the us charges indian billionaire gautam adani with fraud, over an alleged multi—million dollar bribery scheme. nvidia's profits nearly double, as the ai boom continues. we'll look at what the numbers tell us. and crisis talks at vw thousands of workers protest against drastic restructuring plans, as unions threaten strike action. welcome to business today, i'm ben thompson. we begin with those allegations of large scale fraud, involving one of the world's richest men — gautam adani. he's been charged by us prosecutors who allege the tycoon and other senior executives bribed indian officials to win contracts for his renewable energy company. the indian billionaire has been indicted — along with seven other defendants —

with orchestrating a $250 million bribery scheme. the adani group — of which gautam adani is chair — has denied the allegations, calling them "baseless". elsewhere, kenya has announced the adani group will no longer be involved the construction of its main airport, thejomo kenyatta international. the financial markets didn't like the news, with shares of adani group falling over 20% in thursday trade, wiping over a0 billion dollars off the group's overall value. our south asia regional editor, anbarasan ethirajan joins us now. good to have you here and talk to me about the significance of these allegations, denied by these allegations, denied by the company and the man himself but they are serious and they involve one of the world's richest men. it involve one of the world's richest men.— involve one of the world's richest men. , ,. , ., , richest men. it is described as a hue richest men. it is described as a huge body — richest men. it is described as a huge body blow— richest men. it is described as a huge body blow to _ richest men. it is described as a huge body blow to the - richest men. it is described asi a huge body blow to the adani group which is one of the biggest companies in asia. he himself is described as the second richest man in asia. the company's portfolios range from ports, airports, coal mines and

to various other industries and also in countries abroad. it camejust in 2023, one of also in countries abroad. it came just in 2023, one of the us research firms, investment firm hindenburg, came out alleging account fraud against the adani group which the group at that time stoutly denied and they were just coming out of those allegations that tarnished the image and now this is more serious because this is more serious because this is more serious because this is the us government now charging them and also an arrest warrant which means quite a lot for the adani group. it is not only about the business, it is also going to have political ramifications because he is seen as someone very close to the indian prime minister narendra modi and opposition parties have been accusing gautam adani of benefiting from this proximity with modi and that has been denied by mr modi and adani himself. what happened yesterday evening is not only

going to impact his business in india but also in the country's outside where the company is seeking to expand.— outside where the company is seeking to expand. unpack the olitical seeking to expand. unpack the political revocations _ seeking to expand. unpack the political revocations of - seeking to expand. unpack the political revocations of this, i political revocations of this, as you said, seems to be very close to the indian prime minister. where does it leave him and the political system thatis him and the political system that is often accused of offering favours for deals in this way?— offering favours for deals in this way? it is going to be a hue this way? it is going to be a huge challenge for the - huge challenge for the company to defend itself against these allegations. firstly, this arrest warrant itself is very damning. that led to the opposition leader in india today having a press conference saying adani should be arrested and he was also, once again, bringing up how mr modi and mr adani are quite close and in a number of press conferences and campaign meetings, they were talking about the opposition party, particularly the congress party were talking about how the adani group was given preference and were benefiting from the proximity

with mr modi. so it is going to be a big political issue and in the next extension of parliament itself, they going to raise this because the hindenburg report that came out last year, there was a huge political debate and went up to a supreme court level so the opposition will seize this opportunity to show that mr adani himself has benefited and now this has brought these serious charges from the us. however, the governing bjp in india and mradani however, the governing bjp in india and mr adani deny all these charges.— these charges. speaking of those denials, _ these charges. speaking of those denials, the - these charges. speaking of those denials, the adani i these charges. speaking of- those denials, the adani group called them baseless, where does it go from here, what does it do next? mr does it go from here, what does it do next?— it do next? mr adani's group have issued _ it do next? mr adani's group have issued a _ it do next? mr adani's group have issued a statement, . it do next? mr adani's group i have issued a statement, they were not immediately available at that point when the judges came out but now they say the charges were baseless and they will seek all legal records and then they are very compliant with all the laws but what happened today itself, you see they were planning to offer 600 million dollars bond offering, that was cancelled. i'm talking

