Chelsea Clinton Husband's Hedge Fund 'To Shut'

A hedge fund portfolio run by Hillary Clinton's son-in-law is reportedly to close after it lost nearly 90% of its value.

Chelsea Clinton's husband Marc Mezvinsky, 38, launched Eaglevale Hellenic Opportunity in July 2014 with two former Goldman Sachs colleagues.

The Manhattan firm raised $25m from investors to buy Greek bank stocks and government debt.

But sources with direct knowledge of the matter told the New York Times that investors were informed last month the fund would shut.

The couple, married in 2010, are expecting their second child

A number of investors were longtime Clinton supporters, according to financial documents obtained by the newspaper.

Goldman chief executive Lloyd Blankfein was also among investors and he allowed Eaglevale to use his name in marketing.

In letters to investors in 2014, Mr Mezvinsky expressed confidence that Greece would soon be on the path to a "sustainable recovery".

But by early last year the Hellenic fund had lost about 40% of its value as its big bet on Greek stocks turned sour.

Mr Mezvinsky, a Stanford University graduate, worked at Goldman for eight years before leaving to join a private equity firm.

He married Chelsea Clinton in July 2010; they have a daughter, Charlotte, and are expecting their second child.

His financial misadventure may renew critics' claims that his mother-in-law, a Democratic White House candidate, is too close to Wall Street.

'Chinese helicopter': Singlish OED entry baffles Singaporeans

As a native speaker of Singlish, I was proud to hear 19 Singaporean terms have made it to the Oxford English Dictionary.

"Ang moh" (local term for a Caucasian), chilli crab (our national dish) and "sotong" (another local term referring to a squid, but also used to describe ignorance) were just a handful of the words chosen for this year's update. 

But what the heck is a "Chinese helicopter"? 

"A Singaporean whose schooling was conducted in Mandarin Chinese and who has limited knowledge of English," the OED's official definition reads.

What talking you? 

But like me, many of my fellow countrymen have been baffled by the appearance of the word.

"This is the first time I've come across the term," said Joseph Lim, 29, on Facebook.

"If there was no definition provided, I would have thought it was a sexual term."

Other Singaporeans, like Twitter user Chew Yiheng agreed. "Is that word even Singlish? I feel suaku", he said, referring to the local term for a country bumpkin, someone not well-informed.

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OED definition of Singlish

An informal variety of English spoken in Singapore, incorporating elements of Chinese and Malay.

Dr Danica Salazar, a consultant editor with the Oxford English Dictionary said the inclusion of these new words shows that "people do not need to speak English like Americans or the British in order for their English to be correct".

"These words have become part of the English language and they show something about the culture of Hong Kong and Singapore," she told BBC News.

"English is such a global language and this should be celebrated." 

But Belmont Lay, the founding editor at local news portal Mothership, said the Oxford Dictionary was "having a go at Singaporeans". 

"Chinese Helicopter reflects Singapore's Anglophone bias. I think it's great that the term was included but....why are they legitimising our creole English?"

The inclusion of "Chinese helicopter" was also being discussed on local radio on Friday. 

Teacher David Tan said he knew where the term came from: it's actually an in-joke from Singapore's military service tradition.

"We are not talking about importing Chinese-type of tomahawk helicopter here," he said in a comment in response to a post on our BBC News Facebookpage.

"The term 'Chinese Helicopter' was coined due to a mispronunciation of the word 'educated'," he explained.

"During the early days, Singaporean men who were educated in Chinese schools had difficulty understanding English instructions in the army. Hence when a man would say 'educated', [it sounded like "helicated"] and became helicopter." 

Wah, you so 'powderful'

There are other terms in the Singlish vocabulary which carry knowing mispronunciations, used to mock others.

Take for example, the usage of the word "powerful". 

A Singaporean would swap it for the word "powderful" in a verbal battle.

When someone uses bad English, a normal speaker would reply sarcastically: "Wow, your English is so powerful".

But a true Singlish speaker would retaliate: "Wah, your English very powderful ah?"

So there you have it, win already lah!

Cambodian Media Must Now Call Their Country’s Leader ‘Lord Prime Minister’

(PHNOM PENH, Cambodia) — For years, some Cambodian media have referred to the country’s longtime leader simply as Prime Minister Hun Sen. Authorities warned Thursday that has to stop.

