bitcoin soars as an official who led a crackdown on the us crypto industry says he will resign from his role. plus, what lies ahead for india's adani empire. with its boss and senior executives facing fraud charges in the united states. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. let's begin in the united states, where investors are watching bitcoin as it approaches the historic $100,000 mark. this comes after the securities and exchange commission said its chairman gary gensler, who led a regulatory crackdown on the crypto industry, will be stepping down. president—elect donald trump, who will take office injanuary, is viewed to be supportive of cryptocurrencies. the bbc�*s ritika gupta has more from new york. bitcoin is heading towards the $100,000 threshold while the master number itself

is more psychological than meaningful, it is striking that bitcoin is notching record after record high and the latest boost has come from the announcement that a securities and exchange commission chair, gary gensler, who led a us crack down on cryptocurrency will step down on january 20. that's also the day donald trump will be sworn into the white house. investors have remained bullished the policies from the incoming trump administration, bitcoin has soared about 40% since trump's presidential victory. and reports of president—elect�*s transition team discussing the possibility of a first ever role for crypto policy also sent the token higher. bitcoin has been a key component of the trump trade as trump has promised to explore crypto friendly initiatives, including the creation of the bitcoin national stockpile and the replacement of sec chair gary gensler and that's in addition to the flurry of optimism for the digital asset in recent weeks. software company micro strategy has been ramping up purchases

of the token and options on bitcoin etx debuted attracting big inflows. it's been a busy week for president—elect donald trump — who has been picking key members of his next administration. he'sjust named pam bondi as his new pick for attorney general — replacing matt gaetz. meanwhile, in foreign policy, both marco rubio and howard lutnick will play pivotal roles in implementing trump's high tariffs on china. for energy, chris wright will look to increase drilling for "liquid gold". and then there's elon musk and vivek ramaswamy — tasked with making the government more efficient. there's also the question of who trump will select for treasury secretary. frank lavin is a former us trade negotiator for china and india. he started by explaining why mr gaetz withdrew from the race. he had enormous number of problems, behavioural issues and legitimate concerns about policy depth and management capabilities and so, he set a real speed record for the speed in which he was nominated and the speed in which he withdrew so that

went very quickly but i think we ended up in a better place. tell us a bit about pam bondi then. well, she served on the trump white house, the legal team in the first and trump in she went in one race for state attorney general and state of florida saw a major state position and attorney general position so she at least has policy depth and management depth as well as demonstrated trump loyalty and familiarity that he requires in his cabinet team. trump has been very quick to name cabinet positions, although he would like to install. treasury secretary, so far no names there, what are your thoughts on what that could be one of the problems with treasury secretary is they require a high degree of loyalty and one of trump initiatives is this tariff initiative and most people from serious economic or financial background do not support tariffs. so it is very difficult to find high—quality person with real wall street credentials who says tariffs is a good idea. speaking of those tariffs, the international community is looking on to see

is was going to be taking these key positions, and it could have an impact here in asia. well, i suspect is going to go ahead with some version of the china tariffs, the other tariffs were so broad, they were universal, he said 20% on tariff for everybody which, again, you won't find a serious economist around who doesn't think that's a bad idea. so, i'm sceptical with how far they go with that and put that into place but if he does, it's harmful to asia and the united states. i saw something or materialise with sue china, sometimes with tariff regimes, he did the last time but i'm sceptical whether he goes the distance with the universal tariffs on the whole world. good person to ask about this being a former us trade negotiator, how would you advise countries to be looking at the incoming trump administration on how they could do business with them? trump respects engagement. the people who show up and have a conversation with them tend to be better off so i wouldn't run and hide even if you find them

unappealing or difficult to work with, you're better off seeing him and there might be some areas where we can move, for example, trump after all of his anti—trade rhetoric in his first term, he went out inside a digital free trade agreement with japan. why couldn't he do that with asean? that would be a step ahead for asean and for the us and it will change the conversation from how high can we move tariffs or are there areas where we can we co—operate? so we can try to get something. when it comes to the us economy and its impact it reverberates around the world, fiscal policy is something we are closely watching within the us. we know thatjerome powell, the fed chair has had some disagreements with trump on how things should go, how do you think that will move forward? well, i think the us fiscal opposition will deteriorate. because of trump's tax policy.

