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Over the past three years, Syria's air force has rained death on more than 21,000 civilians. Their bodies ripped apart by exploding barrel bombs. Missiles dropped on homes, businesses, bus stops, even hospitals.在过去三年里，叙利亚空军向两万一千多名平民倾泻了死亡。爆炸的桶装炸弹将他们的身体撕得粉碎，导弹落在民宅、商铺、公交车站，甚至是医院上。These war crimes have been well documented. Not so the part played by the shadowy world of offshore finance. Behind the scenes, companies using offshore tax havens were accused of supplying fuel to the Syrian air force.这些战争罪行早已有大量记录。然而，离岸金融这个阴暗世界所扮演的角色，却鲜少被揭示。在幕后，有人指控，一些利用离岸避税天堂的公司向叙利亚空军供应燃料。In 2014, multiple governments, including the UK and US, issued bans on doing business with these companies. But now, a new global investigation has revealed that a Panamanian firm helped these companies operate, as attacks in Syria continued. That firm, Mossack Fonseca, is a key player in a sprawling, secretive industry that the world's rich and powerful use to hide assets and skirt rules by setting up front companies in far-flung jurisdictions.2014年，包括英国和美国在内的多个政府发布禁令，禁止与这些公司开展业务。但如今，一项新的全球调查披露，在叙利亚空袭仍在持续之际，一家巴拿马公司帮助这些企业继续运作。这家公司名为莫萨克·冯塞卡（Mossack Fonseca），是一个庞大而隐秘行业中的关键角色——世界各地的富豪和权势人物正是通过这个行业，在遥远的司法辖区设立空壳公司，以隐藏资产、规避规则。More than 300 journalists trawled through millions of leaked records from Mossack Fonseca to expose an alarming list of clients involved in bribery, arms deals, tax evasion, financial fraud and drug trafficking. Behind the invoices, emails and paper trails are real victims. In Russia, businessmen kidnapped orphaned girls as young as 13, raped them, then sold them to others for sex.300多名记者翻查了莫萨克·冯塞卡泄露出的数百万份文件，揭露了一份令人震惊的客户名单，其中涉及行贿、军火交易、逃税、金融诈骗和毒品交易。在那些发票、邮件和书面记录背后，是一个个真实的受害者。在俄罗斯，一些商人绑架年仅13岁的孤女，对她们实施强奸，并将她们贩卖给他人进行性剥削。One of the alleged ringleaders was a client of Mossack Fonseca's. When the firm discovered their client was a pedophile, they decided they were not legally obliged to report his offshore business activities to authorities. In Uganda, a company that wanted to sell a prospective oil field paid Mossack Fonseca to help it avoid $400 million in taxes.其中一名被指控的幕后主使正是莫萨克·冯塞卡的客户之一。当该公司发现这名客户是恋童癖者时，他们却认定自己在法律上没有义务向当局报告其离岸商业活动。在乌干达，一家想要出售潜在油田的公司向莫萨克·冯塞卡付费，要求其协助逃避4亿美元的税款。It was simple paperwork. The company's address was changed from one tax haven to another. In a country where one in three people live on less than $1.25 a day, $400 million represents more than the government's annual health budget.这一切只是简单的文书操作——把公司的注册地址从一个避税天堂转移到另一个。在一个每三个人中就有一人每天生活费不足1.25美元的国家，4亿美元相当于政府一整年的医疗卫生预算还要多。Uganda spent years in court trying to force the company to pay its taxes. Meanwhile, hospitals in the shadow of the oil field lacked funds for even the most basic equipment. Patients slept on floors.乌干达政府花了数年时间打官司，试图迫使这家公司缴纳税款。与此同时，油田附近的医院却连最基本的设备都缺乏，病人只能睡在地板上。They were asked to bring their own medical supplies, like sterile gloves and cotton balls. It was a surprise to me because I expected all this equipment to be at the health centre. When all these things are not there, nurses say we cannot work anew.病人被要求自带医疗用品，比如无菌手套和棉球。这让我感到震惊，因为我原以为这些设备本就应该在医疗中心配备齐全。当这些东西都没有时，护士们只能说：我们根本无法开展工作。At times we are forced to leave and return home unattended to. Some women have lost their lives and babies. Uganda ranks among the worst 10 countries in the world for high maternal, newborn and child mortality rates due to a lack of access to good health care.