Starting in August, all media must use his full, honorary, six-word title — “Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen” — in the opening lines of print articles, radio and TV stories about the leader.

The title translates roughly to “Lord Prime Minister and Supreme Military Commander” and was bestowed on Hun Sen by Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni in 2007.

The Information Ministry held a nearly three-hour meeting for journalists Thursday to announce the new guidelines and warn that legal action will be taken against media that don’t comply. Officials gave no specifics on the punishment for flouting the rule, which they said was important to show respect for leaders who hold Cambodia’s highest titles.

The new rule appeared aimed specifically at media viewed by the government as pro-opposition and pro-Western. Pro-government media typically refer to officials with their honorary titles.

It comes amid a series of moves by Hun Sen’s government to put legal pressure on its critics and political opponents.

During his three decades in power, Hun Sen has long exerted strong control over the media, and expressing public dissent in Cambodia remains risky. The government has tightened controls on telecommunications and threatens prosecution of online critics, especially those commenting on Hun Sen and his family.

“We want you to state the full title of leaders in the story’s lead or first sentence,” said Ouk Kimseng, an under-secretary of state at the Information Ministry, who led the meeting. Subsequent references can drop the long title, he said.

The ministry has issued similar warnings before, which were largely ignored.

The rule also applies to several ruling party officials.

Hun Sen’s wife Bun Rany was given a royal title in 2013, “Samdech Kittipritbandit Bun Rany Hun Sen,” which translates to “Celebrated Senior Scholar Bun Rany Hun Sen.” It refers to an honorary Ph.D. that was given to the first lady, who never formally graduated from university.

IMF: UK Economy Could Suffer From Brexit

The IMF will today hit out at Britain's possible exit from the European Union in a report of its annual assessment of the UK economy.

The report will be presented by Managing Director Christine Lagarde at the Treasury this morning alongside Chancellor George Osborne.

It comes hours after the Bank of England surprised many by firmly indicating it has concerns about the economic consequences of a vote to leave the EU.

Leave campaigners hit back against the Bank's Governor Mark Carney, including Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg and member of the Treasury Select Committee, who called for Governor Carney to be fired.

Mr Rees-Mogg told Sky News: "Mark Carney has intervened speculatively in a political matter.

"It's the responsibility of the Monetary Policy Committee to be independent and he's decided to make a deeply political choice in a referendum which is the concern of the British people and therefore he should be fired."

After a day in which the official Vote Leave campaign had threatened "consequences" for broadcaster ITV for inviting UKIP leader Nigel Farage to a TV discussion, one Government source told Sky News: "The Leave campaign has been reduced to frankly unhinged demands for the Governor to be sacked and ITV to be closed down".

Governor Carney warned that growth could be materially lower, and prices and unemployment higher if Britain votes to leave.

The Bank's Inflation Report warned of a "perhaps sharp" slide in sterling after a Leave vote and funding problems in government and corporate bond markets, and for bank funding.

The Bank also calculated that the referendum was already impacting on growth, downgrading Q2 growth to 0.3%, its lowest rate since 2012.

The report, the combined calculation of nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee, including four independent economists, estimated that one half of the 9% fall in the pound since November was attributable to the Brexit referendum.

Speaking to Sky News the Governor justified his intervention, saying that to "suppress" the Bank's calculation would have been the real form of political interference.

Ex-Chancellor and Leave campaigner Lord Lamont argued the Governor should merely have communicated the Bank stood ready to deal with any consequences and that Governor Carney could now be blamed for any "pause" in the economy if Britain votes to leave.

Polls have shown Governor Carney is highly influential with voters of every age, demographic and from every region.

ComRes found he was more influential on British voters than the Queen, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and US President Barack Obama.

The Treasury is expected to release its own assessment of the short-term economic impact of a Leave vote in the coming days.

RAF Jets Scrambled To Intercept Russian Planes

RAF Typhoons were scrambled from a base in Estonia to intercept three Russian military transport planes which were approaching Baltic countries.

It was the first time that British fighter jets have responded to Russian aircraft "aggression" since the Typhoons were deployed in late April on a four-month policing mission in the region.

