Agentic AI has a toehold in B2C transactions, but has a way to go to capture B2B transactions, Waller said at the Sibos conference.
Artificial intelligence and autonomous AI agents will fuel the next evolutionary leap in global and cross-border payments, Federal Reserve Board Gov. Christopher Waller said during a speech at Sibos 2026 in Miami.
The payment industry’s early adoption of machine learning and large language models has helped combat payment fraud and quicken reconciliation and similar tasks, said Waller.
“Now it is helping build the foundation infrastructure for AI agents to operate more broadly in the economy,” he added. “These agents can plan and execute multistep processes using LLMs, enabling those agents to transact autonomously.”
Waller separated agentic commerce into two models: agentic-assisted and agentic-delegated. In the agentic-assisted model, the agent is primarily for product search and discovery, while the buyer remains in control. In the agentic-delegated model, “a buyer grants authority to an AI agent to shop and make payments on their behalf. The buyer may specify some constraints and set up guardrails, but the agent operates autonomously.”
Because agentic-delegated commerce could increase the risk of unintended purchases, Waller suggested deploying more extensive trust mechanisms and guardrails.
Although agentic commerce has gained traction in consumer-to-business transactions with personal AI assistants, Waller said that business-to-business purchases would be fertile ground for agentic-delegated commerce.
“The purchases are often recurring and abide by a set of rules, such as approved suppliers and budget limits, which create natural guidelines for agents,” he said. “Agents could also potentially negotiate terms with suppliers and develop payment strategies to optimize working capital.”
However, the industry would need to develop and deploy robust controls and monitoring capabilities since B2B transactions typically carry a higher value than their consumer counterparts.
Also, unlike consumer-to-business transactions, AI agents executing B2B transactions will need to support a broad range of payment rails, including the Automated Clearing House, wire transfers, instant payments, and credit cards.
The biggest barrier to agentic commerce adoption is building trust mechanisms between buyers and sellers, which changes the payment authentication paradigm, said Waller. “The question shifts from proving that a buyer is an authorized payer to proving that an agent has the authority to pay on the buyer’s behalf. Capturing this will require new authentication approaches.”
He also noted two key questions about the future of agentic commerce: whether it will migrate toward platform-specific or interoperable standards. The latter would work across ecommerce systems, agent interfaces, and payment methods. “In this sense, they could help to level the playing field for smaller merchants and payment providers seeking to operate in this space.”
The payment industry still needs to take significant steps before it can bring agentic commerce to fruition, including developing standards for how agents can “carry identity, consent, and payment credentials across the full ecommerce stack,” as well as striking the proper balance between convenience and friction regarding agent authorization, Waller said.
These steps will require the payments industry to balance innovation with the safety, integrity, and stability that underpin trust in payments, he concluded.
By Deborah DayAssistant Editor, Fast Break Desk
Naked Eyes lead singer Peter Byrne died in Los Angeles on Sept. 14, according to the group’s website.
Byrne, who co-founded the synth-pop band with Rob Fisher in 1982, died “peacefully … after a brief illness,” the statement reads.
Naked Eyes’ Pete Byrne performs onstage in Los Angeles in 2019.
(Scott Dudelson / Getty Images)
Naked Eyes, a high note for the MTV generation, scored ’80s hits with their synth-pop version of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Always Something There to Remind Me” and their original song “Promises, Promises,” with the former hitting No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983 and the latter reaching No. 11 that same year. “When the Lights Go Out” and “(What) in the Name of Love” also reached the Hot 100’s Top 40, hitting No. 37 in 1983 and No. 39 in 1984, respectively.
Byrne was born in Islington, North London, and began his music career in the mid-’70s. From 1979 to 1982, he was a member of the band Neon, which included Fisher and future Tears for Fears founders Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal. Byrne and Fisher released their debut album as Naked Eyes in 1983, according to the group’s website.
After Fisher died in 1999, Byrne released his 2001 solo album “The Real Illusion” and Naked Eyes albums “Fumbling With the Covers” in 2007 and “Disguise the Limit” in 2021. A remastered version of their self-titled debut album was released in 2025.
