international

Toyota To End Camry Sales In Japan, Ending 43-Year History

Posted on by Phil Lam X

Toyota Motor plans to discontinue sales of the Camry sedan in the Japanese market, focusing on countries where the automaker’s 43-year-old flagship model remains popular.

Toyota has notified Japanese dealerships that it will cease production of the Camry for domestic customers at the end of the year. Production will continue for exports.

Domestic sales will end in phases, and Toyota already has halted taking most new orders. New Camry models under development will be sold exclusively to foreign markets.

The Camry, whose name comes from the Japanese word for “crown,” is manufactured mainly in the U.S., China and the Tsutsumi Plant in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture. Like the Corolla, the sedan is Toyota’s global strategic car.

Toyota has sold about 1.3 million Camrys in Japan since the vehicle debuted in 1980. The sedan retails domestically between 3.49 million yen and 4.68 million yen ($26,400 to $35,450).

The model sells in over 100 countries, with more than 21 million units purchased cumulatively through the end of 2022, data from Toyota and automotive information provider MarkLines shows. Toyota fully redesigned the Camry and released the current 10th-generation model in 2017.

The Camry is especially popular in the U.S., where more than 13 million units have sold. American consumers favor the Camry for its reliability, ease of operation and roomy interior.

The Camry ranked as the top-selling passenger vehicle in the U.S. for 15 straight years through 2016. It is known as a go-to model for the relatively high resale value it commands in the used car market.

In China and Southeast Asia, the Camry is seen as an aspirational car for its high-end image.

The Toyota RAV4 snatched the U.S. sales crown from the Camry in 2017, as sport utility vehicles have taken off in recent years.

But the Camry still enjoys steady demand, as global sales of the sedan last year totaled around 600,000 units.

Japan is a different story, however. Fewer than 6,000 Camrys sold in the market last year, due partly to the semiconductor shortage. SUVs and minivans have become more popular in Japan to hurt demand for sedans. Last year, Nissan Motor ended production of the Fuga and Honda Motor terminated the Legend.

The Camry shares similar designs and customer demographics to the all-new Toyota Crown, which launched last year. Toyota apparently has determined that the Camry has completed its role in Japan and will concentrate on tailoring the sedan for the international market.

Source: Nikkei Asia

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The Body Shop Retires From ‘Anti-Aging’ To Celebrate Beauty In All Stages

Posted on by Phil Lam X

The Body Shop’s Drops of Youth range is one of its best-selling skincare selections, with its serum being its hottest item across the board (it’s said a bottle is sold every 23 seconds). While those are marks of a good product, the name is telling of the way beauty is being perceived by consumers, and the industry’s role in propagating such ideals.

As such, the British beauty brand is reversing the harsh effects of its message about aging and rebranding Drops of Youth to Edelweiss. Changes are being made beyond skin-deep as the range will get a new formulation too, along with more products to the line to serve a greater depth of skin concerns.

The Body Shop was moved to rethink its most-loved products following a Global Self Love Index it commissioned in 2021, as part of a self-love campaign. That concluded with the dire, overwhelming response by people around the world who believed the beauty industry largely influenced poor self-esteem with its unrealistic claims and imagery. The majority seemed to have this perception, The Drum reports.

The pessimistic results forced The Body Shop to look into how it might have also been responsible for pushing some of those unachievable expectations onto customers, be it through its language or products. As a company rooted in activism, it recalibrated to see how it could empower shoppers instead.

The new and improved Edelweiss range has double the Edelweiss extract of the original. This natural component is said to have 43% more antioxidant qualities than Retinol, making the collection especially effective at strengthening the skin’s barrier while boosting the ability to heal itself. The flower, after all, has been able to withstand severe winds, snow, and rain in the Alpines.

The Edelweiss flower has been used in folk medicine throughout the years. In today’s metropolises, it holds out against harsh blue light and pollution. 

Instead of prolonging youth, the range’s true strength, evidenced by its marketing too, is resilience—both inward and outward.

Expanding from the original lineup of the Concentrate, Liquid Peel, Serum Concentrate Sheet Mask, and Eye Serum Concentrate, there are also two new products—Edelweiss Cleansing Concentrate and Edelweiss Intense Smoothing Cream—to meet various skincare needs.

