America’s budget deficit, the gap between spending and tax revenue, was more than $3.1trn in the year to September. That compares with about $1trn last year and reflects the huge increase in government spending precipitated by the covid-19 pandemic. Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, has said another round of economic relief is necessary to bolster the economy and prevent millions falling into poverty.

deficit：赤字，逆差
precipitate：仓促的，草率的
the Federal Reserve: 美联储
economic relief：经济救助
bolster：改善，加强

Zalando reached an agreement to buy Fision, a body-scanning company. The online clothing retailer’s policy of free, no-questions-asked returns helped it rise to prominence. But returns are also a big cost: about half of all items are sent back. As online clothes-shopping grows during the pandemic, Zalando hopes that Fision’s technology will help customers get the right fit the first time.

policy of free，no-questions-asked returns无条件免费退货政策
prominence：出名，卓越，突出
pandemic：流行病，大流行病

Instagram will make changes in its rules for “influencers”: people paid for conspicuously using a product in the photos they share on the platform. Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority says these amount to advertising. Instagram will do more to make paid promotion clear as such. The rules affect users in Britain and anyone who “directs their posts towards Instagram users in the UK”.

influencer：有影响力的人，意见领袖，网红
conspicuously：明显地，显著地
amount to：接近，意味着，发展成
direct toward：指向，对着

Liberty Steel, a privately held company owned by the Gupta family, offered to buy the steel division of Thyssenkrupp, a German industrial conglomerate. The purchase would unite Europe’s fourth- and second-biggest steelmakers respectively. However, some trade unions, fearing job losses, are lobbying hard against the deal. They want the German government to take a stake in Thyssenkrupp instead.

conglomerate：联合大公司，企业集团
respectively：分别，各自
trade union：工会
lobby：游说（从政者或政府）
take a stake in 入股