News Headlines - 19 July 2019

▽No More Manholes in Berkeley as City Writes Gender Out of Codes - The New York Times

The city of Berkeley, long a bastion of liberal ideas, voted this week to purge gender from its law books.
Manhole will be replaced with maintenance hole. Sisters and brothers will be replaced with siblings. And he or she will be banished in favor of they, even if referring to one person.

▽U.S. lawmakers challenge Facebook over Libra cryptocurrency plan - Reuters

U.S. lawmakers bashed Facebook on Wednesday over its planned cryptocurrency, saying the company had not shown it could be trusted to safeguard the world financial system and consumers’ data.
The social media company is fighting to get Washington on its side after it shocked regulators and lawmakers with its announcement on June 18 that it was hoping to launch a new digital coin called Libra in 2020.

▽Toyota Teams Up With BYD to Develop Electric Vehicles for China - Bloomberg

Toyota Motor Corp. and BYD Co. agreed to jointly develop electric vehicles in China, the latest in a series of deals between a major global automaker and Chinese manufacturer.
The two companies will work together on electric sedans and sports-utility vehicles with the goal of introducing them during 2020 to 2025, they said in a statement Friday. The partnership also includes the development of batteries for the vehicles, they said.

▽Japanese comedian Miyasako's contract cut over 'antisocial group' scandal - The Mainichi

Japanese entertainment company Yoshimoto Kogyo Holdings Co. has announced that it has severed its contract with Hiroyuki Miyasako, one of several comedians suspended for receiving money to appear at a party arranged by "an antisocial group."
Miyasako, 49, earlier told the talent agency of his intention to take responsibility and retire from show business over his attendance at the party, held at a hotel in Tokyo by a fraud ring in December 2014.
A photo of him accompanying a gold theft suspect currently under indictment appeared in the weekly magazine "Friday" released on July 19, and his response has been drawing attention.

▽Here's What It's Really Like to Visit Area 51 | Time

As more than 1 million people have RSVPd to the satirical buzzy Facebook event to “raid” Area 51 and “see them aliens,” those who have tried to visit the secretive military base that’s long intrigued conspiracy theorists say participants in the event aren’t likely to see anything at all.
While some Area 51 visitors do believe that the site, near Rachel, Nevada, is home to a secret government cache of alien technology (or aliens themselves), the government says it’s an Air Force testing ground. Regardless of the lore surrounding the place that drives tourism, visitors aren’t exactly welcome.