US Senate considers sweeping defense bill, heads for showdown with House

By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Leaders of the U.S. Senate said on Wednesday they expected a sweeping defense policy bill to pass the chamber with strong bipartisan support, which could mean a clash with a largely party-line bill approved by the House of Representatives. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican leader Mitch…

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Las Vegas Sands second-quarter revenue beats Wall Street estimates

By Doyinsola Oladipo NEW YORK (Reuters) -Las Vegas Sands Corp’s second-quarter revenue exceeded Wall Street estimates, benefiting from non-gaming programming in Macao as tourism rebounds from China’s loosening of its zero-COVID policy and mass gaming reaching another record in Singapore. The casino operator’s revenue rose to $2.5 billion in the second quarter from $1.05 billion…

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U.S regional bank shares rise on interest income, deposits stabilizing

(Reuters) -Major U.S regional banks said their deposits mostly stabilized and net interest income rose after the first-quarter collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sparked industry turmoil, sending their shares soaring on Wednesday. Three major U.S. regional banks met or beat profit expectations as higher interest rates allowed them to charge more for loans. M&T Bank’s…

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Discover Financial shares sink after profit miss, buyback pause

By Sinéad Carew (Reuters) – Shares in Discover Financial Services tumbled more than 13% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after its quarterly earnings fell short of expectations and it announced a share repurchase pause as it investigates incorrect classification of credit card accounts from around mid-2007. Discover, a U.S. provider of digital banking and payment…

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Israel’s Herzog says criticism of Israel must not drift into antisemitism

By Patricia Zengerle, Rami Ayyub and Josephine Walker WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Israeli President Isaac Herzog told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday he welcomed criticism, especially from American friends, but said it must not cross the line into negation of Israel’s right to exist. That, he said, was antisemitism. Herzog, whose position is largely ceremonial, spoke to a…

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Israel to allow Palestinian Americans entry in bid for US visa-free access

By Dan Williams and Simon Lewis JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Israel said it will begin on Thursday allowing entry to all U.S. citizens, including Palestinian Americans living in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in a policy change it hopes will secure visa-free access for Israelis to the United States. Washington has blocked Israel’s…

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US adds Central American ex-presidents, judges, lawmakers to corruption list

By Raul Cortes (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department added nearly 40 people from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, including former presidents and judges, to a list published on Wednesday of “corrupt and undemocratic actors.” Two former Salvadoran presidents – Mauricio Funes, who served from 2009 to 2014, and his successor Salvador Sanchez, whom…

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