Byrne is survived by his siblings Eileen, Sandy, Carol and Steve; his three children, Merlin, Dylan and Chloe; and his ex-wife, Elena.
The Gulf war is bringing Syria back onto the MENA business map.
Syria’s coast is gaining new strategic importance as investors look to build trade routes linking Gulf countries and Iraq to North Africa and the rest of the Mediterranean, and to avoid the Strait of Hormuz.
Traffic at Syrian ports has increased at least 25% since March 2026. According to recent data from Syria’s General Authority for Borders and Customs, 945 ships carrying 8 million tons of cargo have passed through the country’s ports in the first half of 2026.
In Tartus, Dubai-based logistics giant DP World has invested $800 million in a 30-year concession to develop and operate port facilities. Three harbor cranes delivered this summer are expected to boost cargo-handling capacity by 40% and allow larger vessels to dock.
“By investing in world-class infrastructure, technology and our people, we are creating a modern gateway that will strengthen supply chains, attract new trade opportunities and contribute to the country’s long-term economic recovery,” said Fahad al-Banna, CEO of DP World Tartus, in a press conference.
Further north, French shipping and logistics major CMA-CGM – whose founding Saadé family has roots on the Syrian coast – secured a similar $265 million contract to modernize and run maritime infrastructure in Latakia. In May, the group also signed to operate dry ports near Damascus and Aleppo, strengthening road and rail connections between Syria’s two largest cities and maritime hubs.
New infrastructure is emerging to knit Syria’s coast into the wider region including airport renovations, pipelines, and data cables. In August, U.S. firm UNIFI signed a deal for 149-mile submarine cable connecting Cyprus and Tartous, helping data flow from the Gulf to Europe.
The projects are part of wider billion-dollar investment pledges across Syria, following the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the end of the 14-year civil war.
“The coast is shifting from a military geography to a commercial one” comments Benjamin Feve, senior consultant at Karam Shaar Advisory Limited. “Tartus was once the Russian naval foothold; today, it is a concession operated by global port operators”. In August, Moscow agreed to return all civilian infrastructure to the Syrian state and said its military bases will be turned into joint training centers.
Since he seized power in December 2024, President Ahmad al-Charaa has secured broad international support, notably from U.S. President Donald Trump who called him a “real leader.” Late August, Washington removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, the latest in a series of measures unwinding decades of sanctions on Damascus.
On the ground, Gulf states are the biggest backers of Syrian reconstruction with billions of announced investments, but few projects have yet materialized, and many in Syria fear the momentum could slip away.
“High oil prices give Riyadh and Abu Dhabi greater budget flexibility, which is certainly an opportunity for Syria, but not necessarily a fundamental shift,” said Feve. “Gulf capitals are buying an option on Syria’s geography, but trade volumes are only about one-fifth of pre-2011 levels. So, while new activity is real, it remains weak and once the war is over, maybe the Strait of Hormuz will regain its role as a key transit route, and GCC countries will look away from Syria again”
Despite appearances of restored peace, the Syrian coast remains a tricky place to do business. In 2025, deadly clashes between the new government and allies of Assad killed nearly 1,500 people.
SHE has faced a tough few years, but standing centre stage in a pop-up stadium built and named in her honour, Shakira has well and truly nailed her big comeback.
Nearly quarter of a century after her debut UK hit Whenever Wherever, she is about to embark on a sold-out residency in Madrid.
Over 21 nights, she will perform for more than 600,000 fans after pulling off one of the most impressive career revivals ever.
The concerts are the finale to her 127-date Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour — the highest-grossing Latin tour of all time, and the fifth most lucrative female tour in history.
And Shakira herself is enjoying it just as much as her rapidly- expanding fan base.
In an exclusive chat, the Colombian superstar — who, despite her age-defying looks, turns 50 in February — said: “I feel more secure and more confident than ever; so much more than when I was in my 20s, which is something I never would have believed or expected.”