The Body Shop is also doubling down on its B-corp certification and love of nature by reformulating the range such that it comes from 90% natural origins and is vegan-certified.

Source: DesignTAXI

NASA To Retire International Space Station And Crash It Into Pacific Ocean In 2031

Posted on by Phil Lam X

In less than 10 years, the International Space Station—the site of many an interstellar marvel—will become a relic in Earthling’s minds, vanishing like it never existed. NASA plans to decommission the orbital outpost at the end of 2030 and actualize the ISS’s retirement by crashing it into the Pacific Ocean in January 2031.

The space station, which made its maiden launch in 1998 and was first occupied by humans in 2000, is destined to make its descent home alone—with no humans on board—before sharply plunging into a very remote area often dubbed the “spacecraft cemetery,” reports Gizmodo.

Point Nemo, as the crash zone is called, is 1,670 miles away from the closest inhabited area.

Although a 2030 date is expected, Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, warns the news outlet that this deadline could arrive earlier, since NASA hasn’t disclosed if partnering space forces, like the one in Russia, would agree to back the ISS through 2030.

Be that as it may, with the outpost’s retirement, NASA will hand over the keys of space exploration efforts to a private sector, whose activities will continue to be supported by the space agency.

“The private sector is technically and financially capable of developing and operating commercial low-Earth orbit destinations, with NASA’s assistance,” explains Phil McAlister, director of commercial space at NASA Headquarters. Combined with the resources of private entities, NASA will continue “sharing our lessons learned and operations experience… to help them develop safe, reliable, and cost-effective destinations in space.”

The ISS was, in actual fact, scheduled to retire in 2024, but the Biden-Harris administration quietly prolonged its operations to last through 2030. It is believed that this will be the last extension.

As it approaches its last legs, the ISS is reported by NASA to be “busier than ever” and entering its “most productive decade,” as well as paving way for more diversity in space exploration roles.

“Today’s youth are tomorrow’s scientists, engineers, and researchers,” notes the space agency. “It is thus crucial to our nation and NASA’s efforts to maintain the interest and curiosity of today’s students so they continue to be inspired by and participate in the wide scope of space exploration roles.”

Source: DesignTAXI

International Student At ESSEC Business School In Singapore Sparks Outrage With Racist Instagram Posts

Posted on by Phil Lam X

A foreign student studying abroad in Singapore faced massive backlash this past weekend after a photograph that she posted on Instagram for Chinese New Year earlier in 2020 went viral for all the wrong reasons.

The student, Louise, has since issued an apology on her now-private Instagram account, and Essec Business School, where she studies, has said that they are “looking into the situation”.

On Friday (Dec. 4), Instagram user @beforeik.o posted a screenshot of an Instagram story she had made of Louise’s post, which showed the French student pulling back her eyes with her fingers into a slit shape while wearing a cheongsam.

@beforeik.o’s Instagram post also included a screenshot of another photo posted by Louise for Chinese New Year, which included the words “ching chong” in the caption.

A person also commented, “So chong!! So coronavirus!!”

In her Instagram post, @beforeik.o also shared several screenshots of direct messages (DMs) in which Louise claimed that she was “clearly not racist” and that the photo was “just for fun”.

Louise pointed to the fact that Chinese people may get surgery on their eyes to have more “European” features, and asked whether that would be considered racism.

@beforeik.o replied that Louise should educate herself, remove the post, and apologise “before this whole thing blows up”.

Louise, however, doubled down and claimed to have a master’s degree, as well as a diploma from Harvard University about ethnicity in the workplace.

On Saturday (Dec. 5), the official Instagram page of Essec Business School commented on @beforeik.o’s Instagram post, writing that they are “looking into the situation and will take appropriate action”.

Source: Mothership

CNN Reporter Amara Walker Endures Three Anti-Asian Racist Encounters Within An Hour At Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

Posted on by Phil Lam X

Throughout the U.S. presidential campaign, Donald Trump has been deflecting criticism of his handling of COVID-19 by blaming China.

