U.N. agency head quits:
JERUSALEM — The head of a U.N. agency responsible for publishing a report earlier this week calling Israel an “apartheid regime” resigned Friday after U.N. Secretary General António Guterres pressured her to withdraw the document. Rima Khalaf, a U.N. undersecretary general and executive secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) headquartered in Beirut, said her decision to resign followed a request from Guterres to remove the report from the agency’s website.
Brazil meatpackers targeted:
SAO PAULO — Two big Brazilian meatpackers bribed inspectors to keep rotten meat on the market, police charged Friday in issuing dozens of arrest warrants, while a judge accused the Agriculture Ministry of betraying the country. Part of the money allegedly paid by meatpackers JBS and BRF was channeled to two major political parties, including the one of President Michel Temer, police said.
Cold claims half of blossoms:
WASHINGTON — Persistent frigid temperatures and a blustery snowstorm early in the week have ravaged about half of the city’s cherry blossoms, leaving them unable to bloom this year. Most of the remaining buds are expected to fully bloom by the end of next week, according to officials at the National Park Service.
Social worker from sect quits:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A veteran social worker accused of coaching congregants and their children on what to say during a 2015 child abuse investigation of her secretive religious sect has resigned, a child welfare agency spokeperson said Friday. left her position at the Cleveland County Department of Social Services. The development came less than two weeks after a report that quoted former members of the Word of Faith Fellowship sect saying that Lori Cornelius and two assistant district attorneys — all members of the church — had helped undermine abuse investigations. The prosecutors resigned their posts and are under investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
Justice decries ICE tactics: California’s top judge criticized federal immigration agents for using courthouses as “bait” — a place for “stalking” immigrants who “pose no risk to public safety.” Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote a letter Thursday to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly amid reports of federal agents going to courthouses and scouting for immigrants who are not in the country legally. Such incidents have been reported in California, Texas, Oregon, Colorado and Arizona.
25-year term in cop shootings:
ST. LOUIS — A man convicted of shooting two police officers during a 2015 protest in the fallout over the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison. Jeffrey Williams, 22, was found guilty in December of first-degree assault.
Hannity denies pointing gun:
NEW YORK — Sean Hannity says he never pointed a gun at Fox News colleague Juan Williams, despite a CNN report to the contrary. CNN reported Thursday that Hannity pointed a gun directly at Williams and turned on the laser sight off-air following a heated segment last year. In a statement, Hannity said he was showing “my good friend Juan Williams my unloaded firearm in a professional and safe manner for educational purposes only.”
Earth sizzles to near record:
WASHINGTON — Even without an El Nino warming the world’s waters, Earth in February sizzled to its second hottest temperature on record, behind only last year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calculated that February 2017 averaged 55.66 degrees. That’s 1.76 degrees warmer than the 20th century average. It was also the second hottest winter in the northern hemisphere on record. Records go back to 1880.
No Lee on King’s day:
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas lawmakers gave final approval Friday to legislation removing Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The state House approved the proposal with a 66-11 vote and sent it to Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who had urged lawmakers to end the dual holiday. Once the bill is signed into law, Mississippi and Alabama will be the only states that honor Lee and King on the same day.
Netflix changing ratings:
Netflix is taking the gray area out of its ratings system. In the not-so-distant future, the streaming giant will replace its five-star ratings system with something a little easier: thumbs up or down. You either liked it or you didn't; no more internal debates over just how much or how little you enjoyed something.
The change will go into effect globally, beginning in April.
, Netflix Vice President of Product Todd Yellin said at a Thursday press briefing, according to The Verge. Netflix will also reportedly start showing users an algorithm-based percentage match for each show and movie, giving people an idea of how likely they are to enjoy it.
"Five stars feels very yesterday now," Yellin said, according to the report.
Netflix has been considering this move for a while. Business Insider, citing the company's Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt, in January 2016 reported that Netflix was looking to replace the five-star system with something better.
"The problem, Hunt tells Business Insider, is that people subconsciously try to be critics," the site reported at the time. "When they rate a movie or show from one to five stars, they fall into trying to objectively assess the 'quality,' instead of basing the stars on how much 'enjoyment' they got out of it."
So, if you got a lot of enjoyment out of watching a movie, but only rated it two stars because it's not what the rest of the world would deem a quality picture, Netflix will think you hated it. In the future, the streaming site might not recommend a similar title you actually might have watched and enjoyed.
Netflix started testing the thumbs up/down system last year with hundreds of thousands of new users around the world, according to The Verge. Yellin told reporters that the new system encouraged 200 percent more ratings compared to the five-star model.
This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.