有时，我们被迫离开，让产妇无人照看地回家。一些妇女和婴儿因此失去了生命。由于缺乏良好的医疗服务，乌干达在孕产妇、新生儿和儿童高死亡率方面，位列全球最差的十个国家之一。The offshore industry has recently come under fire for enabling dubious activities like these. But firms like Mossack Fonseca have helped clients continue to operate behind a veil of secrecy. Until this shadowy world is held accountable, international criminals will keep doing business, tax dollars will be dodged and bombs will continue to fall。近年来，离岸金融行业因助长此类可疑活动而备受抨击。但像莫萨克·冯塞卡这样的公司，仍然帮助客户在秘密的掩护下继续运作。只要这个阴暗的世界不被追究责任，跨国犯罪就会持续进行，税款将不断被逃避，炸弹也将继续落下。

We ask… What do the US National Turkey Federation, Spanish grape growers, French wine producers and the British Milk Marketing Board all have in common? The answer is they have all used clever marketing to make us buy things because we think it's traditional to do so. But in actual fact, it's just the result of modern advertising campaigns. If we start first of all, then, Richard, with the French wine producers.我们要问的是……美国国家火鸡联合会、西班牙的葡萄种植者、法国的葡萄酒生产商以及英国牛奶营销委员会，这些机构有什么共同点？答案是：他们都运用了巧妙的营销手段，让我们因为“以为这是传统”而去购买某些东西。但事实上，这些所谓的传统，只是现代广告宣传活动的结果。那么，理查德，我们先从法国的葡萄酒生产商说起吧。Yes, there's an area of France, Beaujolais, they produced the first wine after the season's finished. That particular wine, that Beaujolais, became very popular with the Parisians, didn't it? Yes, but the key moment was in 1985 when they chose the third Thursday in November as the first day this wine could be drunk, the first wine in France to be drunk for that season. Yes, Beaujolais Nouveau Day.是的，法国有一个地方叫博若莱，那里的酒庄会在当季结束后酿造出第一批葡萄酒。这种酒——博若莱葡萄酒——在巴黎人当中变得非常受欢迎，对吧？是的，但关键的时刻是在1985年，当时他们把11月的第三个星期四定为这种酒可以正式开喝的第一天，也就是当季法国第一款可以饮用的葡萄酒。没错，这一天就是“博若莱新酒节”。So the French wine producers, they went out of their way to really promote it as the wine to be drunk on that day. And there was a race to get it into London and who was going to drink the first bottle of that year's Beaujolais. Yes, and now millions of bottles are produced and sold each year.因此，法国的葡萄酒生产商不遗余力地把它宣传成“那一天一定要喝的酒”。甚至还出现了谁能最快把酒运到伦敦、谁能喝到当年第一瓶博若莱新酒的竞赛。是的，如今每年都有数百万瓶博若莱新酒被生产并售出。Now, it's interesting because in the United States, it's promoted as the drink for Thanksgiving, which conveniently falls one week after Beaujolais Nouveau Day. The Thanksgiving originally, well, it's supposed to celebrate the early settlers in America in the 17th century. Yes.有意思的是，在美国，它又被宣传成感恩节的应景饮品，而感恩节恰好在博若莱新酒节之后的一周。感恩节最初呢，据说是为了纪念17世纪来到美洲的早期移民。是的。And people think traditionally you've got to eat turkey and pumpkin pie. But actually Thanksgiving first became a national holiday in the US in the 19th century, which is when turkey and pumpkin pie were beginning to become quite popular. But it didn't really become as the thing to eat on Thanksgiving until the mid-20th century.人们普遍认为，按照传统，感恩节就一定要吃火鸡和南瓜派。但事实上，感恩节是在19世纪才成为美国的全国性节日，而那正是火鸡和南瓜派开始流行的时期。不过，它们真正成为“感恩节必吃食物”，其实要到20世纪中叶才算定型。Yes, that's because new methods of intensive farming allowed the turkey industry to produce huge amounts of cheap turkey. And that's when the US National Turkey Federation, they made turkey the thing to eat for Thanksgiving. Yes, turkey wasn't eaten 400 years ago, nor was pumpkin pie.是的，这是因为集约化养殖的新方法，使火鸡产业能够大量生产价格低廉的火鸡。也正是在那个时候，美国国家火鸡联合会把火鸡塑造成感恩节必吃的食物。没错，400年前人们既不吃火鸡，也不吃南瓜派。