Rouble row supply threat; €300m in unpaid taxes; and sacked solicitor faces former employer

European countries are bracing for potential interruptions to gas supplies after Russian president Vladimir Putin warned the flow could be cut if payments were not made in roubles from today. It comes as the US administration announced a "historic release" of about 180 million barrels of oil from the US emergency stockpile in a bid to cool crude prices. Naomi O'Leary in Brussels and Martin Wall in Washington report.

Some 12,000 businesses are not paying any taxes that built up during the Covid-19 pandemic and currently stand at €300 million, new figures from Revenue show, writes Simon Carswell. However, Revenue says 90 per cent of tax due has been paid.

A senior partner at top law firm Arthur Cox has said she believes a sacked solicitor has a "victim mentality" and "no understanding of how to behave in an office environment" in a hearing before the Workplace Relations Commission where the solicitor is claiming unfair dismissal. Stephen Bourke was at the hearing.

Sherry FitzGerald, the State's largest estate agent, says house price inflation will moderate later this year as increased supply and a probable interest rate hike cool the market, especially in Dublin. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.

Judgment given against Russian firm in €2bn conspiracy case

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Cognizant poised to apply Covid lessons to life-sciences manufacturing

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US to make biggest ever release from Strategic Petroleum Reserve

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Bank of Ireland appoints Mark Spain as chief financial officer

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Denis O'Brien's Digicel saw underlying revenue and earnings rise by 7 per cent on the year in the final three months of 2021, its financial third quarter, as the business continued to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, writes Joe Brennan.

Guy Hedgecoe reports from Spain where the government is blaming the Ukraine crisis for three-quarters of the jump in Spanish inflation, which has hit a 37-year high of 9.8 per cent in March. However, a hauliers' strike has exacerbated the issue.

Europe has given a green light for a five-year extension of the State-backed risk equalisation subsidy scheme worth hundreds of millions of euro to the health insurance sector which allows everyone to pay the same for their policies regardless of age and medical history. Conor Pope has the details.

The High Court has given judgment against one of a number of Russian companies in a ¤2 billion alleged conspiracy-to-defraud case involving one of the world's largest ammonia producers, a Dublin-registered firm and a Russian billionaire who allegedly controls it.

In Caveat, Mark Paul writes that Dublin Airport's operator DAA has only itself to blame for the several messes it has got itself into already this year – especially on security queues for passengers and drop-off parking charges – and time is running out for it to get its house in order.

And in Agenda, Barry Roche looks at how digital is driving exponential change in Ireland's life sciences and pharma sector.

Food is no longer an afterthought as companies look to entice workers back to the office, writes Olive Keogh. And also on our world of work pages, Sarah O'Connor looks at the serious examination taking place on the merits of the four day working week without loss of pay.

And for those working from home Laura Slattery reports on a survey that shows it is boosting daytime radio listening, with almost half of remote workers saying they use radio as a source of companionship as they remain outside the office. And over one in three have changed their listening habits during the pandemic.

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