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Friday's Daily Briefing: Coronavirus fears spook the stock market

Editors  |  Paste BN

Happy Friday, Daily Briefing readers! Before Black History Month ends, I wanted to shine a spotlight on our 1619 project.

Over the past year we reported in Angola on the roots of slavery in the U.S. that started in 1619. Our mission was simple, yet daunting: taking Wanda Tucker, who believes she is a descendant of the first “20 and odd” enslaved Africans to land in the English colonies, back to the origin of her family’s story in Angola.

Read more 1619 stories at 1619.usatoday.com, and more black history content at blackhistory.usatoday.com. 

Now let's fast forward 400 years to the news you need to know as we cruise into this Leap Day weekend. Voters will hit the polls in South Carolina Saturday where black voters will play a key role in the Democratic presidential race.

BTW: Are you registered to vote? If so, congrats on being prepared! If not, you still have time.

It's N'dea and here's the biggest news you need to know today.

Stock market wraps up a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week

Heading into the final trading day in the month February on Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average and other major indexes have slumped to huge losses over the last week due to rising anxiety over the global coronavirus outbreak.  The Dow has finished down in six straight sessions, including a whopping 1,191 points on Thursday and 879 points on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq and the Standard and Poor's 500 have also dropped significantly after reaching record highs recently. Financial markets have been spooked by concerns the deadly virus. President Donald Trump announced the United States was stepping up its efforts to combat the virus outbreak. But economist Peter Cardillo told Paste BN: "The efforts by Trump to calm the markets are being overshadowed by the news from the CDC of a possible transmission of the virus in the U.S."   

Speaking of coronavirus: Here’s the latest update

As promised,  I’ll be rounding up the biggest updates related to coronavirus here every day in the newsletter so you can stay informed.

Trump to counterprogram Democrats with South Carolina rally

President Donald Trump continues with his strategy of stealing Democrats' thunder when he holds a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday, one day before the Democratic primary in the state. The rally will begin at 7 p.m. ET at the North Charleston Coliseum. Last week, ahead of the Democratic caucuses in Nevada, Trump held a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, during the Democratic debate and another in Las Vegas on the eve of the caucuses. Saturday's closely watched South Carolina primary comes three days before crucial Super Tuesday, which includes nominating contests in 14 states and one U.S. territory.

NFL Combine Day 2: More stars get their shine in Indianapolis

The NFL scouting combine is back for another prime time showing Friday as running backs, offensive lineman and specialists will take the field for testing and drills in Day 2.Several notable running backs will be going through drills and positional workouts, including Georgia's D'Andre Swift, Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor, Ohio State's J.K. Dobbins and Utah's Zack Moss, among others. On Thursday, quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends got things started with Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III and quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Justin Herbert earning praise for their performances, respectively. The full day's event will be broadcast on NFL Network and streamed on NFL.com. 

Also in the news:

Prince Harry resumes his UK visit

Prince Harry is set to make another public appearance in the U.K. Friday as he and wife Meghan transition toward a more private life apart from the royal family. On Wednesday, the prince appeared at a sustainable tourism conference in Scotland. On Friday, he'll appear with Jon Bon Jovi and the Invictus Games Choir at London's Abbey Road Studios, where they'll record a single to support the Invictus Games Foundation. Since mid-January, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been living in British Columbia after their stunning declaration that they didn't want to be working royals anymore. Their formal step-down from royal duties is set for March 31.

'The Invisible Man' creeps into theaters nationwide

Writer/director Leigh Whannell's timely new version of "The Invisible Man" (rated R; in theaters nationwide Friday) pays slight homage to earlier versions — most notably, the original 1897 H.G. Wells novel and 1933 Claude Rains movie — but it goes its own way.  This "Invisible Man" focuses on a victim rather than the victimizer: Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) escapes her abusive ex-boyfriend Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) but is convinced he's made himself invisible and is terrorizing her, though the rest of the world believes the bad dude killed himself.  "Blending elements of noir, sci-fi and old-fashioned Hitchcockian suspense, this 'Invisible Man' centers on a deeply disturbing narrative about abuse and gaslighting," Paste BN's Brian Truitt wrote in his (★★★ out of four) review. 

In better news: Leap Day deals are almost here

Every four years, give or take a couple, we tack an extra day onto February. You have Julius Caesar to thank for that. And businesses are taking advantage of 2020's extra day by offering specials and freebies. The day is even more rewarding if you have the rarest of birthdays and were born Feb. 29. Several restaurants will offer birthday freebies for the group known as Leaplings, Leapsters or Leapers. Check out all the deals here.

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