OK, Richard, what about the Spanish grape growers? Well, in Spain, the arrival of the new year is traditionally welcomed with a glass of Which is a kind of Spanish version of champagne. And 12 grapes. Now, that doesn't hark back to any pagan or ancestral festivity in Spain.好吧，理查德，那西班牙的葡萄种植者又是怎么回事呢？嗯，在西班牙，人们传统上会用一杯（卡瓦酒，一种西班牙版的香槟）和12颗葡萄来迎接新年的到来。而这种做法，并不源自西班牙任何古老的异教或祖先节庆。But again, it's the skilful marketing campaign. Yes, since just the beginning of the 20th century, Alicante, a big grape-producing area, had a bumper harvest and they just found a creative way to sell off their surplus. And now it's become an ancient tradition.但同样，这又是一次高明的营销活动。是的，在20世纪初，作为重要葡萄产区的阿利坎特迎来了大丰收，于是他们想出了一个有创意的方式来消化多余的葡萄。结果，这个做法如今被当成了一项“古老传统”。OK, finally, Richard, go into any pub in the UK and you'll probably be able to buy a cold meal called a ploughman's lunch. Yes, it's basically a salad made with bread and mainly cheese. However, the specific term, the ploughman's lunch, is believed only to date back to the 1950s.好，最后一个例子，理查德。走进英国的任何一家酒吧，你大概都能点到一种叫“农夫午餐”的冷餐。是的，它基本上就是由面包和主要是奶酪组成的一份沙拉。不过，“农夫午餐”这个具体名称，被认为只追溯到20世纪50年代。When cheese was no longer rationed, the meal was promoted in pubs by the milk marketing board as a way to increase their sales. Quite a snappy title, the ploughman's lunch. Again, it's modern marketing and it's become a tradition.当奶酪不再实行配给制度之后，这种餐食被牛奶营销委员会在酒吧中大力推广，用来提高销量。“农夫午餐”这个名字也相当朗朗上口。再一次，这是现代营销的产物，却最终变成了一种传统。

The business news at the moment is dominated by the falling price in oil. We're looking at some of the reasons behind this. So Richard, falling oil prices, what's it all about? Like any commodity, it's all about supply and demand.目前的商业新闻几乎都被油价下跌所主导。我们正在探讨这背后的一些原因。那么，理查德，油价下跌到底是怎么回事？和任何一种大宗商品一样，这归根结底还是供求关系的问题。So presumably you're saying that demand is going down? Demand is going down because the world economy is slowing, especially China. So therefore there is less demand for oil, so the price goes down. So there's a decrease in demand.所以你的意思是需求在下降？是的，需求在下降，因为全球经济正在放缓，尤其是中国。因此，对石油的需求减少，价格自然就下跌了，也就是说需求出现了下降。So what about supply then? Well, that's the double whammy. That's why the oil price has gone down so much, because there's been a surge in supply. From OPEC countries? No, from the US.那供给方面呢？这就是“双重打击”了。这也是油价大幅下跌的原因，因为供应量激增。是来自欧佩克国家吗？不，是来自美国。The US has doubled its production of oil since 2010. How come they've done that? Well, it's all about fracking. Right.自 2010 年以来，美国的石油产量翻了一番。他们为什么能做到这一点？这主要得益于水力压裂技术。对。They're producing oil from new deposits that they're finding in the US. So that's very successful for them. Successful for them.他们正在从美国本土新发现的油藏中开采石油，这对他们来说非常成功。确实是成功的。But again, it leads to a lower oil price. So how much are we talking about then for a barrel of oil, Richard? Well, from a high of $110 a barrel in 2014, it's now less than $50 a barrel. OK.但这同样也导致了油价下跌。那么现在一桶油大概多少钱呢，理查德？2014 年的时候最高达到每桶 110 美元，而现在已经跌到每桶 50 美元以下了。好。So obviously some of the OPEC countries are panicking about this? Yes, but it's affecting them very differently. Some are really suffering. For instance, Nigeria and Russia, they depend on oil.那么显然，一些欧佩克国家对此感到恐慌了？是的，但这对它们的影响各不相同。有些国家确实在承受巨大压力，比如尼日利亚和俄罗斯，它们高度依赖石油。Right. To keep their economy afloat. They are really suffering.没错。为了维持经济运转。它们确实遭受了严重冲击。What about Saudi Arabia? Well, they've got so much oil and they've got so much reserves of cash and oil that they're hoping to ride the storm out. And they, again, they're hoping that the low oil price will send the American frackers out of business. So it really is a supply and demand issue.