Tuesday, March 10, 2026
State Bank of India Shuns Russian Oil Payments Despite US Reprieve
State Bank of India is not willing to process payments for Russian oil even after the US government issued a temporary waiver for India’s imports, as the country’s largest lender is uncertain how long the concession will last, according to people familiar with the matter.
The state-owned bank believes that engaging in such business could expose it to risks as it has a sizable loan portfolio in global markets, and also hurt its reputation, said the people who asked not to be identified because the information is private. SBI declined comment to a query from Bloomberg News.
Mamdani hosts anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil and his family at Gracie Mansion for Ramadan
Mayor Zohran Mamdani hosted controversial anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil, his wife and their young son for dinner at Gracie Mansion on Sunday for the holy month of Ramadan.
“Last night, as we marked the one year anniversary of his detention, Rama and I were honored to welcome Mahmoud, Noor, and their son Deen to Gracie Mansion to break our fast together,” Mamdani wrote in a Monday Instagram post.
The mayor included a photo of the celebration, showing his wife, Rama Duwaji, holding a plate of food while standing next to a seated Khalil, who was enjoying his meal.
Khalil, a Syrian-born activist and former Columbia University grad student, was arrested by ICE early last year, and faces deportation after the Trump administration accused him of committing fraud on his green card application.
The Trump administration, which claims Khalil is a Hamas supporter, is using a rarely deployed statute that allows for noncitizens to be deported if their beliefs can pose a threat to US foreign policy interests.
“For Mahmoud Khalil, this past year has been marked by profound hardship—and by profound courage,” Mamdani wrote in the Monday social media post.
“And yet, even in the face of that cruelty, there has also been beauty. New Yorkers raising their voices in solidarity. A city refusing to look away. Mahmoud won his freedom, and a father was finally reunited with his child,” the mayor continued.
Khalil’s son, the couple’s first child, was born while he was stuck in ICE custody several states away last year. The tot will turn one on April 21.
“Mahmoud is a New Yorker, and he belongs in New York City,” Hizzoner declared
Mamdani has been a vocal defender of Khalil, who spent three months in a Louisiana federal lockup before a three-judge panel in New Jersey ruled in June that he should have been allowed to work through the immigration process.
“I see this attack on him as part of a larger attack on the freedom of speech that is especially pronounced when it comes to the use of that speech to stand up for policy to human rights,” the mayor said at an unrelated press conference in January.
Wall Street Banks Offer UAE Staff Option to Relocate Temporarily
Many top Wall Street banks are allowing staff in the United Arab Emirates to temporarily leave the country and work remotely as attacks on the Gulf nation continue.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. are among firms that have given employees the option to relocate temporarily, according to people familiar with the matter. Consulting giant McKinsey & Co. has chartered a flight to Turkey, evacuating consultants stranded from outside the region and is allowing Dubai-based staff with emergencies to leave, some of the people said.
Gulf Firms Seek Millions In Political Violence Coverage Amid Rising Tensions
Companies across the Gulf are rushing to purchase political violence insurance as regional fighting intensifies, seeking protection for major infrastructure and commercial properties against the growing risk of attacks and collateral damage, according to FT.
Insurers and brokers say they have received hundreds of inquiries in recent days from asset owners looking for coverage that protects against war-related threats. The policies typically cover damage caused by terrorism, missile debris, civil unrest, strikes, riots and other forms of political instability.
Demand has surged as the conflict in the Middle East expands, with Iran and allied groups launching missile and drone strikes against Israel and nearby countries following a joint U.S.–Israeli bombing campaign. Investors and businesses in Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and Oman are increasingly concerned about the possibility that the violence could spill over into neighboring economies.
Industry experts say the financial impact of the conflict could be unusually large. Fergus Critchley, global head of terrorism and political violence at broker WTW, warned the current crisis could produce losses “significantly larger and more catastrophic” than those seen in recent years.
FT writes that much of the new demand is coming from Western companies operating in the Gulf, which insurers say are often considered more likely targets. Raj Rana, who leads war and terrorism coverage at broker Bowring Marsh, said his firm alone has fielded more than 50 requests for political violence coverage since last weekend.
Requests have come from a range of sectors, including renewable energy and hospitality. Solar projects in Saudi Arabia and hotels in Bahrain and Qatar have all sought protection as companies worry about both direct attacks and indirect damage such as falling shrapnel from intercepted missiles.
Digital infrastructure has also faced threats. Drone strikes this week targeted data centers operated by Amazon in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, according to security experts who suspect Iranian involvement. Microsoft said its regional operations had not been disrupted.
Some businesses in the region already carried terrorism insurance before the conflict escalated. However, brokers now recommend broader political violence coverage, which also protects against unrest such as riots, strikes and civil disturbances.
The surge in demand has pushed premiums sharply higher. Insurers say prices rose early in the week to several times their previous levels. Previously, coverage for political violence on an energy project in Saudi Arabia or the UAE could cost less than 1 percent of the insured value. By Thursday, the cost had climbed to roughly five times that rate. For example, securing $10 million in coverage for a $20 million project could now cost about $500,000, compared with under $100,000 before the latest escalation.
Amazon said to hold engineer meeting to review outages
Amazon.com Inc. has called engineers to a meeting on Tuesday to examine recent outages, some previously tied to artificial intelligence (AI) coding tools, the Financial Times reported, citing a briefing note and internal email by Senior Vice President Dave Treadwell.
The note pointed to a "trend of incidents" with a "high blast radius" and "Gen-AI assisted changes." Treadwell reportedly told staff the company will require junior and mid-level engineers to obtain approval from senior engineers before implementing AI-assisted code. "Folks, as you likely know, the availability of the site and related infrastructure has not been good recently," he was cited as saying.
Amazon's cloud unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS), had rejected an earlier Financial Times report that such tools were responsible for broader outages.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Amazon-said-to-hold-engineer-meeting-to-review-outages/65835353