The door handles of a bestselling Xiaomi Corp. electric vehicle failed and trapped its driver in an inferno during a fatal 2025 crash, Caixin reported , a development likely to intensify pressure for China to phase out such designs. The SU7 sedan , driven by a 31-year-old man surnamed Deng, crashed into another car before striking a planted median in the southwest city of Chengdu last October, Cai...
The door handles of a bestselling Xiaomi Corp. electric vehicle failed and trapped its driver in an inferno during a fatal 2025 crash, Caixin reported , a development likely to intensify pressure for China to phase out such designs. The SU7 sedan , driven by a 31-year-old man surnamed Deng, crashed into another car before striking a planted median in the southwest city of Chengdu last October, Caixin said Wednesday, citing official findings. The impact damaged the low-voltage system that powered the door handles, rendering them inoperable, it said.The doors lacked an exterior mechanical emergency release, according to a local forensic laboratory report cited by Caixin. A police report said Deng died in the fire that ignited after the EV crashed, the report said, adding that he was suspected of drunk driving and was traveling at 167 kilometers (104 miles) an hour at the time. While authorities found him fully responsible for the crash, a lawyer for his family argued the cause of death still requires investigation, Caixin said. The family has asked authorities for a full probe into the vehicle, the outlet reported. Xiaomi didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Door Handles The smartphone maker turned EV producer has been involved in at least two high-profile crashes in which people died after becoming trapped in burning Xiaomi vehicles. The incidents have intensified debate over the safety of flush, electrically operated door handles popularized by Tesla Inc. and accelerated Chinese regulators’ efforts to ban them. The country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued new safety standards in January requiring mechanical releases on both the interior and exterior door handles, along with an exterior recess for gripping — effectively banning concealed handles from 2027. Read More: China Bans Hidden EV Door Handles in World-First Safety Rule In the US, a Bloomberg News investigation uncovered incidents in which people were injured...
Chinnachart Martmoh/iStock via Getty Images Market Review The high yield market gained 1.31% in 4Q and 8.62% for the year. Spreads tightened by 1 basis point ('bp') to 266 bps, supported by a December Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting that was more accommodative than anticipated, along with economic data indicating stronger-than-expected growth. Improving trade tensions and upbeat 3Q earnings, which e...
Chinnachart Martmoh/iStock via Getty Images Market Review The high yield market gained 1.31% in 4Q and 8.62% for the year. Spreads tightened by 1 basis point ('bp') to 266 bps, supported by a December Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting that was more accommodative than anticipated, along with economic data indicating stronger-than-expected growth. Improving trade tensions and upbeat 3Q earnings, which eased concerns around broad underwriting weakness, also contributed to market resilience and drove strong inflows later in the quarter. These positives helped overcome headwinds in the first half of 4Q, which included rising credit concerns following a couple of high-profile credit blowups, renewed trade tensions, an extended U.S. government shutdown, concerns over artificial intelligence ('AI')-related capital expenditures, less accommodative Fed commentary, and outflows. The yield-to-worst ('YTW') decreased from 6.7% at the end of September to 6.5% at the end of December. Higher-quality issues outperformed, with BB, B, and CCC credits returning 1.51%, 1.58%, and 0.18%, respectively. For the year, BB, B, and CCC credits gained 9.02%, 8.44%, and 8.27%, respectively. Finance companies, metals & mining, and gaming outperformed during the quarter. Cyclical industries, including packaging, retail, and building products, lagged as lower-quality names declined sharply toward year-end. Fundamentals remained healthy as default rates stayed low and credit migration improved. The upgrade to downgrade ratio by issuer improved to 1.3x from 1x in the prior quarter, while the ratio by dollar volume improved to 1.6x from 1.4x. The par default rate increased by 49 bps from the prior quarter, ending the year 41 bps higher, while the issuer default rate decreased by 18 bps during the quarter, finishing the year 72 bps lower. Technicals were weak as headwinds triggered outflows of $4.3 billion in the quarter, lowering year-to-date inflows to $19.4 billion. New issuance declined from the third ...
