The Caribbean island of Barbados has elected its first woman prime minister since gaining independence from Britain in 1966.

Mia Mottley led her Barbados Labour Party (BLP) to a crushing victory over the Democratic Labour Party (DLP).

Ms Mottley, a 52-year-old lawyer, is reported to have once told a teacher at her secondary school that she would become the country's first female PM.

The BLP won all 30 seats up for grabs in the House of Assembly.

The DLP has governed the popular tourist paradise for the past 10 years, most recently under Prime Minister Freundel Stuart.

A report from Alex Heath of Cheddar news service claims that Facebook is planning to launch its own cryptocurrency. The company is said to be focused on using the platform to make it easier to make payments.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina, will inaugurate the Bangladesh Bhavan within the campus on Friday. 

The Bangladesh Bhavan is a symbol of the cultural ties between the two countries.

The Bangladesh Bhavan features a museum that showcases Rabindranath Tagore's association with the country, the Liberation War of Bangladesh and Indo-Bangla relations.

It was built at a cost of Rs. 25 crore, which was provided by the Bangladesh government.

A fund of Rs. 10 crore would be given to help to maintain the museum premises.

Reportedly, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will also be signed between Visva-Bharati and the Secondary and Higher Secondary Division of the education ministry of Bangladesh.

Oil producers would have to part with any revenue they earn from prices crossing $70 per barrel; States may be asked to cut VAT

The government may levy a windfall tax on oil producers like Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), as part of a permanent solution it is working on for moderating the spiralling retail prices of petrol and diesel.

The tax, which may come in the form of a cess, will kick in the moment oil prices cross $70 per barrel, sources privy to the development said.

Under the scheme, oil producers, who get paid international rates for the oil they produce from domestic fields, would have to part with any revenue they earn from prices crossing $70 per barrel mark.

Switching my iPhone’s Wi-Fi radio on and off is something I do by default when I move from one room to the next. I can’t stream HD content to my TV because my PC and NAS are upstairs while my TV is downstairs. I can’t stream games using Steam’s in-home streaming unless I’m using a device in the same room as my router (because that’s the only way I can stream a game at sufficient quality).

These are limitations that I’ve grown to expect from traditional Wi-Fi networks. Mesh networks are an option that I did consider, but laziness and a worry of unnecessary complications made me reconsider.

A recent chat with Rahul Patel, Qualcomm’s senior VP and general manager for Connectivity, convinced me that this is not a condition I need accept for long.

Patel pointed out that the next revolution is around content delivery, whether that happens via the internet or local streaming. He said that what consumers want today is content delivered wirelessly, at any time and anywhere. And it’s not just about content, the ongoing invasion of IoT devices into our lives has ensured that traditional Wi-Fi networks are saturated and pushed to their limits.

A solution that Patel was interested in discussing was something called Wi-Fi SON. SON stands for Self Organising Network. In essence, this is a network that takes care of itself, ie, no user intervention is required. In other words, we’re talking about an “intelligent” Wi-Fi network.

WASHINGTON — The United States has disinvited China from participating in a multinational naval exercise scheduled for this summer, further escalating tensions with Beijing that have spanned from trade to North Korea to the military.

The Pentagon cited China’s rapid military buildup on disputed islands in the South China Sea for withdrawing the invitation for Beijing to participate in the large-scale naval exercise known as Rim of the Pacific, or RimPac. Defense Department officials said on Wednesday that China’s decision to place surface-to-air missile systems and other offensive weaponry on the islands spurred the move.

NITI Aayog and ABB India have signed a statement of intent (SoI) to support the Indian government realise its ambitious vision of Make In India through advanced manufacturing technologies that incorporate the latest developments in robotics and artificial intelligence, said a statement.

NITI Aayog will work with ABB to prepare key sectors of the economy, such as the power and water utilities sector, industries like food as well as the heavy industries sector; and the transport (rail and metro) and infrastructure sectors for digitalization, the internet of things and artificial intelligence. The initiative also covers the fast-growing segment of electric mobility. Jointly, NITI Aayog and ABB will work with government ministries, solicit feedback for areas critical to them and discuss solutions using industrial automation, and digitalization technologies.

India has moved one notch higher, to the 44th place in terms of competitiveness, in the annual rankings compiled by International Institute for Management Development (IMD) which placed the US in the top slot. 

The US became the most competitive economy globally driven by its strength in economic performance and infrastructure, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore in the second and third place, respectively. 

NEW DELHI:  Armies of India and Nepal will carry out a two-week long military exercise from May 30 in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh region with an aim to deepen counter-terror cooperation. The Indian Army said the 'Surya Kiran' exercise is expected to enhance the level of defence cooperation between the two sides. 

It said the focus of the exercise will be to enhance cooperation in conducting counter-terrorism operations in mountainous terrain. Around 300 soldiers from Nepal and equal numbers from India are expected to participate in the exercise.

• President Trump cancels his historic summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month.

• Trump accuses North Korea of "tremendous anger and open hostility."

• The meeting, which would have marked the first face-to-face encounter between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, was set for June 12.

• "You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used," Trump writes.