Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Friday, March 5, 2021:
COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
The U.S. recorded fewer than 40,000 daily new coronavirus cases for the first time in five months, according to Johns Hopkins. Connecticut will start to lift capacity restrictions later this month, but unlike Texas and Mississippi will keep its mask mandate in place. In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine laid out the plan for getting back to normal: once there are 50 new cases per 100,000 Ohio residents for two straight weeks, all restrictions will lift. AFP
ECONOMY WRAP
All eyes are on today’s February jobs report, which blew away expectations with 379,000 jobs added -- far surpassing the 182,000 we thought we'd see. Stocks sold off ahead of the report on comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq erasing all its gains for the year. Powell said he was keeping an eye on rising bond yields and the prospect of rising inflation but was not planning to change the central bank’s easy money policies. Investors are preparing for the economy to take off like a rocket ship in the coming months thanks to stimulus spending, widespread vaccinations and low interest rates. But with oil prices now at their highest levels in nearly two years, there’s concern that could hamper the global recovery. CHEDDAR
PACIFIC IN THE CLEAR
One of the strongest earthquakes to hit the South Pacific in decades triggered tsunami warnings as far away as Hawaii, but the alerts have since been called off after no huge waves materialized. The 8.1 quake struck in the ocean, about 600 miles from New Zealand and was preceded by several large “foreshocks.” New Zealanders got quite the jolt, but the damage was minimal. The last time the region saw an 8.0 was in 1976. CBS NEWS
POPE IN IRAQ
Pope Francis has landed in Baghdad as he embarks on the most dangerous trip of his papacy to date. Francis will spend the next four days in Iraq touring sites linked to the Bible and trying to avoid both the coronavirus and the worsening security situation there. The trip is historic: it’s the first time a pope has ever visited Iraq and comes at a dicey time for Muslim-Christian relations in the multi-faith country. AP
COVID BABY BUST
Last spring, the running joke was that the pandemic lockdowns were going to create a “baby boom” that we’d be seeing materialize right around now. Pretty much the exact opposite has happened. Across the developed world, early data suggests the birth rate started to plunge nine months after the pandemic started and is still in decline. Some 300,000 fewer babies are expected to be born in the U.S. this year compared to last year. A similar trend is taking place in Japan, France, Italy and the UK. The economics at play are straightforward: when the labor market weakens, the birth rate declines -- plus the stresses of COVID have made even couples who didn’t lose jobs put their family planning on hold. WSJ
SQUARE BUYS TIDAL
Square, the point-of-sale payment service that you probably used the last time you went to the coffee shop, is buying a “significant majority” of Tidal, the music-streaming platform owned by Jay-Z and other artists. Square, which is run by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, will pay $297 million and Jay-Z will join Square’s board. Jay has been selling off assets at a brisk pace; he most recently sold a 50 percent stake in his champagne company, Ace of Spades, to the luxury giant LVMH for something in the neighborhood of $300 million. RECODE
ALL-STAR WEEKEND
It’s NBA All-Star Weekend, but the events this year are all getting compressed into a single night. The skills challenge and 3-point contest will act as the pregame for Sunday’s game in Atlanta, and the dunk contest will be the halftime show. LeBron James and Kevin Durant are the two captains for their respective conferences. This year, the officiating crew will be composed entirely of HBCU grads, and the league has committed $3 million for HBCU programs. BLEACHER REPORT
SUMMER OF LOVE
The trendy menswear label Suitsupply is going all-in on the sense that post-vaccination, this summer is going to look like something out of Caligula. The brand's new ad campaign, titled "The New Normal," features models crawling all over and licking each other. The company says it’s all about showing a “positive outlook” about “getting close” again: SEE IT
SPOTTED...
...Meghan Markle, in the latest promo for this Sunday’s big Oprah interview, saying that Buckingham Palace had an “active role” in “perpetuating falsehoods” about her and Prince Harry: WATCH
LEFTOVERS: AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
A Dutch inventor has come up with a potentially faster and easier COVID test than the dreaded nasal swab. Peter van Wees set up an airlocked booth near a testing center in Amsterdam and has been asking volunteers to go inside and scream. Just absolutely let it rip. An industrial air purifier collects the respiratory droplets and analyzes them for signs of the virus. It’s not clear yet if it actually works, but at the very least it’s a free way to let go of some of that stress: WATCH IT IN ACTION
Listen to the N2K Podcast! Looking for more context and analysis on the big stories of the day? Check out our podcast! Hosts Jill and Carlo break down the headlines, every weekday morning Listen on Apple or Spotify, or watch on YouTube, and send us your feedback!