about the 20% wiped out from the stock markets, that means $40 billion. so now this is going to have a huge impact if they are going to go for other investors to get money for future projects particularly in green energy. future projects particularly in green energy-— future projects particularly in green energy. really good to talk to you. _ green energy. really good to talk to you, thank _ green energy. really good to talk to you, thank you - green energy. really good to talk to you, thank you for - talk to you, thank you for running us through all of that. anbarasan ethirajan, our southeast regional editor. watch this space. let's focus on nvidia now, which has raised questions for investors despite announcing its profits had almost doubled in the third quarter. the chip—maker reported record quarterly profits of $19 billion. it's been one of the big winners of the recent ai boom and its shares are up 190% over the past year. its shares hit a record high earlier today before losing some of those gains. some investors were less impressed with its fourth quarter guidance, which forecast the slowest growth in almost two years. 0ur north america business correspondent ritika gupta joins us now. what exactly is going on?

investors can't make their mind up investors can't make their mind up whether the figures that were published by great or whether they should worry about what is coming next.— what is coming next. yes, ben. investors _ what is coming next. yes, ben. investors clearly _ what is coming next. yes, ben. investors clearly still _ what is coming next. yes, ben. investors clearly still trying - investors clearly still trying to digest those results from nvidia. they put up a strong quarter but it was that concern again over its weaker than expected forecast that has investors a little bit wary. but the bar, i think, it'sjust so high for this stock. there is a 200% also run up just ahead of those earnings and so there was always a lot of room there was always a lot of room there for disappointment. you have seen the share price reaction after the results, the shares slumping and then some dip buyers are merging this morning and trying to take advantage of that so the shares going into the green and now back into the red again so clearly some volatility there. there was concern over the production and supply of the next generation of ai chips, the blackwell chip but you saw the blackwell chip but you saw the ceo of the company coming out to say demand has been staggering for that chip and

that will continue to fuel ai driven gains and that is something that analysts have taken a bit more of a measured view on. they said, yes, while they may be pointing to slower growth, they could just be being conservative, that the long—term fundamentals still remain intact, they don't see a i demand slowing all that much. again, it seems that i was just a set so high that there was a lot of room for disappointment, there might not be any immediate concern here at least, ben. {iii immediate concern here at least. ben-— immediate concern here at least, ben. of ritika, talking of bars being _ least, ben. of ritika, talking of bars being set _ least, ben. of ritika, talking of bars being set high, - least, ben. of ritika, talking of bars being set high, talk. least, ben. of ritika, talking | of bars being set high, talk to me about bitcoin about to hit a new record? talk to me about the significance of that number? it the significance of that number?— the significance of that number? , ”~' :: :: :: :: :: number? it is the $100,000 mark. i think _ number? it is the $100,000 mark. i think we _ number? it is the $100,000 mark. i think we can't - number? it is the $100,000 mark. i think we can't take l mark. i think we can't take that number to literally, it is more of a psychological level around number. it has been very impressive, though, nonetheless to see bitcoin notching record after record, it was above that $98,000 level today and again it is about the optimism of president elect donald trump, what his return to power would

mean the crypto, a friendlier outlook, more clearer regulations for the digital assets and trump's transition team has already begun talks on an official white house post for a 0dyssey for digital assets, really adding to what has been a flurry of positive news in the crypto space. micro—strategy adding to its positions on bitcoin as well as a debut of the options of the bitcoin etfs as well so very well could reach that $100,000 mark. , ., , ., ., , mark. keep an eye on it for us, ritika. ritika _ mark. keep an eye on it for us, ritika. ritika gupta _ mark. keep an eye on it for us, ritika. ritika gupta in - mark. keep an eye on it for us, ritika. ritika gupta in new- ritika. ritika gupta in new york for us. to germany now where the ig metall labour union is calling volkswagen workers across the country out on strike from december 1st. protests have been taking place outside vw�*s headquarters in wolfsburg — where auto giant has been locked in talks with workers over plans to close factories — and lay off thousands of staff. vw is asking workers to take a 10% pay cut —