OpenAI ( OPENAI ) has hired Ruoming Pang, a high-profile AI researcher at Meta ( META ), who had joined the company from Apple ( AAPL ) about seven months ago, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing an OpenAI spokesperson. Pang oversaw artificial intelligence infrastructure for Meta's Superintelligence Labs, which is developing the company's next generation of AI models. He left Meta (...
OpenAI ( OPENAI ) has hired Ruoming Pang, a high-profile AI researcher at Meta ( META ), who had joined the company from Apple ( AAPL ) about seven months ago, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing an OpenAI spokesperson. Pang oversaw artificial intelligence infrastructure for Meta's Superintelligence Labs, which is developing the company's next generation of AI models. He left Meta ( META ) last week after being aggressively recruited by OpenAI for several months, the report added. Pang joined Meta last year on a compensation package valued at more than $200 million over several years, according to a Bloomberg report. More on OpenAI Wall Street Lunch: ChatGPT Tops 800M Weekly Active Users Microsoft: An OpenAI Problem (Rating Upgrade) 2027: Defense Boom As The AI Trade Unwinds Microsoft, Amazon, Google among tech titans planning to provide own power for data centers: report Judgment Day? Google, OpenAI, Anthropic models push button in war games sim: study
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has warned that Pyongyang was ready for confrontation with the US but also left the door open for dialogue, depending on Washington’s stance. The prospects of North Korea-US relations hinge “entirely on the attitude of the United States”, he said on Wednesday. Pyongyang was prepared for both “peaceful coexistence or eternal confrontation” but the choice lay with Was...
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has warned that Pyongyang was ready for confrontation with the US but also left the door open for dialogue, depending on Washington’s stance. The prospects of North Korea-US relations hinge “entirely on the attitude of the United States”, he said on Wednesday. Pyongyang was prepared for both “peaceful coexistence or eternal confrontation” but the choice lay with Washington. As long as the US respected North Korea’s nuclear-armed state status, which is enshrined in...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s ambition to turn India into a global manufacturing superpower is drawing fire from the world’s largest economies, who say his use of subsidies breaches global trade norms. On Wednesday, the US imposed preliminary duties of 126% on solar imports from India, after determining the South Asian country unfairly subsidized manufacturing. The hefty levies are expected to e...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s ambition to turn India into a global manufacturing superpower is drawing fire from the world’s largest economies, who say his use of subsidies breaches global trade norms. On Wednesday, the US imposed preliminary duties of 126% on solar imports from India, after determining the South Asian country unfairly subsidized manufacturing. The hefty levies are expected to effectively shut Indian solar panel makers out of the US market, analysts said. The action came a day after the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement body agreed to establish a panel to examine Beijing’s complaint that India’s incentive programs in automotive and renewable energy technologies unfairly favor domestic goods over imports, putting Chinese products at a disadvantage. The panel was set up after consultations between the two countries — the first step in the WTO dispute process — failed to resolve China’s challenge to New Delhi’s sector-specific subsidies. At the heart of these disputes is India’s production-linked incentive scheme, which was introduced by the Modi government in 2020 to boost domestic manufacturing. The program, spanning 14 sectors from electronics and pharmaceuticals to solar modules and medical devices, carries a total outlay of 1.91 trillion rupees ($21 billion). Trading partners argue that these subsidies tilt the playing field toward local producers. In the solar sector, companies including Waaree Energies Ltd. , Adani Enterprises Ltd , and Reliance Industries Ltd. have benefited from government support through production-linked incentives and various non-tariff barriers. The backlash comes even as India works to steady relations with both US and China. New Delhi and Washington have only just struck a deal to end months of trade friction, a period when India was saddled with some of the highest US tariffs in Asia. Meanwhile, India is also seeking to stabilize ties with Beijing after relations plunged following the 2020 border clashes. ...