Federal air-accident investigators began looking into what caused a spaceplane owned by Virgin Galactic to explode over the Mojave desert during a test flight, 联邦航空事故调查员已对此展开调查维珍银河航空公司旗下的一架飞船，在测试飞行中于莫哈维沙漠上空发生爆炸，

　　killing one pilot.  导致一名飞行员死亡。

　　The accident is a setback for the burgeoning private space industry.  此次事故给热火朝天的私人太空飞行产业浇了盆凉水。

　　Virgin Galactic had been hoping to take rich tourists to the edge of space in the aircraft perhaps as early as next year.  维珍银河航空公司本来争取在明年将富翁级别的乘客送往太空边缘。

　　Sir Richard Branson, its founder, promised to keep the project going and build a second spaceplane.  公司创始人理查德?布兰森爵士承诺，将建造第二艘太空船以继续该项目。

　　He had planned to be aboard the inaugural passenger flight. 布兰森曾计划亲自参与首次太空游览。

　　Access to the internet 走近互联网

　　Robert Hannigan, the head of Britain's GCHQ intelligence agency, called for more support from internet giants  英国情报机构政府通信总部负责人罗伯特汉尼根发出呼吁，

　　such as Google and Apple in gathering information about suspected terrorists.  要求互联网巨头（诸如谷歌与苹果）提供更多协助，以收集疑似恐怖分子的信息。

　　He described social-media sites as the command and control networks of choice for terror groups,  他说，互联网已经成为恐怖组织指挥和控制的手段之一。

　　and criticised the extra security measures being added to the internet by companies in their efforts to deter surveillance by Western spies. 一些公司为防止西方间谍侵入，给网络增设了安全措施，此举也遭到了汉尼根的炮轰。

　　Haruhiko Kuroda, the governor of the Bank of Japan, strongly defended the massive expansion of the government's quantitative-easing measures, announced on October 31st.  10月31日，日本银行行长黑田东彦表示坚决支持政府实施的大规模量化宽松政策。

　　Mr Kuroda said that he would do whatever it takes to cure Japan's chronic disease of deflation, though critics think the scale of the new initiative will distort markets.  黑田称将竭尽全力，以消除日本的慢性通缩。不过批评家认为，新的量宽举措将扭曲市场机制。

　　After the policy was revealed the Nikkei stockmarket index jumped to a seven-year high and the yen tumbled against the dollar. 新政一经公布，日经指数即创七年来新高，而日元对美元的汇率下跌。

　　Inflation in the euro zone will remain below the European Central Bank's target of almost 2% until at least 2016,  欧盟委员会最近发布的官方预测认为，至少到2016年，欧元区的通胀水平可以保持在2%以下，

　　according to the latest official economic forecast from the European Commission, which also sharply reduced the outlook for growth next year, to 1.1%. 而这是欧洲央行设定的目标。同时，委员会将明年的经济预期增长率大幅下调至1.1%。

　　America's economy grew at an annualised rate of 3.5% in the third quarter, thanks in part to increased government spending and exports.  得益于政府财政支出和出口两个方面的增长，美国经济第三季度增长率如按全年计算，达到3.5%。

　　But the unexpectedly large growth of the trade deficit in September suggests that the GDP figure will be revised downwards. 但出人意料的是，九月份出现了大规模贸易逆差，所以全年的GDP增速可能反而下调。

　　Amid the rouble rubble 卢布泡沫

　　The announcement by Russia's central bank that it would curb its support for the rouble pushed itto new lows against the dollar and the euro.  俄罗斯央行曾宣布减小对卢布的支持力度，随后卢布对美元和欧元的汇率双双跌至新低。

　　The bank spent more than 30 billion propping up the currency in October and it raised interest rates to 9.5% just recently.  为了支撑卢布，俄国央行于10月投入超过300亿美元，近来更是将利率上调至9.5%。

　　Limiting its interventions will increase inflation, but also protect foreign reserves and help avert the risk of a full-scale currency crisis. 减少干预将增加通胀，但也能保护外汇，并有助于避免全面货币危机。

