Sir Richard Branson went where no billionaire businessman had gone before last weekend, when he and his five-person crew ascended 53 miles to what his publicity team rather breathlessly described as the “edge of space”. Beating his fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos by nine days, Branson hailed the flight as the start of space tourism: “Nothing can prepare you for the view of Earth from space,” he said, although strictly speaking this has been a fairly common view since 1946, when American scientists put a camera on a V2 rocket.

But, all hairsplitting aside, Branson’s is quite an achievement. It is just left to us earthbound mortals to debate whether Branson and his crew actually got as far as space, and whether we’ll all be packing spacesuits in the foreseeable future or whether this will be a trip reserved for the super-rich. Read all about it here.

I’m glad to report that in our neck of the woods it was dry and, late in the day at least, sunny on Thursday, which was St Swithin’s Day. The reason for this weather report is that – according to legend – “Swithin’s Day if thou dost rain’/For forty days it will remain.” So we’re set fair until the end of August, apparently, as it appears there’s a certain amount of method in that myth.

A row is brewing between French champagne makers and the Kremlin after the Russian government passed a law requiring that only bubbly produced in Russia can bear the denomination “shampanskoye” and all others must be labelled as “sparkling wine”. As you’d expect, France is unlikely to take this lying down.

This week we also reported on some good news for ethical chocoholics, looked at why some people switch allegiances between political parties and looked at five ways emojis are reflecting COVID culture.

From our colleagues around the world, meanwhile, how the history of Zimbabwe played itself out on the country’s cricket fields, how the intensely hot weather is affecting Canada’s rivers and lakes, and, from Australia, why the UN’s ten-year plan to protest the world’s wildlife falls short.

Do try to make time to listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast, which looks the whys and wherefores of lab-grown and plant-based meat. And, if you like what you hear, tune in to our collaboration with News Over Audio for some of our best narrated content. Plus to keep up with all the latest from the world of vaccines, make sure you read our weekly vaccine round-up.

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