i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: a crisis for cryptocurrencies. one of japan's biggest exchanges refunds $500 million after a major hacking attack. translation: my total losses are abouti million yen. i was shocked. i'm finding it difficult to trust virtual currencies anymore. the issue of sexual harassment will take centre—stage at the grammy awards. we are in new york with the latest. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: the russian opposition leader, alexei navalny, is among dozens arrested during countrywide protests. thousands take to the streets in hong kong to back a pro—democracy activist barred from a forthcoming by—election. good morning.

it is 9:00am in singapore, 1:00am in london, and 10:00am injapan, where there is new doubt surrounding the security of crypto—currency exchanges which handle digital cash systems like bitcoin. one of the country's biggest exchanges, coincheck, has offered to refund $500 million in currency stolen by hackers on friday. japan is one of the world's most enthusiastic traders in crypto—currencies, and the theft has cast doubt over the credibility of the exchange system. rhodri davies has this report, which contains some flash photography. as many as 10,000 businesses injapan are said to accept cryptocurrencies. this virtual heist is bound to increase concerns cryptocurrencies don't

have a centralised register. their strength, in theory, comes from having a connected distributed register called a blockchain. a transaction is ordered by putting the currency into groups, call blocks, which link to and verify the previous block. the stolen coincheck assets were said to be kept in a hot wallet. which is part of the exchange connected to the internet, as opposed to a cold wallet, where funds are stored securely offline. coincheck said it will issue full

refunds to all of the 250,000 of its users who have become victims of the hack. but will that be enough? translation: my total losses are about1 million yen. i was shocked. i'm finding it difficult to trust virtual currencies anymore. eieeze eii’éeieigeéafi 2557 i won't consider investing unless there's a reliable platform providing such services. world leaders meeting in davos last week issued fresh warnings about the dangers of cryptocurrencies, suggesting they risked being used for illicit activity. will the coincheck theft now prompt legislators to act? rhodri davies, bbc news. stay with us, as in a few minutes we will be hearing from jeff macdonald, the vice—president of nem, which is the name of the cryptocurrency that was stolen. the highest awards in the music industry, the grammys, are under way in new york, with several of the contenders expressing solidarity with victims of sexual harassment. they are wearing white roses as a symbol of

the #metoo anti—harassment movement. 0ur reporter nada tawfik is in new york. good to see you. tell us firstly, have out is award 7 have out is award for they have handed out the award for best rap performance, which went to kendrick lamar, who has seven nominations, and before the grammys televised part of the awards ceremony kicked off he won three awards in the am televised portion, and he actually opened tonight's awards ceremonies with a performance, a kind of different tracks from his album. bono and dave chappel also made cameos in that performance and it has a lot of kind of political

narratives weaved throughout. so dave chappel at one point stood up in his participation and said just to remind the audience, the only thing scarier than watching a black man be honest in america is being an honest black man in america. so a kind of political message that, racial message there, right at the start of the ceremony. and then best new artist, kara got the main prize, and that was largely expected. that keep the what we have seen so far, and lots more performances to come —— alessia cara. and lots more performances to come -- alessia cara. and we were talking about the movement around the fact that black artist were believed to have been snubbed in the previous yea rs of have been snubbed in the previous years of this event. that was also centrestage, alongside another movement which has gained traction in hollywood, the sexual harassment, solidarity with victims of that, and the #metoo movement, as well. yes,

absolutely, and i just the #metoo movement, as well. yes, absolutely, and ijust came from the red carpet where am men and women we re red carpet where am men and women were wearing white roses in support of the #metoo movement, in solidarity with the victims of sexual abuse. now, that was an idea that came out from a newlyformed group that wanted the music industry to also lend their voice to this problem. and so i spoke to several celebrities who wore that white rose, including cyndi lauper, who says she is really pushing for safe works pa ces says she is really pushing for safe workspaces for women, says she is really pushing for safe workspaces forwomen, equal says she is really pushing for safe workspaces for women, equal pay, to support those colleagues who do speak out about sexual abuse. and the grammys, how else would they respond to this? of course, with a performance, with music. so kesha is expected to play a very powerful song, praying, directed to the producers she has accused of sexual assault. he has denied that what it has led to a long, drawn—out legal battle her. it is expected to be a

powerful moment of the night —— battle for her. our other top story: several thousand people have taken to the streets in hong kong to protest against the disqualification of a young pro—democracy activist, agnes chow, from a forthcoming by—election. her candidacy was rejected because her party supports self—determination for hong kong. ms chow said there was no doubt about the government's motives. translation: the government's move to disqualify me is telling us, telling the world, and all people of hong kong, that the people are not allowed to vote according to our free will.