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Global Times: China-proposed BRI drives major infrastructure upgrades and fosters closer global connectivity

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BEIJING, Dec. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Sounding the horns, a China–Europe freight train loaded with electronic goods, light industrial items and more drew away from a train station in Southwest China’s Chongqing in early December. The train is headed for European countries including Germany and Hungary through the Trans-Caspian international transportation route in only a few days.

The train marks the official inauguration of a special rail express as part of the China–Europe freight train service starting from Chongqing to Europe, which is a multimodal transport corridor integrating rail and water transportation, Sun Ping, an official from China Railway Chengdu Group Co’s public affairs department, told the Global Times.

The corridor passes through Kazakhstan and the Caspian Sea, and ultimately reaches Europe via Turkey or across the Black Sea.

China has highlighted the construction of the Trans-Caspian international transportation corridor as one of eight major initiatives to support high-quality Belt and Road development. In July this year, heads of state from China and Kazakhstan jointly attended the opening ceremony of the Trans-Caspian international transportation route via a video link, Xinhua News Agency reported.

As part of the broader picture, the launch signifies an important development of the China–Europe freight train — a flagship service contributing to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as it opens up a new rail-sea trade route across the Eurasian continent, providing the landlocked countries in Central Asia with more opportunities to grow their economies.

This year marks the 11th year of the BRI, and the beginning of the second golden decade of that framework. According to industry observers, one of the most lauded outcomes of BRI development throughout the year is its contribution to boosting infrastructure and intercontinental connectivity.

Ever-closer connectivity

The ever-expanding China–Europe rail freight service offers a vivid manifestation of how BRI ramps up regional connectivity and facilitates trade and economic exchanges over the last 11 years. The service, marking its 100,000th train run in November, now connects with 227 cities scattered in 25 European countries and over 100 cities in 11 Asian countries.

“Over the past decade, the China–Europe freight trains have delivered 2.1 million types of Chinese-made commodities from Yiwu, a trading hub located in East China’s Zhejiang Province dubbed as the world’s supermarket, to BRI partner countries. Those goods include automobile and parts, photovoltaic products, machinery and other high value-added products. It also delivered over 100,000 types of commodities from over 100 countries, such as wines and medical devices from Europe to China,” Hu Xiaowei, a representative from China Railway Shanghai Group Co, told the Global Times.

According to Hu, this year, the signature BRI railway network has recorded continuous improvement, including improved efficiency, lowered running cost, fewer delays, in addition to adding new destinations, consolidating its role as a key pillar in ensuring smooth operation of international supply chains.

“The project demonstrates that China is joining hands with BRI partner countries to build a good path of prosperity, characterized by shared economic growth, complementary trade, and closer people-to-people connections,” Hu noted.

In recent years, global maritime links have significantly expanded under the enhanced BRI cooperation framework. For example, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Peru’s Chancay Port is set to serve a direct route to Shanghai which will operate two container ships a week, after the landmark BRI project in Latin America commenced trial operation on November 14.

Maya Majueran, director of Belt & Road Initiative in Sri Lanka, described the Chancay Port as one of the most strategic and meaningful advancements under BRI infrastructure connectivity in 2024.

“This groundbreaking connectivity initiative will significantly upgrade cargo movement between Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Asia, forging critical links with China, Japan, South Korea as well as other Asia-Pacific countries,” Majueran told the Global Times on Wednesday, while highlighting that the port’s role as a key hub for trade between China and Peru.

In addition to Peruvian products, Brazilian soybeans, iron ore, and chilled meat, along with Colombian coffee and avocados, will also be transported to Asia through this new shipping route in the future, helping the Latin America region to tap into new opportunities brought by the Asia-Pacific economic integration, Majueran noted.

Network taking shape

This year also witnessed a number of new milestones across multiple regional connectivity projects which are part of the BRI, including the third anniversary of the China-Laos Railway operation, as well as the first year of operation of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway.

Based on a framework comprising “six corridors, six routes, and multiple countries and ports,” a multi-tiered infrastructure network is now taking shape, according to a white paper released by China’s State Council Information Office. Analysts said the network is laying a solid foundation for broader cooperation among BRI partners, in addition to strengthening cultural and people-to-people exchanges among the peoples.

