's police chief, Marcello Fulvi, said around 8,000 security agents would also be in place for the funeral, including 2,000 uniformed police officers patrolling St Peter’s and the boulevard leading up to it and another 1,400 plainclothes officers in the streets. Though Italian officials have not formally raised the terror threat level, insiders confirm it has been unofficially elevated, prompting sweeping measures across Rome and the Vatican.

The first is an inconvenience, the kind of diplomatic tit-for-tat you'd expect after an attack like Tuesday's. The Wagah closure is a more serious measure, but won't bring immediate hardship, and it's easy enough to reopen as a de-escalation measure. But suspending the IWT, Islamabad has previously stated, "could amount to an act of war." Water rights are a very big deal. When people turn on the sink or farmers switch on the irrigation system and nothing comes out, things get serious with all due haste.

The multilateral institutions that are hosting the meetings and that receive funding from the United States are also under increasing pressure to prove their relevance to the Trump administration while avoiding confrontations that could compel Mr Trump to withdraw from them entirely.

“The post-World War II rules-based system of global governance, which the United States played a key role in fashioning, is crumbling before our eyes,” said Eswar Prasad, a former China director of the IMF. “The Trump administration has left little doubt about its distaste for practically every multilateral institution, including the IMF and the World Bank, because it views these institutions’ recommendations and policies as not always perfectly aligned with narrowly defined American interests,” Mr Prasad said.

While the Trump administration could pull out of the IMF and the World Bank, doing so would be complicated and most likely cede more global influence to China by giving it more sway in how the institutions are operated.

The World Bank is perhaps in an even more precarious position than the IMF. The United States is the bank’s largest shareholder. If America tried to withdraw, it would substantially reduce the bank’s lending power and influence. The mission of the World Bank has become heavily focused on combating climate change, which the Trump administration views with deep skepticism. The World Bank has also been committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion — which the Trump administration opposes — in its policy work.

The government's Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) has set aside £50 million for projects which will be announced in the coming weeks. Professor Mark Symes, programme director for ARIA, said there would be 'small controlled outdoor experiments on particular approaches'.

'We have strong requirements around the length of time experiments can run for and their reversibility and we won't be funding the release of any toxic substances to the environment,' he said. Critics have voiced worries that geoengineering endeavours could backfire and even make climate change worse by triggering destructive weather patterns.