She added of her pop renaissance: “I’ve never been more in love with my career, so I’m grateful to still be able to do what I do and just know that people are connecting to that.”
This year has been a game-changer for Shakira. Her World Cup anthem with Burna Boy, Dai Dai, topped charts globally and became one of the biggest hits of 2026 so far.
The video has had more than 1billion views since May, contributing to her becoming the most-watched female artist on YouTube.
The same month, she performed to over 2million people in a single night on Copacabana Beach in Rio De Janeiro — one of the highest- attended concerts ever.
But in Dai Dai, she sings: “You’ve been this brave all along, what broke you once made you strong.”
It is a reflection of her last few years, when life was challenging.
Shakira’s 2017 album, El Dorado, was not received as well as expected, and five years later came her highly-publicised split from Spanish footballer Gerard Pique.
The couple, who never wed but have sons Milan, 13, and Sasha, 11, announced their separation after 11 years together in a public statement.
He was alleged to have moved on with another woman while they were together, although he has not spoken about the circumstances.
Things were made worse when Shakira was dragged into court by Spanish authorities over a tax dispute, in which she claimed she had not spent enough time in the country to pay the taxes they said she owed.
In 2023, she settled on one case of tax evasion, forking out €14.5million in unpaid taxes plus interest, a €7.3million fine and a €432,000 payment to waive a suspended three-year prison sentence.
At the time, things were looking bleak. But she started to turn it around, funnelling her anger into her music, which attracted a whole new generation of fans.
Then in May, a Spanish court ordered the country’s tax authority to refund €55million of taxes, ruling that the cash was improperly collected during the dispute.
Her epic, two-and-a-half hour concert tells the story of a wronged woman who comes out the other side.
At one point in the show, during song TQG,she is seen trying to reprogramme men’s behaviour.
Later, she is depicted as a lone wolf protecting her cubs, and then duets with her sons, who appear on screens for the track Acrostico.
The message is clear as she tells the crowd: “Love is beautiful. But self-love is more beautiful.”
The gig features a set of some 25 songs, more than a dozen extravagant costumes, fireworks, flamethrowers, twerking and Shakira on the drums and guitar.
It is a triumphant moment of celebration and, during her carnival-inspired, multi-coloured performance of Waka Waka (This Time For Africa), she beams from ear to ear.
Shakira hopes her concerts leave fans, especially women, optimistic about the world, as that’s certainly how she feels after the ordeal she has gone through in recent years.
She told me: “I hope women walk away feeling empowered and excited about what’s ahead of them, knowing that they are the ones who decide how to tell their story and what they want to take away from everything life throws at them.
“It’s been such a revelation to realise that the worst I ever imagined could happen . . . and that I can still find this level of happiness again.”
In Madrid, as well as the temporary stadium built in her honour, there is an entire 30-hectare village of attractions based on the Hips Don’t Lie singer.
And she’s bound to rake it in as there are high-profile sponsorships, including a museum about Shakira in partnership with Amazon.
A whole Disney area inspired by the star’s voice role in Zootropolis 2 is another key attraction, along with a library, in partnership with Penguin, promoting authors from South America.
During the residency, hotel bookings in Madrid are up 15 per cent from 2025, while Ryanair added 225,000 seats on flights to the hotspot ahead of the shows, which are generating hundreds of millions for the city’s economy.
Shakira, who has sold 100million records during her career, has now relocated from Spain to Miami with her sons to start afresh — and she is flying high.
She proved as much on the global stage when an estimated 1.5billion footie fans watched her perform at the inaugural World Cup halftime show in July.
And although she sang alongside acts including Madonna, BTS and Justin Bieber, it was Shakira who stole the spotlight.
Her success is a testament to her grit and temerity, with music insiders revealing she is hands-on with every detail of her career.
A source said: “Shakira has worked harder than anybody for this comeback — it’s taken blood, sweat and tears.