the fed holds steady, i don't think they will fight it but i don't think it has enough clarity to make any kind of movement that inflation is comfortable enough that he can reduce rates so the fed hold steady. you can follow more of our coverage on mr trump's picks for his administration on website bbc.com, or on our mobile app. beijing has responded to the threat of tariffs from president—elect donald trump. wang shouwen — china's vice commerce minister said china will be able to "resolve and resist" the impact of external shocks. since the campaign trail days, the incoming president has been talking of imposing levies of up to 60% on goods from china. turning to india, where we are following the latest after us prosecutors charged tycoon gautam adani and other adani group executives with fraud. shares of the empire — with businesses extending from ports to renewable energy — have been hit. the adani group has denied the allegations, calling them "baseless". the bbc�*s archana shula joins us now. archana, what has

been the fallout? the confidence is shaken for both business partners and investors and we see that in the stock markets were on a second day of trade all of adani stocks have opened five or 10% lower in trade. after losing about $34 billion in the overall group valuation in thursday's trade and it affected stocks and bonds will continue to be under pressure because the reputational damage and governance concerns will not go away so easily. the impact of this has already been felt on business. we have seen the canyon government cancelled two of the big large deals they had. 0ne two of the big large deals they had. one or $2 billion deal to revamp the nairobi airport and $735 billion deal to set off

power transmission lines for the big projects for global expansion plans and make a big presence in africa. at the same time, the ability to raise funds in the international market is also something experts say will come under pressure. yesterday they had to scrap a $600 million bond issue they were raising right after they were raising right after the indictment news came out. experts say it could be, it could take some time before they go back international markets to raise funds which are very crucial for the large cash guzzling big infrastructure projects adani runs. a lot of impact on the business and especially on credibility and governance concerns, it will take a while to go away. concerns, it will take a while to go away-— concerns, it will take a while to go away. given the size and scale of adani _ to go away. given the size and scale of adani and _ to go away. given the size and scale of adani and footprint, l scale of adani and footprint, how significant is this for india? it how significant is this for india? , . . ., india? it is quite crucial because _

india? it is quite crucial because adani - india? it is quite crucial because adani it's - india? it is quite crucial because adani it's one | india? it is quite crucial. because adani it's one of india? it is quite crucial- because adani it's one of the biggest conglomerates. the largest point airport operator in india, largest private power producer in india. at the same time having a large plan to make a big and clean energy as well. most of their big infrastructure and energy products are in line with prime minister narendra modi policy focus areas and hence any troubles in raising funds for some of these big businesses meant something into production projects in india could go slow and the plans could go slow but at the same time it also has political ramifications for long opposition parties have been criticising the meteoric rise of adani forcible link into damage major mode in which they have denied. they have brought up these charges but opposition parties are asking for a parliamentary probe. both

on the economic side and political side there will be big ramifications in the days to come. . ~ big ramifications in the days to come-— big ramifications in the days to come. ., ~ ,, , . for more on the us fraud charges and its impact on india, my colleague soutik biswas has written an explainer on our website at bbc.com. and a correction to a story we mentioned earlier. the 2—month tax break in canada, proposed by prime ministerjustin trudeau is subject to parliamentary approval, therefore doesn't come into effect immediately as we had previously reported. if approved, shoppers will not have to pay a sales tax on selected goods, including christmas trees, restaurant meals, toys and alcohol. critics have called the move "a trick" to deflect attention away from the government's role in rising costs. and that's it for this edition of business today. thanks for watching.

hello, i'm ruby with the catch up. tonight — arrest warrants issued, trouble in dubai and are celebrating a little difference. but first, vladimir putin says russia has hit ukraine with a new type of missile. days after kyiv used western supplied weapons. in a surprise address of the nation, putin said he reserves the right to strike countries that have supplied weapons to ukraine, this now includes the uk and the us. the international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for israel's prime minister and former defence minister. as well as the military commander of hamas. the icc says benjamin netanyahu and yoav gallant could be responsible for crimes against humanity. they believe they've used starvation as a war tactic and targeted civilians.

there's also a warrant out for hamas leader mohammed deif whose israel believe has been killed. both israel and hamas denied the claims against them. some other stories now, an 18—year—old from london has been told his holiday romance in dubai could land him in prison. he was on a family holiday when he had sex with a 17—year—old also from london. the girls mum found out and reported to police in dubai who arrested him. the government says they are supporting marcus and his family. time now for ten seconds of friendship, proving size peally does not matter. the world's tallest lady and the world's tiniest lady meet together for the first time for a tea at the hotel in london. you're all caught up now, have a good night.

hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm jane dougall. a last gasp goal for the gunners sends them into the quarterfinals of the women's champions league. he's staying on — guardiola signs a new deal, and admits he was planning to leave manchester city. plus: we look back at the incredible career of double olympic gold medallist alistair brownlee who's announced his retirement. welcome to the programme. they needed a win and they made their fans wait for it, but arsenal are through

to the quarterfinals of the women's champions league after a goal in the dying