Twitter acquires Chroma Labs founded by Facebook veterans

Twitter has acquired California-based Chroma Labs that develops tools for short-form video and photo creation and was founded by seven Facebook and Instagram workers in 2018.

The Chroma Stories app let users fill in stylish layout templates and frames for posting collages and more to Instagram Stories, Snapchat and more.

Twitter, however, did not disclose the amount it paid for the acquisition.

China threatened to harm Czech companies over Taiwan visit

Photo used for representational purpose only.   | Photo Credit: Reuters

The Jan. 10 letter, sent by China's embassy in Prague to the Czech president's office, suggested that automaker Skoda, lender Home Credit Group, and musical instrument maker Petrof Pianos would suffer if late Czech lawmaker Jaroslav Kubera visited the self-ruled island as planned, Reuters reported.

The debate was made moot when Kubera died unexpectedly on Jan. 20, ahead of the planned trip, but the letter reveals how explicit Beijing had been about who would suffer if the visit went forward.

PetroChina resumes Guangdong refinery construction after extended holiday

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker leaves the dock after discharging at PetroChina’s receiving terminal in Dalian, Liaoning. Two years ago, Chinese planners said they would pour billions of dollars till 2019 to revive northeastern China’s economy. File   | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Asia'a largest oil and gas firm PetroChina resumed construction of its oil refinery and petrochemical project in southern Chinese province of Guangdong, as the number of new coronavirus cases fell for a second straight day, Reuters reported.

With workers and machineries gradually in place, the $10 billion refinery project in Jieyang city is expected to fully restart construction by end-February, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

In an attempt to curb the spread of the virus, China had extended Lunar New Year holidays and asked companies to put workers returning from their hometown into a 14-day quarantine.

Boeing finds a new issue with Max, debris in fuel tanks

Boeing employees work on the tail of a Boeing 737 NG at the Boeing plant in Renton, Washington./ File photo   | Photo Credit: REUTERS

 

A Boeing official said the debris was discovered in “several” planes but did not give a precise number. Boeing built about 400 undelivered Max jets before it temporarily halted production last month.

The fuel tank debris was discovered during maintenance on parked planes, and Boeing said it immediately made corrections in its production system to prevent a recurrence.

An FAA spokesman said the agency knows that Boeing is conducting a voluntary inspection of undelivered Max planes.

Sensex soars over 400 pts in early trade

A view of the BSE building in Mumbai. File   | Photo Credit: PTI

BSE benchmark Sensex surged over 408 points in early trade in line with Asian peers as global investors weigh China’s measures to prop up the coronavirus-hit economy.

Asian shares were cautiously higher on Wednesday as investors tried to shrug off coronavirus worries despite rise in the number of virus cases.

Forex market closed

India's forex market is closed on Wednesday on account of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti.

Facebook says 'deeply concerned' about Singapore's order to block page

FILE PHOTO: AP  

Facebook Inc said it was “deeply concerned” about a Singapore government order to block access to a blog page on its social media website under a controversial fake news law.

The government had ordered Facebook this week to block the States Times Review's page in Singapore, saying the blog had repeatedly conveyed falsehoods and had not complied with any of the directions that it had been served with under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA).

Saving 'big trade deal' with India for later: Trump

Getting ready: Workers giving finishing touches to the Sardar Patel Stadium at Motera in Ahmedabad. U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold the “Namasthe Trump" event at the stadium with approximately 1.25 lakh people witnessing the special programme on February 24.   | Photo Credit: The Hindu

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is “saving the big deal” with India for later and he “does not know” if it will be done before the presidential election in November, clearly indicating that a major bilateral trade deal during his visit to Delhi next week might not be on the cards.

“We can have a trade deal with India. But I’m really saving the big deal for later,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews Tuesday afternoon (local time).