那沙特阿拉伯呢？他们拥有大量石油资源，同时也积累了大量的现金和石油储备，希望能够挺过这场风暴。而且他们还希望低油价能把美国的页岩油生产商挤出市场。所以归根结底，这还是一个供需问题。Yes, but there's also another factor on supply, on the supply side, because obviously the sanctions have been lifted against Iran. Which is an oil-producing country. They used to produce an awful lot of oil, and obviously now they're going to be producing more again.是的，但在供应端还有另一个因素，那就是对伊朗的制裁已经被解除。伊朗是一个产油国，过去曾生产大量石油，而现在显然又将重新增加产量。Now that the sanctions have lifted. Exactly. So the outlook is for even lower prices.制裁解除之后。没错。所以前景是油价可能会进一步走低。You say that, Richard, but when I take the car to the garage to be filled up with petrol, the prices are going down. Slowly. Slowly.你是这么说的，理查德，但我把车开去加油站加油时，油价确实在下降，只是很慢，很慢。But why is it not going down at the same speed as the price of oil? Well, I think that's quite simple, really, because petrol companies, they're very, very reluctant to lower their prices, aren't they? And if their competitors aren't lowering their prices, they're not going to be lowering their prices. So prices are coming down. But as always happens, the prices go up quickly, but they come down slowly.但为什么油价没有像原油价格那样快速度下降呢？我觉得原因其实很简单，因为石油公司非常不情愿降价，对吧？如果竞争对手不降价，它们也不会降价。所以价格确实在下降，但一如既往，涨得快，跌得慢。Are there any winners in this scenario? Theoretically, yes. Theoretically, Europe, for instance, which is a net importer of oil, they should like it because, obviously, cheaper oil, it should stimulate the economy. But they're keeping quite quiet about this.在这种情况下有没有赢家呢？理论上是有的。比如欧洲，作为石油净进口地区，按理说应该欢迎油价下跌，因为更便宜的石油有助于刺激经济。但他们对此却相当低调。And obviously China as well. They're a big importer of oil. It should be better for them.当然还有中国，他们也是石油进口大国，油价下跌本应对他们更有利。But they're suffering from their economy as well. So there doesn't seem to be any big winners at the moment. So this is something that's going to be affecting the business world for quite some time to come then?但他们的经济本身也面临压力。因此，目前看来并没有真正的赢家。那么，这是否意味着油价问题还将在相当长的一段时间内持续影响商业世界呢？

Some time between now and 2017, the British government will hold a referendum on whether to leave the European Union. We will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or out choice. But what does leaving the EU actually mean? There's a few scenarios for what could happen.在现在到 2017 年之间的某个时间，英国政府将举行一次是否退出欧盟的全民公投。英国人民将面对一个非常简单的选择：留下还是离开。但“脱欧”究竟意味着什么？可能出现的情况其实有好几种。The first is total independence. Britain becomes just another country that sells to the EU but doesn't have to follow any of its silly rules. Just like the United States.第一种情况是完全独立。英国将成为一个向欧盟出售商品、但不必遵守欧盟那些“繁琐规则”的普通国家，就像美国一样。This sounds empowered, like Britain is finally releasing itself from the shackles of Eurocrats and Brussels. But what it really means is that Britain would have to negotiate everything it sells to Europe on a case-by-case basis. This type of complicated bargaining leads to real costs.听起来这似乎很振奋人心，仿佛英国终于摆脱了欧盟官僚和布鲁塞尔的束缚。但实际上，这意味着英国出口到欧洲的每一种商品都必须逐项谈判。这种复杂的谈判方式会带来实实在在的成本。US companies pay a 10% tariff on any car they sell in Europe. Tariffs on clothing are 30%. This scenario could cost Britain as much as 14% of its GDP.美国公司在欧洲出售汽车需要支付 10% 的关税，服装的关税则高达 30%。在这种情况下，英国可能会付出高达国内生产总值 14% 的代价。That's as much as Greece lost in the first four years of the financial crisis. Alternatively, Britain could leave the EU but stay in the European Economic Area. Under this scenario, Britain becomes Norway.这相当于希腊在金融危机最初四年中所遭受的损失。