But the relentless linking of the pandemic to China has had negative consequences for Asian Americans, including CNN correspondent Amara Walker.

She recently described experiencing three anti-Asian racist incidents within an hour while traveling through Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

Following these events, Walker described what happened in a lengthy Twitter thread.

Amara Walker was trying to catch a flight back home when “a man of color” suddenly approached her and said, “Ni Hao. Ching Chong,” according to her Twitter and Instagram posts last Thursday.

The journalist confronted the man about his actions earlier, but he denied the incident and walked away.

Minutes after her first encounter, while Walker was explaining to her producer what happened, a young man without a mask approached them and asked her if she spoke English.

The unnamed man mumbled incoherently and allegedly started throwing obscenities at Walker. At this point, her producer and the other people nearby demanded the man to leave her alone.

Walker’s producer called airport security, but the officer who arrived angrily denied that what the young man did was racist.

“That was not racist! Ok? Asking if she speaks English is not racist, ok? Do you understand me?” the officer allegedly said.

“Asian Americans across the country deal with this on a regular basis and we’re not talking about it,” she said. “Many Asian Americans don’t raise our voices, including myself. I’ve probably wouldn’t have written about this if this wasn’t so egregious.”

Source: NextShark, Straight

Apple launches Apple Music Radio with 2 new stations (Apple Music Hits & Apple Music Country); rebrands Beats 1 as Apple Music 1

Posted on by Phil Lam X

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Apple Music Hits will play popular songs from the 80s, 90s and 2000s. Apple Music Country will be playing popular country music songs.

The company has said Apple Music Hits will have daily on-air hosts such as Jayde Donovan, Estelle, Lowkey, Jenn Marino, Sabi, Nicole Sky and Natalie Sky, George Stroumboulopoulos, as well as Ari Melber and others. There are other shows that are set to be hosted by artists like the Backstreet Boys, Ciara, Mark Hoppus, Huey Lewis, Alanis Morissette, Snoop Dogg, Meghan Trainor and Shania Twain.

Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music, Beats, and international content, said this launch has taken a lot of behind-the-scenes work.

“For the past five years, if ever there was a meaningful moment in music culture, Beats 1 was there bringing human curation to the forefront and drawing in listeners with exclusive shows from some of the most innovative, respected, and beloved people in music,” he said. “Now, Apple Music radio provides an unparalleled global platform for artists across all genres to talk about, create, and share music with their fans, and this is just the beginning. We will continue to invest in live radio and create opportunities for listeners around the world to connect with the music they love.”

Apple Music 1 is expected to play the same type of music and have the same content overall as Beats 1.

Source: Appleosophy

Americans Who Trust President Donald Trump are More Likely to Discriminate Asian Americans Over COVID-19, Study Shows

Posted on by Phil Lam X

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Amid the COVID-19 crisis, U.S. adults who have greater trust in President Donald Trump are more likely to engage in discriminatory behavior against Asian Americans, a new study revealed.

Trump, who has referred to SARS-CoV-2 as the “Chinese virus” and “Kung Flu,” routinely defends his use of the terms, saying that they were meant to indict China rather than Asian Americans.

However, his followers appear to miss the difference, as the study published in the International Journal of Public Health suggests that they would express more bias against the group than those who trust in science.

“We found over 40% of our sample reported they would engage in at least one discriminatory behavior toward people of Asian descent. Respondents who were fearful of COVID-19 (b = .09, p < 0.001) and had less accurate knowledge about the virus (b = − .07, p < 0.001) reported more negative attitudes toward Asians as did respondents with less trust in science (b = − .06, p < 0.001) and more trust in President Trump (b = .04, p < 0.001).”

Based on surveys of 1,141 U.S. residents in March 2020, the study found that more than 40% were willing to engage in at least one biased and discriminatory behavior toward people of Asian descent, such as refusing to sit next to one.

Researchers found that men, Republicans and non-white individuals reported greater bias toward Asians compared to the rest of the respondents.

Additionally, those who had worse fears of contracting COVID-19, those who knew less about the disease and those who had greater trust in Trump were also linked to having higher levels of bias towards Asian Americans.

Source: NextShark