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As the Sex Pistols said back in 1977, the year of the silver jubilee, never mind the bollocks. It really doesn’t matter what it’s for – just seize the moment: an extra bank holiday for this miserable country, which has the fewest national holidays in Europe and the second fewest in the world. England and Wales have just eight, Northern Ireland 10, Scotland 11; by contrast Europe averages 12.8, and Japan has 17.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey is halting talks with Greece, partly over a dispute with the Greek prime minister and what Ankara calls airspace violations, marking the latest reversal in the neighbours’ long-testy relationship.

Despite many setbacks and disappointments, Russia appears to be making significant progress with regards to the officially declared goals of its war on Ukraine.

In the course of the next few days, Priti Patel will make the most important ruling on free speech made by any home secretary in recent memory. She must resolve whether to comply with a US request to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges.

The Palestinian territories are overcome with grief following the death of 51-year-old Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead in the West Bank city of Jenin on the morning of May 11.

Security forces are deployed across Sri Lanka with orders to shoot looters on sight amid continuing protests at the government’s handling of a devastating economic crisis. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has vowed to restore order, in his first national speech since protests began last month. Ignoring calls to resign, he offered …

Announcing his £35bn ($44bn) acquisition of Twitter this week, Elon Musk made a typically sweeping claim: “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”

A recent incident in Egypt ignited a controversy regarding women’s bodily autonomy and the coercive control that men could exercise. The incident concerned a woman who needed a lifesaving hysterectomy but was entangled in a divorce battle that she initiated.

The damning fact is that once I finish writing this column and you finish reading it, you, me and the rest of the world will likely return to our regularly scheduled stuff while we keep whistling towards a dead end – literally.

The country was the first to use lockdowns, and may well be the last. But as the social and economic costs become clearer, it is tweaking its tactics