According to Majueran, China always places great emphasis on infrastructure development, recognizing it as the launch pad of economic take-off.

During the fourth symposium on Belt and Road construction work held this month, China said that ramped-up efforts should be made to create new space for win-win development at a higher level under the BRI framework, and with greater resilience and sustainability, Xinhua reported.

“Connectivity has been listed as a priority of BRI development…Enhanced connectivity and deeper economic cooperation are crucial to unlocking economic potential and fostering sustainable development throughout the Global South,” Majueran said.

Wirun Phichaiwongphakdee, director of the Thailand-China Research Center of the Belt and Road Initiative, told the Global Times on Thursday that the overarching transportation network under BRI embodies “the spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit,” which holds significance against the backdrop of rising unilateralism and protectionism in the world.

“Looking ahead, the BRI will make greater contribution to building a global community of shared future and establishing a more just and reasonable international order,” the director noted.

 

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SOURCE Global Times

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Karma Automotive Announces Eximius, the Bespoke Vehicle Program for Elite Clients Seeking Singular Expressions of Extreme Performance and Bold Craftsmanship

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The First Eximius Creation, “Eximius 1,” is a Menacing Four-Seater Built for the Track which Makes its World Premiere at the 2026 Concours at Wynn Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Karma Automotive builds vehicles in the hundreds rather than the thousands, attracting a highly individualistic clientele seeking a unique statement. For those who wish to go further still, and explore new possibilities beyond the extensive options for personalization available through the Studio program, Karma has created the Eximius bespoke vehicle program. Eximius clients may modify the vehicle’s body, performance and powertrain, collaborating with Karma’s design and engineering teams to build a One-of-One statement which will never be repeated.

Karma Eximius clients may modify the vehicle’s body, performance and powertrain to build a One-of-One statement

The first vehicle from Karma Eximius debuts today at the 2026 Concours at Wynn Las Vegas. A menacing four-seater purpose-built for the track, “Eximius 1” is in ongoing development with its commissioning client, who is not revealed at this time. Upon delivery in 2027, “Eximius 1” will be fitted with an extreme-performance Plug-in Series Hybrid utilizing a 6.2 Liter V8 producing nearly 1200hp (550hp ICE, 645hp battery), delivering acceleration from 0-60mph in 2.7 seconds and a top speed in excess of 200mph (estimated). As these parameters would demand, “Eximius 1” will be equipped with carbon-ceramic brakes and two-piece slotted brake rotors, and Ohlins semi-active suspension.

“‘Eximius 1’ began as a conversation with an elite client who loves their Karma Revero, but wanted something more extreme and unexpected, which was music to our ears,” says Marques McCammon, President and Chief Executive, Karma Automotive. “The Eximius program effectively deletes the word ‘no’ from conversations about what’s possible,” he continues, “and as a four-seat track weapon packing what’ll be the most powerful Plug-in Series Hybrid powertrain and vehicle ever developed, ‘Eximius 1’ shatters expectations and further establishes Karma as a manufacturer of exotic, uniquely American vehicles.” 

Exterior Design
“Eximius 1” is an imposing vehicle to behold, exhibiting the muscularity and eyepopping strength of a superhero. Every panel – excluding the body surface outer – is constructed of pre-impregnated carbon fiber, and the vehicle is 50mm wider due to its wheel arch extensions. The front doors and hood have a unique technical fade from glossy, exposed regular carbon fiber to signature Borealis Blue paint.

The front carbon splitter sets an aggressive tone and is flanked by massive side air intakes incorporating Karma’s Target Acquisition Lighting, rotated 45º to create a distinctive ‘><‘ DRL graphic identity. On the hood, the dramatic arc of the Comet Line – which is inspired by Halley’s Comet is it streaks across the evening sky – widens from its apex towards the base of the windshield; vents above the front fenders release air pressure from the wheel housings and add further visual intrigue. Moving to the side of the vehicle, the front fenders aft of the wheels feature Karma’s signature “Backslash” bearing the number “5,” which is of particular significance to the commissioning client. 21″ Magnesium wheels with center-locks reduce rotating and unsprung mass, and are finished in satin black. Aft of the driver’s side front wheel, twin exhaust tips announce the fearsome new powertrain.

