Business

A stolen portrait of Sir Winston Churchill that was swapped with a forgery during the pandemic has returned to its rightful place in a Canadian hotel.Police said The Roaring Lion portrait - which appears on the UK's £5 note - was stolen from the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa at some time between Christmas Day 2021 and 6 January 2022 and replaced. The swap was only uncovered eight months later when a hotel worker noticed the frame was not hung properly and looked different from the others. Image: The portrait is depicted on the £5 note. Pic: PA The portrait had been sold through an auction house in London to a private buyer and ended up in Rome, where two Canadian police detectives retrieved it.Both seller and bu...

Illegal miners in a "dangerous" stand-off with police in South Africa are committing a crime by staying underground in a disused shaft, according to a government minister in the country.But Senzo Mchunu also insisted the government wanted to save lives and that authorities would work together to end the situation safely. The police minister's remarks seem more conciliatory than those of a cabinet minister who previously said the government would not send help because they were breaking the law.Hundreds of people are believed to be underground after entering the Stilfontein abandoned shaft, which descends vertically for over a mile, in search of leftover gold.Minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni claimed on Wednesday the South African government would "smoke them out" because they...

At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur. Image: Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence - the Jardines de Villafranca - at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday. Image: Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pi...

UN climate talks are "no longer fit for purpose" and should only be hosted by countries who are trying to give up fossil fuels, veterans of the process have said.An open letter to the United Nations, signed by former UN chief Ban Ki-moon, made a dramatic intervention in the 29th COP climate summit, under way in Baku, Azerbaijan. Frustration over petrostate hosts - following last year's summit in UAE - as well as the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists, prohibitive costs, and slow progress have been mounting in recent years.The letter acknowledges the strides COPs have made on ramping up climate policies."But it is now clear that the COP is no longer fit for purpose," the authors said. "Its current structure simply cannot deliver the change at exponential speed and scale, which is essential ...

A Swedish minister's phobia of bananas has led officials to insist rooms are free of the fruit ahead of any meeting or visit, according to reports.The instructions from Gender Equality Minister Paulina Brandberg's staff were seen in leaked emails published by Expressen. The tabloid quoted one of the leaked messages - sent to the Norwegian Judicial Agency ahead of a VIP lunch - as saying that she "has a strong allergy to bananas, so it would be appreciated that there are no bananas in the areas where she will be staying".Read more from Sky News:Scottish health secretary 'sorry' after chauffeur tripsBaby red panda scared to death by fireworksA similar email, reportedly sent to the County Administrative Board, said: "No bananas are allowed on the premises either." Brandberg told Expressen tha...

"Super high-IQ revolutionaries" who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk's new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump's incoming US government.The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help "dismantle government bureaucracy".The post said: "We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE."We don't need more part-time idea generators. "We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting."If that's you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vi...

Bank stocks have popped since President-elect Donald Trump's win, but their move eight years ago suggests this rally still has more upside. Wells Fargo strategy analyst Christopher Harvey published a note Friday examining how different sectors performed after Trump's win in 2016 relative to their rally in the 7 trading days following the most recent election. The data shows that financial stocks, while already one of the best performers this year, did even better in 2016. Drilling down to bank stocks, specifically, within financials still shows that the group could have room to run. In 2016, bank stocks outperformed by 11.5 percentage points, compared to 6.9 points this year, according to the note. Bank stocks have seen big moves since Trump's win, as investors react to the expectation of ...

Billionaire investor Ron Baron, a longtime Tesla bull and shareholder, believes the electric vehicle company could hit a $5 trillion market capitalization in a decade, saying CEO Elon Musk has an even higher number in mind longer term. "Tesla, I think, is going to be worth $3 or $4 trillion — $5 trillion in 10 years, based upon the business plan that I am aware of. Then Elon believes that longer term it's going to be worth $30 trillion," Baron said on CNBC's " Squawk Box " Friday. At $3.65 trillion, Nvidia had the largest market value in the U.S. as of Thursday's market close, bigger than Apple and Microsoft , according to FactSet data. Tesla closed Thursday with a market cap of $1.12 trillion. Baron first invested $400 million in Tesla between 2014 and 2016, and said the early bet has mad...

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell. Applied Materials — Shares tumbled more than 8% after the semiconductor equipment manufacturer offered weak revenue guidance for the current quarter. Applied Materials said it forecasts $7.15 billion in the first fiscal quarter, under the estimate of $7.224 billion from analysts polled by LSEG. The company also reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results and provided a strong outlook for adjusted earnings per share. Alibaba — S hares jumped more than 3% after the Chinese e-commerce giant beat profit expectations in its fiscal second quarter , although its sales disappointed as the company continues to grapple with weaker consumer spending in China. Alibaba's net income rose 58% year-on-year, on the back of its equity...

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:1. Still room to run?2. Powell pondersFederal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivers remarks in Dallas on Nov. 14, 2024.Ann Saphir | ReutersJerome Powell is taking his time. The Federal Reserve chair said in a speech to business leaders in Dallas on Thursday that the central bank doesn’t need to be "in a hurry" to reduce interest rates. He said strong U.S. economic growth means policymakers can take their time in deciding how far and how fast they should lower rates. He also noted that the unemployment rate has been rising but remains low by historical standards and that inflation has been running closer to the Fed's 2% goal.3. Vaccine makers fallRobert F. Kennedy Jr. and Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. ...