　　The price of Brent crude sank to a four-year low afterSaudi Arabia cut its price for oil for America while raising it elsewhere,  沙特阿拉伯降低对美油价，同时提高对其他地区的价格。此举导致布伦特原油价格跌至四年以来的新低，

　　seen by some as an aggressive move by the Saudis to increase market share.  此举被看做沙特在有意抢占市场份额。

　　With the Saudis trying to boost oil imports intoAmerica, BHP Billiton,  在沙特试图扩大对美石油出口的同时，

　　meanwhile, was hoping to test a ban on oil exports fromAmerica by selling oil it has extracted but processed only very lightly inTexas. 必和必拓想打个擦边球，绕过美国原油出口禁令，出口产自德州的超轻质油。

　　A report by the IMF's internal auditor concluded that having first advised countries to adopt fiscal stimulus during the global financial crisis,  国际货币基金组织一份内部审计报告称，虽然该组织首先建议各国采取财政刺激政策以应对全球经济危机，

　　the fund's later push for austerity had turned out to be a mistake and its timing unfortunate, because the recovery was fragile.  但经济复苏如履薄冰，使得后来该组织推行的紧缩政策成为错误时机的错误选择。

　　Christine Lagarde, who has led the IMF since 2011, said the auditor's report benefited from hindsight. 2011年就任国际货币基金组织总裁的克里斯蒂娜?拉加德认为，这份报告不过是马后炮罢了。

　　The trial of the most senior Swiss banker to be charged with helping Americans evade tax came to a swift end, when a jury in Florida took just over an hour to find him not guilty.  近年颇有一些瑞士银行家因涉嫌帮助美国客户逃税而在美国受审。

　　Raoul Weil used to run the wealth-management division at UBS.  其中级别最高者当属Raoul Weil，他曾在瑞士联合银行掌管财富管理部。

　　The prosecution's case was based partly on testimony from his former subordinates, some of whom struck deals to avoid prosecution.  此案审理得相当迅速，佛罗里达州的陪审团仅用一小时即宣判其无罪。

　　His defence team was so confident about winning that it didn't bother calling any witnesses. 控方虽然找到了Raoul Weil从前的一些下属充当污点证人，不过辩护团队信心满满，甚至没有传唤证人。

　　Alibaba issued its first earnings report since making its stockmarket debut in September.  9月上市后，阿里巴巴首次发布财报。

　　The Chinese e-commerce company's revenue in the third quarter grew by more than half, to 2.7 billion, from the same period last year,  这家中国电商第三季度营收达27亿美元，同比增幅过半。

　　mostly because many more people in China are using mobile devices to shop. 这主要得益于通过移动设备购物的中国客户大大增加。

　　Ryanair,Europe's biggest low-cost airline, reported solid earnings for the latest quarter and raised the outlook for its annual profit.  欧洲最大的廉价航空公司瑞安发布财报，显示最近一个季度收入稳定；该公司随之提高了预期年利润。

　　The butt of many jokes about poor airline service, Ryanair has refocused on attracting business passengers and overhauled its systems,  瑞安曾因糟糕服务为人嗤笑，如今重新关注商务客户，并彻底改进网上订票系统，

　　reducing its online booking process from 17 to five clicks.  将有关步骤从17项精简为5项。

　　Its boss, Michael O'Leary, who once described passengers as idiots, said that being nice was new to him, but was turning out to be a winning strategy. 老板迈克尔奥利瑞曾将旅客称为白痴，他表示善待他人在他的字典里是个新词，不过这招非常奏效。

　　A tasty deal 美味交易

　　United Biscuits, a British baker that includes Jaffa Cakes and Twiglets among its brands,  联合饼干公司旗下坐拥佳发蛋糕和Twiglets两大品牌。

　　was sold by its private-equity owners toYildiz,Turkey's biggest food company, for a reported 2 billion. 私募股权拥有者将其出售给土耳其最大的食品公司Yildiz。据说收购价格为20亿英镑。译者：韦永睿  校对：江虹蕾