Edit: that link seems to justify the title but it doesn’t fit the main article.
Seriously misleading title though. A default is a well-defined event. “Defaults” implies that it has happened. “Teetering” is something else. Needs fixing.
> Exactly what time the grace period expires on Wednesday is unclear, but the two sources with knowledge of the matter said some bondholders had not been paid by the end of the Asian business day.
It's ambiguous, but the title is a fair conclusion.
This PDF is predicting "the final meltdown of the global financial system" in the first paragraph. I don't want to be a negative nancy, but it reads a lot like "all vaccinated people will fall over dead by end of the year" to me.
Worth noting it seems to have turned into a default in the hours since Reuters posted that. The editorialized title and actual title could come close to alignment if Reuters updates it.
If you don't make every payment in whole when it is due, and you haven't managed to renegotiate with your creditors, then you've defaulted. It doesn't mean that the debts are worthless, but it does mean that their value is up in the air.