Image of the week: Bienvenue en France
Euro 2016 "fan zones" such as this one in Paris have been erected in all of the tournament's venue cities across France. Supporters have been urged to stick to them, on the basis that they will be policed, both overtly and covertly, and so safer than "unofficial" areas. The Paris "fan zone" on the Champ de Mars will fit about 90,000 football fans, with matches shown there on a 420m sq giant screen. Its relaxation area, assuming it is possible to relax in a country on full terrorist alert, includes hammocks, sun parasols, face painting and something called Operaoke, which sounds truly horrifying.
Photograph: Reuters/Charles Platiau
In Numbers: Capital flight
£59 billion
Sum that investors shifted out of British assets in the month of March. The Bank of England statistic was interpreted as evidence of Brexit-related fear, or at the very least concern about volatility in sterling.
£1.3 million
The outflow on a per-minute basis.
12
Number of days left before the UK's referendum on its membership of the European Union takes place and things really kick off.
The Lexicon: Athleisure
We are in the midst of an "athleisure" boom. It's a fashion thing. Put simply, "athleisure" clothing is clothes that people wear not necessarily for exercise itself, but to look like they might be thinking about exercising, or in the zone for exercise – they're definitely not culturally opposed to the concept of exercise. Athleisure, a cousin of the "sport luxe" trend that plagued women's magazines about five years ago, manifests as cashmere leggings, trainers by Chanel and all manner of lesser loungewear that is technically too expensive to risk getting sweaty in, but might be okay to put on after you've had that shower. Indeed, some retailers now define athleisure as "post-workout" clothes, which is otherwise known as clothes.
Getting to know: Dominic Chappell
Former racing driver Dominic Chappell (49) is the man whose consortium, Retail Acquisitions, bought BHS from Philip Green for £1 last year. It hasn't gone well. BHS is in administration and now various Chappell-related financial activities are under investigation. Michael Hitchcock, a former financial adviser to BHS, told a parliamentary committee that Chappell was "a Premier League liar, and a Sunday Pub League retailer, at best". Then the chain's chief executive Darren Topp alleged Chappell threatened to kill him if he dared to "kick off" about a £1.5 million transfer of BHS money to Sweden. Green, for his part, isn't taking any of the blame for the collapse, telling one interviewer: "If I give you my plane, right, and you tell me you're a great driver and you crash it into the first f***ing mountain, is that my fault?"
The list: Sports Direct v Humanity
After an exposé by the Guardian last year, Mike Ashley’s company has been under fire for its treatment of its UK warehouse workers and this week the man himself showed up at Westminster for a parliamentary grilling. So how bad was its culture of fear?
1 Minimum wage Workers were effectively paid less than the minimum wage in the UK because they were held back at the end of their shift to be searched by security before going home.
2 Docked pay Workers who were one minute late were docked 15 minutes’ pay. Ashley admitted this was “unacceptable” and “unreasonable”.
3 Ambulance callouts There were 110 ambulance callouts to the Derbyshire warehouse, including five related to birth and miscarriage-related matters, including one worker who gave birth in the toilets.
4 Card charges Some staff received wages through a pre-paid debit card, which cost them £10 to get and £10 a month in a “management fee”, as well as 75p for an ATM withdrawal.
5 Six strikes A “six strikes and you’re out” policy exists, says union Unite. Strikes could be imposed for “excessive chatting”, “excessive/long toilet breaks”, “horseplay”, “wearing branded goods” and “using a mobile phone in the warehouse”.