The full-width rear GT wing maximizes stability and downforce at high speeds, and continues the distinctive ‘><‘ DRL graphic identity established at the front of “Eximius 1.” The rear fascia also boasts large side air intakes which are connected by a dominant diffuser to manage underbody airflow.

Interior Design
An aura of intensity continues to the interior of “Eximius 1.” In concert with the exterior, blue-tinted carbon-fiber adorns the seats, flat-bottom steering wheel and doors; for aesthetics and weight-savings, all four doors are manufactured in exposed carbon fiber with one purposeful arm pad on each door. The seats, which are Recaro carbon fiber buckets up front, are trimmed with blue Alcantara and blue Italian leather with Moondust Alcantara upper sections, creating an articulated, form-fitted feel. To support high-speed driving and intense braking force, the accelerator, brake pedal and dead pedal are billet machined aluminum.

The instrument panel is reimagined in glossy carbon fiber and incorporates anodized billet aluminum HVAC vents. The carbon fiber center console is simplified to include the essentials only: the PRND gear selector, window switches, key fob holder, and Emergency kill switch. This console extends through to the rear compartment, to which the client’s custom-fitted carbon fiber racing helmet is held in place by a center-latched strap matching the blue seat belts.

About Karma Automotive
Karma Automotive is America’s only full-line ultra-luxury vehicle manufacturer, and a pioneer of Plug-in Series Hybrid vehicles which it manufactures at its Karma Innovation and Customization Center (KICC) in Moreno Valley, CA. Its Executive, Product Development, and Design headquarters are located in nearby Irvine, CA. The Karma portfolio embodies California’s spirit of innovation and entrepreneurial boldness, reflected by the signature Comet Line which is the central hallmark of Karma’s new design language. The Gyesera Grand Coupe, a Plug-in Series Hybrid four-seater, arrives at dealerships in December 2026; and the Amaris GT 2-Door Plug-in Series Hybrid arrives in Q4 2027. The Karma Kaveya Super Coupe, with over 1,000HP and butterfly-doors, will arrive in Q1 2028, to be followed by the Karma Ivara GT-UV: both EVs will incorporate SDVA (Software-Defined Vehicle Architecture) developed with leading technology partners. For more information, visit www.karmaautomotive.com) 

Media Contact:

Joe Richardson, (917) 716-6617
Joe@BeautifulNoisePR.com 

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SOURCE Karma Automotive

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ModelBest and OpenBMB Open-Source MiniCPM-OCR Series, Delivering High-Performance Document Parsing and AI-Powered Quality Control

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BEIJING, Oct. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ModelBest and OpenBMB jointly announced the release and open-source availability of the MiniCPM-OCR series, a family of models for efficient document parsing and parsing-quality assessment. The launch includes two models: MiniCPM-OCR 1.0 (1.3B) and MiniCPM-OCR Jev (2B).

As the first OCR-focused model in the MiniCPM family, MiniCPM-OCR 1.0 brings top-tier parsing accuracy to a compact 1.3-billion-parameter architecture optimized for edge deployment, pushing forward the balance between efficiency and performance for open-source OCR models. Built for real-world conditions, it accurately parses scanned, photographed, curved, tilted and screen-captured documents without cumbersome image pre-correction, lowering the barrier to large-scale document digitization.

The model handles dense bilingual Chinese-English content, complex mathematical formulas, and multi-level or borderless tables, consistently performing at a leading level across a broad range of mainstream industry evaluations. Beyond full-page reconstruction, it supports key information extraction (KIE), pulling specified fields from invoices, IDs and financial statements according to business instructions.

Powered by DSpark decoding acceleration, MiniCPM-OCR 1.0 significantly increases end-to-end throughput while lowering per-page latency. For enterprises processing millions of pages—such as financial contract archives, academic libraries and government records—this means processing far more documents with the same hardware and time budget, at a substantially lower computing cost.

To address the long-standing need for page-by-page manual review, ModelBest and OpenBMB also introduced MiniCPM-OCR Jev, the first OCR result decision model that acts as an “AI quality inspector.” Rather than performing OCR itself, Jev compares the source image with OCR output and rapidly assigns confidence scores to text, LaTeX formulas and tables, detecting missing characters, errors and formatting misalignments. Despite its compact 2B-parameter size, Jev delivers judgment accuracy typically associated with far larger models.