as it struggles with fierce competion from china and weak demand for electric vehicles. it has raised the — once unthinkable — possibility of closing plants in germany for the first time in its 87—year history. auto industry expert david bailey has been telling us about the problems stacking up for the company. vw has got the same problems as everybody else. big slowdown in china where it made huge profits before, a slowdown in ev demand in europe and the us. the chinese brands entering the european market and taking market share. and then, on top of that, they have higher costs than some of the car makers, particularly in germany. so a kind of triple or quadruple hit that they are facing at the moment. yeah. and this hot on the heels of ford as well earlier this week. and they are really struggling. and they are struggling primarily because of that shift to ev with higher costs as legacy car—makers. but demand and supply coming from china and the growth of chinese car makers, did none of them see this coming, david?

they've been way too slow. i mean, volkswagen in particular, was pushing diesel for a very long time. that came to a very sticky end. you know, a few years ago. they were slow to get into electric vehicles. china has been at this for 25 years. it has a massive advantage in making batteries and electric cars, and can do so at something like 30 or 40% lower cost. they're increasingly entering the european market. trump, of course, will be putting massive tariffs to keep them out. the european union is trying to introduce some as well, in order to buy a bit more time for the likes of vw and other european car makers to catch up, but they are way behind in this kind of switch over to electric vehicles. yes. and you mentioned those trump tariffs. and we'll talk about those injust a moment. but you know there's a huge cloud on the horizon for global trade as a result. and i wonder who stands to lose more there. is it european car makers or chinese car makers? because we know that trade war between the us and china is in full force. and actually, might that be a benefit for european car makers if trump slaps bigger tariffs on what's coming from china?

well, certainly in terms of broader economics, it's going to be painful for china. but at the moment, chinese electric vehicles are kept out of the us market by 100% tariffs already. so they've been really targeting the european market in terms of increasing exports from china to europe. europe is increasing tariffs as high as 35, 40%. that may not actually be enough to keep the chinese out in terms of the trump tariffs that are coming. if they come, they will be a particular problem for european car makers that don't produce in north america and who are exporting there. that's again a particular problem for volkswagen. it's looking to relaunch in the us. its cars have not been going very well. and in the future, exports from europe may be hit by trump tariffs. professor david bailey speaking to be a little earlier. in other news... shares of google owner alpabet have fallen sharply

after the us government proposed sweeping changes to break up its dominance of internet searches. they include ordering google to sell off its chrome browser. it comes after a landmark court ruling in august that google maintains an illegal monopoly that crushes its competition. google has until mid december to propose its own remedies. the uk has imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on angolan billionaire isabel dos santos — under its global anti—corruption sanctions regime. dos santos, whose father ruled angola for 38 years until 2017, was often described as �*africa's richest woman'. she denies allegations of corruption and says she is the target of a long—running political vendetta. that is your business today, we will see you very soon, bye—bye.

a spokesperson for the prime minister sir keir starmer says britain respects the independence of the international criminal court after it issued arrest warrants for the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, his ex defence defence secretary and a hamas leader. the icc said there were reasonable grounds to believe benjamin netanyahu and yoav gallant bore response of latifah war crimes of starvation, crimes against humanity of murder and other inhumane acts. netanyahu accused the icc of anti—semitism saying his country wouldn't be disturbed from its moorings. the white house fundamentally rejects the warrants against senior israelis. the icc has also issued an arrest warrant against hamas mohammed deif, a key architect of the october seven attacks. israel said it killed mohammed deif earlier

this year. just to remind you,