Bank stock rout, air strikes worsen refugee crisis and Obama requests $1.8bn to fight Zika

Bank shares in Australia and Japan have tumbled, following their European and US peers in arout of global bank stocks as mounting concerns over the global economy, turbulent markets and sliding energy prices morph into worries over the health of parts of the financial system. Investors sought top-tier sovereign debt and shunned eurozone bonds as oil prices also declined, reflecting an overall flight to safety that included a spike in gold prices to an 8-month high. (FT)

In the news:

President Bloomberg?

Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire media owner and former New York mayor, has stated for the first time that he is considering a run for US president, a move that would dramatically reshape the 2016 race for the White House. (FT)

Air strikes worsen refugee crisis

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed outrage over Russian air strikes, conducted in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which have triggered a fresh flow of civilians towards the Turkish border. (FT)

Google’s $200m man

The tech company has awarded chief executive Sundar Pichai a restricted stock package worth $199m, a figure that topped the pay of any other US business leader last year. (FT)

Obama requests $1.8bn to fight Zika

The White House plans to ask Congress for emergency funding to battle the fast-spreading virus in the US and abroad. (FT)

Xi and the military revamp

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently reorganised military forces, to further tighten his grip on power. (NAR)

It’s a big day for

New Hampshire The northeastern US state holds the 2016 election’s second nominating contest with Democrats struggling to highlight the strong economy amid an onslaught ofpessimism from Republicans. (FT)

Food for thought:

Female leaders boost profits

Forget women on boards and focus on women in leadership: that is the message from a study that found a company with 30 per cent female leadershipcould expect to add up to six percentage points to its net margin when compared with an otherwise similar business with no female leaders. (FT)

Buoyant wellbeing:

Flotation tanks are dark, soundproof pods in which people float in warm water for hours at a time - what on earth for? Previously used by hippy communities, they may have therapeutic benefits. (BBC)

US immigration: workers wanted

Republican presidential candidates may be trying to outdo each other about how they would kick 11m undocumented immigrants out of the country, but some sectors do not suffer from too many Mexican workers, but too few. (FT)

Should Twitter ignore its users?

An article in BuzzFeed suggesting that the social network was about to change the way tweets were ordered sparked an angry backlash and comment from CEO Jack Dorsey that the site would listen to what users wanted. But is this the right strategy? (BBC)

How do you solve a problem like North Korea?

The latest missile test by North Korea has thrown a cat among the pigeons as to how other regional powers, including the US, should react given competing interests. Time to come up with a new plan is running out. (NAR)

Video of the day:

Of banks and bears

John Authers analyses how banks in the US and western Europe have fallen into a bear market. (FT)