“There have been sleepless nights, relentless workouts and a back-breaking schedule, but she loves it and wants to prove to other women what is possible. She pulled an all-nighter with her band last Wednesday just to rehearse for the show in Madrid, not finishing until 8.30am.
“This is very serious to her. She wants to stay at the top for years to come.”
Shakira also teamed up with another in-demand pop star, Zara Larsson, earlier this summer for a remix of her song Eurosummer.
And last week, she released a collaboration called Agua with fellow Colombian star Maluma.
Now, all eyes are on what’s next for Shak, who has barely stopped in her quest to win back her superstardom.
As for a 13th studio album and future collaborations, she teased: “I’ve definitely chatted with a few people recently who would be really fun and unexpected, but I won’t ruin the surprises . . . ”
Although her tour is coming to an end, Shakira shows no signs of slowing down.
She has hinted that she wants to return to the UK, where she has not performed since 2018.
On the prospect of headlining Glastonbury, where she sang on the Pyramid Stage in 2010, she has said: “It’s such an iconic place to perform.
I’d love to go back to England and perform at Glastonbury.
“That would be like the cherry on top for this amazing year I’ve been having.”
As for a break? I wouldn’t count on it. She said: “I take days here and there to rest, but as long as I still have energy and inspiration, I love to stay working.”
SweetBunFactory
China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is preparing to enter the flash-memory chip market, expanding beyond its core DRAM business as a global memory shortage tightens supply and demand for AI-related infrastructure grows.
CXMT plans to establish a research and development
Venezuela has opened its energy and mining sectors to US interests. (PDVSA)
Lisbon, Portugal, September 17, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Continental Resources, a firm owned by billionaire and Trump donor Harold Hamm, struck a deal on Wednesday to exploit one of Venezuela’s largest oilfields.
Under the agreement with Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, Continental will receive a long-term concession with “100 percent working interest” for the 500 square-kilometer Ayacucho 2 block in Venezuela’s Orinoco Oil Belt. The block contains an estimated 30 billion barrels of extra-heavy crude.
“Continental was built to recognize great resource opportunities and have the conviction to pursue them,” Hamm told Fox News, vowing that the deal would take his company to an “entirely new level.”
For her part, Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez claimed that the agreement would “strengthen [Venezuelan] oil production” and “create opportunities for economic growth.”
Hamm and PDVSA Vice President Jovanny Martinez signed the contract in Houston on the sidelines of the G20 energy summit. Martínez and Oil Minister Paula Henao attended the conference to pitch investment opportunities in Venezuela’s oil and gas sector.
PDVSA had previously assigned the Ayacucho 2 block to Chinese private firm Anhui Guangda in 2025. However, no information on investments or output were publicly disclosed, while Venezuelan authorities have not justified rescinding the contract with Anhui.
US government-controlled corporation NABEP, which recently received long-term concessions to 17 major Venezuelan oilfields containing 65 billion barrels in reserves, will also take over projects formerly run by Chinese enterprises, including state-owned CNPC. Beijing has called for its investments and interests in Venezuela to be respected.
Hamm was one of the corporate executives present at the White House on January 9, when Trump announced that Washington would control Venezuela’s oil industry and called on Western majors to invest. Since the January 3 US attacks and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro, the White House has managed the South American country’s crude export revenues.
The White House has also backed Venezuelan authorities’ pro-business overhaul of the energy sector while issuing sanctions exemptions to select US-aligned corporations. Chevron, Shell, and Eni are among the companies that have signed new contracts or renegotiated existing ones in recent months.
According to Bloomberg, ExxonMobil is in advanced talks to return to the Caribbean country after a litigious past. The energy giant is negotiating rights to four major oilfields in the Orinoco Oil Belt, two of which it previously owned before they were nationalized by former President Hugo Chávez.
In the 2000s, the Texas-based corporation refused to comply with reforms implemented to assert state sovereignty over the oil industry. ExxonMobil refused compensation offers and pursued international arbitration after its assets were nationalized. The company received an arbitration award significantly below its demands.
