MADRID: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to meet Thursday in Madrid with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, in his first visit to the country since it formally recognized a Palestinian state in May.
Abbas is stopping in Madrid at Spain’s invitation before heading to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, according to an official in his office.
Sanchez will meet with Abbas on Thursday, the Spanish premier’s office said Wednesday, but the details of the program for the rest of the Palestinian president’s visit is not yet known.
Abbas is also due to be received by Spain’s King Felipe VI according to the official in his office, but the royal palace, contacted by AFP, has not confirmed this meeting.
His visit comes after Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, on May 28 formally recognized a Palestinian state comprising the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Israel condemned their decision, saying it bolsters Hamas, the militant Islamist group that led the October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip.
Spain’s leftist government then announced that a first bilateral summit between Spain and Palestine would be held before the end of the year, and the first Palestinian ambassador to Spain presented his credentials on Monday to Spanish King Felipe VI.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said the recognition of a Palestinian state is “not against anyone, least of all Israel,” but the move led to a further deterioration in ties between the two countries.
He has been one of the most outspoken critics in Europe of Israel’s Gaza offensive since the start of the conflict.
The October 7 attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has so far killed at least 41,226 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Sanchez vowed this month to continue to “pressure” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the global stage over the war in Gaza, especially at the International Criminal Court, which in May requested an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and his defense minister.
Spain, along with other nations, has joined South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice in which Pretoria has accused Israel of “genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
“We are going to strengthen our ties with the Palestinian state,” Sanchez said, adding that Madrid hoped “to sign several collaboration agreements” with the Palestinian state at the bilateral summit later this year.
Last week, Madrid hosted a gathering of representatives from European and Arab nations to discuss how to advance a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The international community must take a decisive step toward a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,” Sanchez said at the time.
Palestinian president in Madrid to thank Spain for support
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Palestinian president in Madrid to thank Spain for support
- Abbas’ visit comes after Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, on May 28 formally recognized a Palestinian state
- First Palestinian ambassador to Spain presented his credentials on Monday to Spanish King Felipe VI
First AI-aided transaction in Dubai promises to change way consumers shop
- Artificial intelligence agent purchases movie tickets for a customer after asking a few questions
DUBAI: CEO of Mastercard Michael Miebach announced on Tuesday that the company, in conjunction with UAE retailer Majid Al-Futtaim, had successfully completed the first transaction by an AI agent in Dubai.
An AI agent purchased movie tickets for a customer after asking a few questions during the transaction.
Speaking at the Dubai Future Forum alongside UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar Al-Olama, Miebach said that in the future “AI agents” would guide most transactions.
Al-Olama hailed the transaction, saying it was part of a future that would streamline the way people consumed online and in person.
“I saw that transaction, I found it extremely seamless,” Olama told the crowd at the Museum of the Future. “It’s very, very convenient, and it’s like having the best personal assistant that will do everything for you, select the movie, get your best seats, find the best timing, the closest location to you, and make a payment without many instructions. And that’s why it stood out.”
While retail chatbots that help customers have been around for some time, Mastercard’s new agentic solution differs in that it is able to make the transaction directly, working like a real-life assistant with access to your finances.
Asked by Al-Olama whether this risked agentic AI going on shopping sprees without consent, likening it to giving away card details to your child, Miebach said that the risk could be mitigated through the right mix of controls and regulation.
“If you think about it from a perspective of powering a digital economy in a country like the UAE, a lot of things need to have (happened) in the background to make it safe, to make it secure, to make it intuitive,” Miebach told the forum.
“When AI starts to make decisions on your behalf for shopping, that can be very scary. So, we (have) got to put in the controls, and all of that is what Mastercard’s Agent Pay has done.”
Miebach said that he envisioned a future where agents would start to understand your preferences for groceries, movies and retail items and make purchases seamlessly when asked, which would substantially streamline the experience of customers.
But he believed that before the technology could really take off, companies and governments would have to gain the trust of individuals and communities.
“What happens if something goes wrong in the world of an AI-generated transaction? And so, what do you do as a consumer? You say, I never intended to do this transaction, and you lose trust,” Miebach said.
“So we have to build in the safeguards. We have to build in the controls. And that is what our business does for a living. That’s what regulators look at. I think it’s really important.”
