Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s nuclear-armed dictator, is at the apex of a love triangle. He and Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, have lately become bosom buddies. Now a jealous Xi Jinping, China’s president, is heading to Pyongyang to court Mr Kim. That makes things awkward for America, and its aspiration to curtail North Korea’s nuclear programme.

Six-wheeled bots may soon be cruising the pavements of your city. We write about an Estonian startup that says that its robots can deliver a pizza more cheaply than a human can.

What to expect in the week ahead:

▸ America will publish data on consumer-price inflation on Wednesday. In April prices rose by 3.8% year on year, up from 2.4% in February. Following surprisingly strong employment figures on Friday, investors are nervous about interest-rate rises.

▸ The European Central Bank may raise interest rates at its policy meeting on Thursday. Philip Lane, the ECB’s chief economist, said recently that an “active response may be required” to control inflationary pressures caused by higher energy prices.

▸ The biggest stockmarket debut in history will take place on Friday, when SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocketry firm, lists on the Nasdaq exchange. The company reportedly hopes to raise $75bn, which would give it a value of $1.8trn.