ExxonMobil was additionally denounced repeatedly by Caracas after it spearheaded offshore drilling projects in the territorial waters of the disputed Essequibo Strip.
On Wednesday, Venezuelan authorities likewise inked a 20-year agreement with Florida-based Denarius Holding Group, controlled by Turkish energy group Çan2 Termik. Denarius is taking over the Petrokariña project in Anzoátegui state, which contains 10 oilfields producing a variety of crude types.
In parallel to its oil opening, Venezuelan authorities have also fast-tracked reforms opening the country’s mining sector to multinational corporations.
On Wednesday, New York-based Heeney Capital and commodities trader Mercuria Energy received a 30-year concession to operate the Chocó 10 mine in Bolívar State. The project holds considerable gold deposits and was run by Rusoro Mining in the 2000s before being nationalized by the Chávez government.
Heeney and Mercuria pledged US $1 billion in initial investment in the Chocó project. The two firms had struck a previous agreement with Caracas to purchase and trade Venezuelan minerals and other commodities.
One of Heeney’s co-founders, Sean Pi, signed the deal at the presidential palace in May and praised Trump’s “leadership” in defending US access to mining resources abroad. Pi has endorsed legislative initiatives deregulating and streamlining mining projects to bolster the US supply of critical minerals.
Under the trading agreement, Heeney and Mercuria are reportedly preparing to ship 15,000 metric tons of Venezuelan aluminum to the US. The corporate partners are likewise seeking to take over VENALUM, Venezuela’s biggest aluminum smelter. Glencore, an Anglo-Swiss mining and trading multinational, is also interested in VENALUM, according to reports.
Venezuelan authorities have not commented on the negotiations for the aluminum smelter. In April, Rodríguez appointed a commission to evaluate privatization of “non-strategic” state assets.
The Trump administration has identified securing access to Venezuelan mineral riches as a key national interest and is reportedly preparing an executive order to boost US corporate participation in Venezuelan mining projects.
Edited by Lucas Koerner in Philadelphia, USA.
BERLIN: Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said on Tuesday that he discussed selling oil to Europe during visits to France and Germany, as Baghdad seeks to diversify its export routes and reduce its reliance on the Strait of Hormuz.
During a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin, Zaidi said “we want to expand and diversify our export routes”.
He added that “Iraq cannot remain hostage to a single corridor” as recent events have demonstrated, referring to the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blockaded by Iran during the Middle East war.
Zaidi said that he had discussed oil exports to Europe with Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he met in Paris on Monday.
Crude oil sales account for nearly 90 percent of Iraq’s revenue but its exports have been hurt by the outbreak of the Middle East war between Iran and the United States.
Before the war began in February, Iraq produced around four million barrels per day, and exported an average of 3.4 million bpd, mostly via Hormuz.
Most of its oil exports go to East Asia, with China and India its largest buyers.
Due to the disruption, Iraq began exporting crude using tanker trucks through Syria, as well as through a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, although these routes can handle only a fraction of its usual sea-bound trade.
Zaidi said that Baghdad could “double its oil exports through the Mediterranean” to supply markets in Europe and the United States.
Zaidi, who hopes to increase Iraq’s oil production to 10 million barrels per day, said that “a large share, or nearly half, can go to European countries and the West”.
He said that Iraq and Germany were expected to reach “an understanding on the export of crude oil” while Baghdad would purchase German technology and equipment.
Merz said that the main focus for Iraqi-German cooperation is the economy.
“Many German companies are now active in Iraq. They are developing new solutions, for example for energy supply,” he said, adding that “the best example is an agreement on Iraq’s electricity supply, which we will sign today”.
Merz also expressed his concerns after Yemen’s Houthis cemented their control over the Bab al-Mandab waterway at the entrance to the Red Sea, a vital route for Saudi oil exports.
“This further exacerbates the situation on the energy markets, and also affects Germany,” he said.
RIYADH: Madinah region has strong potential to turn date palm waste into value-added products, leveraging its competitive advantage in the palm and date sector to create investment opportunities in the circular economy.
