What happened
Xi Jinping has reaffirmed Beijing’s commitment to North Korea during a rare trip to Pyongyang, telling Kim Jong Un that China will continue backing its neighbour regardless of the shifting global conditions.

The two leaders met during Xi’s first visit to North Korea in seven years, with the Chinese president receiving an elaborate welcome that included a military honour guard, a 21-gun salute and crowds lining the capital’s streets.

Who said what
Xi said relations between the countries had reached a “new historical starting point” and called for deeper cooperation across areas including trade, technology, agriculture and security.

China is “reasserting itself to contain North Korea’s tilt towards Russia”, said David Pierson and Choe Sang-Hun in The New York Times. The trip was a “subtle reminder” that China is Kim’s “most important benefactor, economic partner and bulwark against the United States”. Is this more about “friendship or leverage?”, asked Laura Bicker on the BBC. After years of “mistrust” and “strained ties”, Beijing is now “trying to reassert sway over a strategically vital yet deeply unpredictable partner”.

What next?
On the eve of Xi’s arrival, North Korea also unveiled naval plans for a new 10,000-tonne destroyer and reiterated its status as a nuclear-armed state.

What happened
The UK’s first self-driving taxis will begin operating in London this summer. In the initial stages of the launch Wayve cars will have a human driver present. Rides will be available at the same price as human-operated vehicles, and potential customers can express advance interest in being among the first to experience the service.

Who said what
London is the “ultimate testing ground for autonomous technology”, said Kaity Fischer, VP of commercial and operations at Wayve. The capital’s “2,000-year-old streets” mean it has 20 times more roadworks underway and 10 times more vulnerable road users than San Francisco.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the technology had “the potential to transform how people travel”. Founded by two Cambridge PhD students, Wayve is a “British success story”. But private hire drivers have warned the GMB trade union that “driverless taxis could come at the cost of 300,000 jobs”, said The Times.

What next?
London will be the first city to use Wayve’s technology for commercial journeys, according to The Standard. Later this year the company aims to expand to more than 10 cities worldwide through its partnership with Uber.

“As pervasive as ketchup” on chips, hot pepper sauce is an “obligatory accompaniment” for Caribbean cuisine, said the BBC. But a shortage of the fiery-flavoured condiment is leaving tastebuds unfulfilled – both in the Caribbean and countries like the US, the UK and Australia, where consumers have developed a liking for its sweet, smoky punch.

It’s all about the main ingredient: Scotch bonnet, a scorching hot chilli pepper with an intense, fruity flavour. But the plant is susceptible to both “heavy rain and viruses”, and having been “walloped” by recent hurricanes, harvests have become devastatingly poor.

“From Jamaican jerk chicken to Haitian beef stew,” the Scotch bonnet pepper is a “foundational element” of Caribbean cuisine, according to foodie site Chowhound. Not only does it pack a punch, it also adds “sweetness and an unmistakable scent”. It has a “smoky, recognisable spiciness” that has been successfully marketed the world over.  But now it is “particularly hard to source”, added the BBC.

The Scotch bonnet shortage, blamed by many on climate change, “may be lasting”, said news platform Semafor. That’s not only a blow to the hot sauce industry, but it could also change the landscape of plant growth in the Caribbean altogether. Continually disappointed by the “temperamental” Scotch bonnet, many producers are instead turning to “hardier crops”, including sweet potatoes, to make a living.

Some parts of the Caribbean do seem to have escaped unscathed, though. The island of Barbados has been “marked ‘safe’” from the hot pepper shortage, said Barbados Today. Its crops remain “resilient, pest-free and available for production”.