Jev supports cross-model deployment and can be integrated into existing OCR workflows without replacing the underlying OCR engine. It can automatically identify reliable results for direct processing, flag potentially inaccurate outputs for human review and select the best result from multiple OCR systems. This enables enterprises to move from full manual inspection toward risk-based, automated quality control.

The MiniCPM-OCR series is available on GitHub, Hugging Face and ModelScope, and supports vLLM, SGLang, llama.cpp and Ollama, along with SDKs, APIs, Agent Skill plugins and open-source fine-tuning code. Day-0 hardware adaptation covers AMD, Arm, Houmo AI, Intel and NVIDIA. Through the FlagOS software stack, it also has Day-0 support for AI and edge chips from CIX Technology, Huawei Ascend, Hygon, Iluvatar CoreX, Kunlunxin, MetaX, Moore Threads, Sunrise, T-Head, TsingMicro, NVIDIA and Apple Mac (Arm).

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SOURCE ModelBest

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Wulcea Elevates Consumer Trust in Heated Apparel Through Multi-National Safety Certifications and Rigorous Technical Testing

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NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As smart heated clothing gains broader adoption, consumers are paying closer attention to the safety and reliability of the technology behind these products. Wulcea, a brand specializing in graphene-powered heated apparel, combines its flexible GrapheneNano™ heating technology with documented safety compliance and durability testing for its heating components and battery systems.

“Trust in smart heated apparel goes beyond warmth—it comes down to confidence in battery safety and heating element reliability,” said John C, Founder of Wulcea. “Our goal is to give users peace of mind through certified technical standards.”

Advanced Graphene Heating Elements Supported by Global Standards

At the core of Wulcea’s thermal architecture is its GrapheneNano™ heating technology. Engineered to eliminate garment stiffness, Wulcea integrates flexible graphene elements that deliver balanced warmth across key upper-body zones while preserving natural garment drape and full freedom of movement.

Wulcea supports its heating components with applicable compliance documentation for major markets. These include CE and FCC compliance documentation addressing relevant electrical and electromagnetic compatibility requirements, as well as PSE compliance for applicable products in Japan. RoHS compliance further addresses restrictions on specified hazardous substances in applicable electrical and electronic components.

Multi-Certified Battery System for Dependable Power

To power its heating elements, Wulcea pairs its heated apparel with rechargeable battery systems designed for convenient everyday use. Featuring a compact design and housed in dedicated interior pockets, the batteries provide portable power while maintaining a streamlined garment profile and comfortable fit.

Wulcea backs its battery options with comprehensive third-party accreditations. UL certification demonstrates that the battery system has been evaluated against recognized power bank safety requirements, covering key areas such as overcharge protection, short-circuit protection, and thermal safety. The battery systems are also supported by applicable CE and FCC compliance documentation, addressing relevant regulatory requirements for electrical and electromagnetic compatibility.

For daily handling and travel, RoHS compliance validates that the battery system meets stringent global standards for material safety. The battery models have also undergone applicable UN 38.3 testing, supporting compliance with international requirements for lithium battery transportation.

Real-World Durability and Practical Usability

Component compliance forms Wulcea’s foundation, but reliability is defined by real-world performance. Built for high-flex endurance, Wulcea’s flexible graphene heating elements are tested through 10,000 active flexing cycles to maintain steady thermal output through repeated bending and everyday body movement.

Everyday convenience is equally essential. Built for hassle-free care, Wulcea’s heating elements withstand 100 machine-wash cycles under standard care guidelines, maintaining internal conductivity and structural stability under repeated laundering.

Integrated NTC temperature sensors provide thermal monitoring and are designed to stop heating if temperatures exceed 131°F (55°C). Combined with runtime of up to 10 hours on the low setting and a discreet interior control button, these features support practical everyday use in cold-weather conditions.

Aligning Technical Standards with Everyday Warmth

By combining graphene-based heating technology with documented battery safety compliance and durability testing, Wulcea continues to focus on the technical foundations of dependable heated apparel. This approach reflects the brand’s emphasis on bringing together safety considerations, practical functionality, and everyday comfort for cold-weather use.

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SOURCE Wulcea

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