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The city council voted 7–2 on Tuesday to ban cars from the Old Market district on weekends, starting 1 March. The ban covers 14 streets and will be reviewed after six months. Mayor Elena Ruiz said the change would 'give the square back to people', and pointed to a 2025 trial in which weekend footfall rose 22%. Shop owners are divided: the Old Market Traders' Association said 40% of its members oppose the plan, fearing lost deliveries. Delivery vans will be allowed until 10 am, and residents' permits remain valid. Critics on the council said parking in nearby streets, already 90% full on Saturdays, would get worse.

Gist: The city council voted 7–2 to ban cars from the Old Market district on weekends starting 1 March.

- The ban covers 14 streets and will be reviewed after six months.
- Mayor Elena Ruiz said the change would “give the square back to people” and cited a 2025 trial in which weekend footfall rose 22%.
- The Old Market Traders' Association said 40% of its members oppose the plan, fearing lost deliveries; shop owners are divided.
- Delivery vans will be allowed until 10 am, and residents' permits will remain valid.
- Critics on the council said nearby streets, already 90% full on Saturdays, would face worse parking.

Why it matters: The article says the ban is intended to return the square to people, while opponents worry about deliveries and parking.

A new study of 2,300 office workers suggests that four-day weeks do not reduce output, at least in the short term. Researchers at the University of Leeds compared teams that switched to a 32-hour week with teams that did not, over nine months. Output per team, measured by tasks closed, stayed within 2% of the control group, while reported burnout fell by a third. The authors caution that most participants worked in software and marketing, and that the results may not hold in customer-facing jobs. Three of the 41 companies returned to five days before the study ended.

Gist: A study of 2,300 office workers found that a 32-hour, four-day week maintained short-term output while reducing reported burnout.

- Researchers at the University of Leeds compared teams that switched to a 32-hour week with teams that did not over nine months; output per team stayed within 2% of the control group.
- Reported burnout fell by a third, but the authors caution that most participants worked in software and marketing and results may not hold in customer-facing jobs.
- Three of the 41 companies returned to five days before the study ended.

Why it matters: The findings suggest four-day weeks may preserve output in the short term, though the authors say more types of work may not see the same results.

Every few years a new tool promises to end the meeting. Chat did not; video made it worse. The problem was never the medium but the default: we meet because a calendar slot is free, not because a decision needs making. Teams that cut meetings successfully do three things. They write a one-page brief before any meeting that decides something. They cancel any recurring meeting nobody would recreate from scratch. And they protect two afternoons a week with no meetings at all. None of this requires software, which is perhaps why so few companies try it.

Gist: The article argues that reducing unnecessary meetings depends on changing meeting habits, not adopting new communication tools.

- Chat did not end meetings, and video made them worse; the article says the problem is meeting by default rather than because a decision needs to be made.
- Teams that successfully reduce meetings write a one-page brief before any meeting that decides something.
- They cancel recurring meetings nobody would recreate from scratch.
- They protect two afternoons a week with no meetings.
- The article says these changes require no software, which may help explain why so few companies try them.

Why it matters: The article argues that simple changes to how teams schedule and prepare for meetings can reduce unnecessary meetings without new software.