They were said to have carried out "textbook intercepts" of the AN-26 'Curl', AN-12 'Cub' and IL-76 'Candid' planes that were not transmitting a recognised identification code and were unresponsive.

Photographs released by the Ministry of Defence showed the Typhoons shadowing the aircraft.

Four UK jets are currently based at Amari airbase in Estonia, where they have joined the NATO Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission until the end of August.

They, as well as Portuguese F-16s based in Lithuania, are on stand-by 24/7 to provide security in the airspace over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and respond quickly to any aggression directed from Russia, or others.

One of the RAF pilots involved in the mission said: "The scramble went exactly as planned.

"We launched our Typhoon aircraft quickly and then using our advanced sensors and mission systems, combined with support from our battlespace managers on the ground, carried out textbook intercepts of the three aircraft."

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: "This is another example of just how important the UK's contribution to the Baltic Air Policing Mission is.

"We were able to instantly respond to this act of Russian aggression - demonstration of our commitment to NATO's collective defence."

It is the third year that UK jets have taken part in the BAP mission.

Last time, Typhoon fighters were scrambled 17 times, and intercepted over 40 Russian aircraft.

During one launch last July, the Typhoons intercepted 10 separate Russian aircraft, including eight fighters.

Azealia Banks' Twitter account suspended after Zayn Malik abuse

Rapper Azealia Banks has been suspended from Twitter.

The '212' star has been blocked from the social media platform, following a string of aggressive tweets directed at former One Direction singer, Zayn Malik.

She has been accused of racism and homophobia after referencing Zayn's heritage and using offensive terms.

Following her rant against Zayn, she was dropped from her headline slot at London's Born & Bred festival.

The Metro reported that the Home Office was considering banning Banks from entering the UK.

Buyout Titans Plot £10bn O2 Takeover Bids

Some of the world's biggest buyout firms are weighing a £10bn takeover approach to the owner of O2 after its plans to merge with rival mobile network operator Three were blocked by European regulators.

Sky News has learnt that Apax Partners, CVC Capital Partners and KKR are examining a possible offer to O2's parent, Telefonica.

Some of the potential private equity bidders have held preliminary talks with bankers about financing a deal.

City sources cautioned that there were several factors which could prevent a formal offer being made to the Spanish owner of O2, such as a bid from Liberty Global, which owns Virgin Media.

Mike Fries, Liberty Global chief executive, said this week it would be "strange" if his company did not evaluate a bid for O2.

Telefonica's hopes of combining O2 with Three to create the UK's biggest mobile phone group were dashed on Wednesday when the European Commission said the merger would damage consumers' interests.

Apax and KKR had previously worked together on a bid for EE prior to its takeover by BT Group.

Other private equity firms with significant experience of European telecoms deals are also expected to examine bids for O2 given the amount of capital available to private equity firms with large funds.

For Telefonica, a sale to Liberty or private equity groups would not involve the competition risk inherent in the Three transaction.

The collapse of the merger means that separate deal arranged by CK Hutchison to sell a minority stake in the combined entity to investors including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will not now proceed.

Explaining her decision to block the deal, Margrethe Vestager, the EC Competition Commissioner, said remedies proposed by CK Hutchison, including the sale of sufficient mobile spectrum to create a credible fourth player in the UK market, were inadequate.

“Allowing Hutchison to take over O2 at the terms they proposed would have been bad for UK consumers and bad for the UK mobile sector," she said.

Her verdict was backed by the UK communications regulator, Ofcom, and the Competition and Markets Authority, which had both lobbied against the merger.

Telefonica recently signalled that it would explore a sale or stock market listing of O2 if the Three deal was blocked.

A spokesman for the UK network said:

“The O2 business has continued to perform well in the market whilst the Commission process has taken place.

"Our customers are our priority and we will continue to differentiate, compete fiercely and remain successful, long into the future."

CK Hutchison has not ruled out legal action to try to overturn the EC decision.

Ofcom said:

“We believe this is the right outcome for mobile customers, who have always been our priority.

"Three and O2 are important and effective competitors in the UK, helping to deliver innovation, investment and competitive prices over many years.

"Competition must be sustainable, and regulation should support it.”