According to Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah Chamber’s economic bulletin, the region has about 26,000 farms and approximately 8.1 million date palms, representing nearly 21 percent of Saudi Arabia’s total.
Each palm generates between 20 and 23 kg of waste annually, bringing the region’s estimated annual total to between 162,000 and 186,000 tonnes, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Products made from date palm waste include wood and composite boards, organic fertilizer, biochar, charcoal briquettes, biofuel pellets, natural fibers, insulation materials, date seed oil, wooden products and handicrafts.
These industries could create new production chains, from waste collection, sorting and processing to manufacturing and marketing. This would open investment opportunities, diversify the palm sector’s products and improve resource-use efficiency.
STOCKHOLM: Sweden began voting Sunday in a general election after a tight race that will see either the far-right enter government for the first time or the left-wing opposition reclaim power.
Opposition leader Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democrats was among the first to cast her ballot after polling stations opened at 8:00 am (0600 GMT).
Clad in a pale blue suit, the 59-year-old who in 2021-2022 became the first woman to serve as Sweden’s prime minister voted with her husband at a school in her home municipality of Nacka, south of Stockholm.
Opinion polls have long credited the four parties in her left-wing bloc with a comfortable lead over conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s four-party alliance, which includes the far-right Sweden Democrats.
But the gap narrowed to a dead heat in the final days of the campaign.
“It is now up to the Swedish people to decide which direction our country should take. Should we have a government entirely dominated by the Sweden Democrats? Something that has never happened in Sweden before? Or should we have a government led by me, which will steer Sweden in a new spirit of cooperation?” Andersson told reporters after voting.
Her party, which governed the Scandinavian country for the better part of the 20th century and remains Sweden’s largest, has pledged to bolster the welfare state and help struggling households cope with rising costs.
‘Make Sweden great again’
Outgoing Prime Minister Kristersson has meanwhile vowed to focus on improving Swedes’ everyday lives now that his government’s clampdown on organised crime and immigration has begun to show results.
Deadly shootings and bombings by organised crime networks have decreased significantly in recent years, and asylum applications are at a record low.
“We want to use our new and far better preconditions to improve the lives of ordinary people… to make Sweden great again,” Kristersson told AFP before the vote, borrowing Donald Trump’s famous catchphrase.
His three-party minority coalition cut a deal in 2022 with the Sweden Democrats giving them influence over government policy, in particular on immigration and crime, in exchange for their support in parliament.
Over the past two decades, far-right leader Jimmie Akesson has steered the party with neo-Nazi roots into the mainstream.
It is now hoping to enter government. Kristersson has promised the far right key cabinet posts if the right-wing wins the election.
“I think it’s a very important election this year, and hopefully a lot of people will realise that we have to change course… so that everyone will feel included in society,” store manager Linda Eriksson, 48, told AFP as she voted at a polling station.
Ingrid Rudien, a 64-year-old assistant secretary, said she hoped the country “can unite together as a nation even though we may have a close result”.
‘We’ve already won!’
Akesson was confident of victory at a final election rally on Saturday in the Swedish capital.
“We’ve already won!” the 47-year-old said to thunderous applause in Stockholm’s Kungstradgarden Park.
“Sweden is becoming safer, better, and more Swedish,” he said, surrounded by blue and yellow campaign posters blaring “Make Sweden Sweden Again”.
Agneta Andersson, a 78-year-old pensioner attending the rally, told AFP she was voting for the far right.
“Like Jimmie, I want it to be like it was when I was young, in the old Sweden. I can’t cope with all this violence in society.”
Voting stations close at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) when exit polls were to be published, with the first reliable results expected several hours later.
Some eight million people are eligible to vote in the election, in a country of 10.6 million where voter turnout regularly tops 80 percent.
Around half of voters have cast their ballots in advance.
If the right wing were to win the election, the formation of a new government would be fairly straightforward.
But as the four left-wing parties are splintered ideologically, tough negotiations would be needed to form a government even if they hold a majority.
