Teenager's hand cut off in horrific machete attack in Leeds

UK Service Sector Logs Strong Rebound In March

The UK service sector logged a strong rebound in March as activity, new orders and employment picked up from February, final data from IHS Markit showed on Wednesday.

The services Purchasing Managers’ Index advanced to 56.3 from 49.5 in February. The flash reading was 56.8.

The score was above the 50.0 no-change level for the first time since October 2020. The latest reading also signaled the fastest rate of output expansion for seven months.

Survey respondents linked rising levels of activity to a recovery in business and consumer spending, while some parts of the service economy commented on a boost from higher residential property transactions in March.

The survey showed that stronger client demand and forward bookings ahead of easing lockdown measures contributed to an increase in total new work for the first time in six months.

Driven by forward bookings and improved confidence about the business outlook, job creation increased at the fastest rate since 2019.

On the price front, the survey showed that overall rate of input price inflation was the highest for nearly three years. As a result, prices charged by service providers rose at the sharpest pace since November 2017.

Finally, business expectations rose for the fifth straight month in March.

Reflecting robust rises in manufacturing and services output, the composite output index rose less than initially estimated to 56.4 from 49.6 in February. The flash score was 56.6.

McDonald's sends boy slice of cheese with ketchup as a Happy Meal

WEX In Deal To Acquire Benefitexpress For $275 Mln In Cash – Quick Facts

WEX Inc. (WEX), a financial technology service provider, announced Wednesday that it has signed a deal to buy benefitexpress, a provider of highly configurable, cloud-based benefits administration technologies and services, for total consideration of around $275 million.

The deal price is subject to certain working capital and other adjustments. WEX expects the acquisition to be neutral to Adjusted Net Income for 2021.

The company expects the acquisition to be completed in the second quarter, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

benefitexpress has been a trusted partner of WEX’s Health division for several years. WEX expects the acquisition would significantly expand its offerings in benefits administration and will extend its health and employee benefits products and services across the full, end-to-end needs of employer clients.

In the deal, William Blair acted as financial advisor to benefitexpress, and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP provided legal counsel to WEX.

US states sue Joe Biden for allowing wave of asylum seekers into America

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban calls NBA playoffs play-in tournament ‘enormous mistake’

Not long after Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic criticized the NBA's play-in tournament for the bottom two playoff spots in each conference, his boss offered his own analysis.

The conclusion was largely the same, as Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told ESPN that the compressed schedule combined with the pursuit of a top-six seed is a non-sequitur. 

"It doubles the stress of the compressed schedule," Cuban said. "Rather than playing for a playoff spot and being able to rest players as the standings become clearer, teams have to approach every game as a playoff game to either get into or stay in the top 6 since the consequences, as Luka said, are enormous. So players are playing more games and more minutes in fewer days."

The concept of a play-in tournament derived from the league's restart in the Disney bubble last year, and with fewer regular season games on the schedule for 2020-21, the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the installation of it again this year. 

"In hindsight, this approach was an enormous mistake," Cuban told ESPN.

Wells Fargo Q1 Profit Soars Seven-fold, Results Top Estimates – Quick Facts

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) on Tuesday reported net income applicable to common stock of $4.74 billion or $1.05 per share for the first quarter, sharply higher than $653 million or $0.01 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue for the quarter increased 2 percent to $18.06 billion from $17.72 billion in the same quarter last year.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.70 per share on revenues of $17.50 billion for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Net interest income was $8.80 billion, down 22 percent from $11.31 billion in the same period last year, primarily due to the impact of lower interest rates. Non-interest income was $9.27 billion, up 45 percent from $6.41 billion a year ago.

Provision for credit losses decreased $5.1 billion, due to continued improvements in the economic environment and lower net charge-offs.