Bosses don’t like the sound of a ‘four-day workweek’. Maybe it’s time to rebrand it

We keep hearing that the four-day workweek is the future. So why are so few businesses actually adopting it?Belgium, Iceland and Lithuania have passed legislation requiring the practice, and other countries in Europe are piloting the idea. Hundreds of companies in the UK have signed up for to give this a try. Microsoft tested the concept in Japan. Non-profits such as the 4 Day Week Foundation and WorkFour are dedicated to expanding the concept

Ryanair to shut Berlin base as it blames rise in German aviation tax

Ryanair is to shut its Berlin operating base and cut its winter schedule to the German capital in half, blaming soaring aviation taxes in the country.The Irish budget carrier said its relocation of seven aircraft to other centres would reduce its Berlin passenger numbers from 4.5 million to 2.2 million a year, with flights in and out of the city served from October by planes based at other airports.Staff at the facility are being offered transfers to other European bases

NatWest faces AGM showdown over ‘climate backtracking’

NatWest is at risk of an embarrassing showdown at its shareholder meeting this week as investors and scientists call for an urgent reversal of what they describe as “climate backtracking”.Campaigners including ShareAction are calling for protest votes against the bank’s chair, Rick Haythornthwaite, at its annual meeting in Edinburgh on Tuesday.The call is part of efforts to hold the board to account after NatWest watered down restrictions on lending to the oil and gas sector and dropped some decarbonisation targets “without robust explanation”, according to the campaigners.Investors including the Church of England have already thrown their weight behind the campaign, saying they will vote against the reappointment of board members.ShareAction will present letters at the AGM, including a statement signed by investors with $1

The great energy pivot: US oil and Chinese solar are the winners in Trump’s war on Iran

Exposure of world’s reliance on Middle East supplies accelerates global shift towards new energy superpowersIn the open seas, an armada of empty tankers has quietly turned west. A record number of super-sized vessels are now heading to the US, where oil drillers and refineries are preparing to profit from Donald Trump’s war in the Middle East.Almost 30 of these vessels, each able to hold 2m barrels of oil, are contracted to load US crude, destined for a global market facing the biggest supply crisis in history.It is just over five years since the shale revolution made the US a net energy exporter and the world’s biggest producer of oil and gas. Now the White House is poised to strengthen its claim to an even greater share of the global oil market as the Middle East’s decades-long dominance is dismantled by war

‘Sludge in the system’: myriad problems stymie Labour’s 1.5m new homes pledge

At South and City College in Birmingham, dozens of young people clad in hi-vis vests and hard hats are building mini-walls and plastering half-formed rooms.Some weave in and out of stacks of bricks with wheelbarrows, while others use spirit levels to check the walls are straight and flat. In a few days time, these walls will be demolished and the plastering scraped away, for a new class to come in and try their hands.This is the new generation of Britain’s construction workers, eager to rise to the task of building the 1.5m new homes the government has repeatedly proclaimed will solve the country’s housing crisis

US justice department drops criminal investigation against Jerome Powell

The US Department of Justice is dropping its criminal investigation against the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, clearing the path for Donald Trump’s new nominee for chair to be confirmed.Jeanine Pirro, Trump’s appointed US attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a social media post that she had directed her office to close its investigation into renovations at the Fed headquarters that went over budget.“I have directed my office to close our investigation as the [inspector general’s office] undertakes this inquiry,” Pirro wrote. “Note well, however, that I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.”The investigation was first made public in January after Powell released a video announcing he had been subpoenaed by the justice department