另一种选择是，英国退出欧盟，但继续留在欧洲经济区。在这种情况下，英国将变成“挪威模式”。It still buys and sells from Europe, but it's not a member of the club anymore. The only problem is, this doesn't actually get Britain out of European control. Members of the European Economic Area still have to contribute to the EU budget.英国仍然可以与欧洲进行买卖，但不再是“俱乐部”的成员。唯一的问题是，这并没有真正让英国摆脱欧盟的控制。欧洲经济区的成员国仍然需要向欧盟预算出资。And they still have to follow EU regulations on everything they sell in Europe. A lot of the arguments for leaving the EU are about the weird rules that British companies have to follow when they export to Europe. But Britain would still have to follow all those rules, it just wouldn't have a say in making them anymore.而且，他们在向欧洲销售商品时仍然必须遵守欧盟的各项规定。许多脱欧的理由，正是因为英国企业在向欧洲出口时不得不遵循那些“奇怪的规则”。但在这种情况下，英国仍然要遵守所有这些规则，只是再也没有参与制定规则的发言权了。The third option is for Britain to negotiate a special deal. A bilateral trade agreement custom-made for its own economy. Under this scenario, Britain becomes Switzerland.第三种选择是英国谈判一份特殊协议——一项为其自身经济量身定制的双边贸易协定。在这种情况下，英国将成为“瑞士模式”。It's not officially a member of the European Economic Area or the EU, but it still gets all the benefits of selling its goods there. The problem with this scenario, though, is negotiating power. According to Brussels, the market can't be divided up sector by sector.瑞士既不是欧洲经济区成员国，也不是欧盟成员国，但仍然能够享受向欧洲销售商品的各种好处。不过，这种模式的问题在于谈判实力。布鲁塞尔方面认为，市场不能被拆分成一个个行业分别谈判。If you want free trade, you have to agree to open up other parts of your market as well. Including the labor market. This is exactly what happened to Switzerland.如果你想要自由贸易，就必须同意同时开放市场的其他部分，包括劳动力市场。这正是瑞士所经历的情况。In 2014, Swiss voters demanded restrictions on EU migration. But Brussels said no. If Switzerland wanted European trade, they had to take European workers as well.2014 年，瑞士选民要求限制来自欧盟的移民，但布鲁塞尔拒绝了这一要求。如果瑞士想继续与欧洲进行贸易，就必须接受欧洲劳工。Switzerland, as a single country, just didn't have the negotiating power to stand up to 28 European countries at once. Most people who want Britain to leave the EU want freer trade and stricter immigration. But with the EU facing an unprecedented migration crisis, it's unlikely that Britain will get both.作为一个单独的国家，瑞士并没有足够的谈判能力去同时对抗 28 个欧洲国家。大多数希望英国脱欧的人，既想要更自由的贸易，又想要更严格的移民政策。但在欧盟正面临前所未有的移民危机之际，英国同时得到这两点的可能性并不大。Maybe the EU is too rigid and too boring. Maybe it does need to adapt as the world changes around it. Maybe the exact thing it needs is a big, liberal, pragmatic member to push it in that direction and do it from the inside.也许欧盟确实过于僵化、过于乏味。也许它确实需要随着世界的变化而进行调整。也许它真正需要的，正是一个规模大、开放、务实的成员国，从内部推动它朝这个方向改变。I wonder who that could be.我在想，那会是谁呢？

Children, particularly those under the age of seven, seem to develop more aggressive type 1 diabetes than those diagnosed later in life. Researchers at the University of Exeter studied pancreas samples from 250 donors, allowing them to see how the beta cells which produce the hormone insulin formed normally and in type 1.儿童，尤其是七岁以下的儿童，似乎比在年龄更大时诊断出的人 1 型糖尿病发展得更凶猛。埃克塞特大学的研究人员仔细研究了来自 250 名捐赠者的胰腺样本，这让他们得以一窥产生胰岛素这种激素的胰岛 β 细胞在正常人的胰腺和 1 型糖尿病患者的胰腺中形成方式的区别。They showed early in life the beta cells live in small clusters which are easy for the immune system to pick off and destroy. The researchers say it's a really significant finding and that the future was looking much brighter with drugs that can slow the immune system's attack.这些样本显示出在生命早期胰岛 β 细胞会以小团的形式存在，这让免疫系统能够轻易地识别并破坏它们。研究人员称这项发现意义重大，它为糖尿病治疗的未来带来了希望，因为将会有可以减缓免疫系统攻击的药物。