:00:07. > :00:09.I'm Babita Sharma with BBC World News.
:00:10. > :00:15.The British Prime Minister Theresa May has formally begun the process
:00:16. > :00:19.She described it as a historic moment from which there could be
:00:20. > :00:23.But there are signs that negotiations with European leaders
:00:24. > :00:30.The ousted South Korean President, Park Geun-hye, is due in court
:00:31. > :00:33.for a hearing that'll decide whether to approve an arrest warrant
:00:34. > :00:39.against her over corruption allegations.
:00:40. > :00:42.The price of ivory has fallen sharply in China.
:00:43. > :00:44.The conservation group, Save the Elephants, says an economic
:00:45. > :00:48.slowdown and an anti-corruption drive has lead to a reduction
:00:49. > :00:54.in ivory carvings often given as gifts to officials.
:00:55. > :01:17.Aykroyd has converged on Westminster Bridge to remember the victims of
:01:18. > :01:23.the terror attack which occurred one week ago. -- eight crowd. -- a
:01:24. > :01:42.crowd. Fixing a financial meltdown. Samsung
:01:43. > :01:45.Electronics looks to rebuild its reputation with its first new smart
:01:46. > :02:00.phone since the exploding battery scandal. Good morning. Glad you
:02:01. > :02:04.could join us for this edition of Asia Business Report. We start with
:02:05. > :02:12.Toshiba and shares are down less than 1% in Tokyo trade news
:02:13. > :02:17.overnight that it is US unit Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy
:02:18. > :02:20.protection. Investors are waiting as shareholder meeting due to start
:02:21. > :02:26.shortly. Toshiba are now warns that the Delos Mao may widen to over $1
:02:27. > :02:31.billion US because of the problems of Westinghouse. It has twice
:02:32. > :02:36.delayed reporting earnings until April 11. And Toshiba shares have
:02:37. > :02:41.lost over 60% since it first acknowledged that the problems in
:02:42. > :02:48.December. The Japanese firm may now look to sell a majority stake in
:02:49. > :02:52.Westinghouse. Earlier I spoke to Rupert in Tokyo. I asked him how
:02:53. > :02:58.hard it will be for Toshiba to get their finance in order. It will be
:02:59. > :03:02.quite difficult to do that. It faces a large hurdle to get this mess
:03:03. > :03:08.under control. That is why it has filed for bankruptcy for
:03:09. > :03:13.Westinghouse in the US, to try and put a barrier between the rest of
:03:14. > :03:16.the one that business and the Westinghouse nuclear business which
:03:17. > :03:22.is where most of the losses have come from. To do that, it will cost
:03:23. > :03:29.a lot of money. This is why it says it will lend up with, perhaps, a Y1
:03:30. > :03:35.trillion, a $9.1 billion net loss for the financial year. That puts
:03:36. > :03:38.Toshiba Corporation in a difficult situation because it could be
:03:39. > :03:45.delisted from the Tokyo stock market if its net losses are greater than
:03:46. > :03:50.its assets. For that reason, Toshiba is looking to refinance itself,
:03:51. > :03:55.perhaps by selling off its memory chip business which is believed to
:03:56. > :04:00.be worth around one $3 billion. That is a process ongoing at the moment,
:04:01. > :04:04.looking for purchases to see who made step up bid for the business.
:04:05. > :04:11.Important decisions are for shareholders. How will Westinghouse
:04:12. > :04:16.bankruptcy affect the nuclear projects in the UK? In the medium
:04:17. > :04:19.run it looks like Toshiba will be getting out of nuclear power.
:04:20. > :04:26.Westinghouse will be restructured. It has ongoing projects in the US,
:04:27. > :04:32.India and China and in the long run, it is part of a nuclear project in
:04:33. > :04:38.the UK and it is a 60% shareholder in that. All indications are that
:04:39. > :04:42.Toshiba wants to get out of the rut checked as soon as possible. It will
:04:43. > :04:46.not go forward with construction and even now it looks as if they will
:04:47. > :04:50.try to sell their stake in the project as soon as they can. That
:04:51. > :04:53.puts the British government in a difficult position because now they
:04:54. > :04:59.need to find fresh investors to come in and take over the state of
:05:00. > :05:04.Toshiba. The UK Prime Minister has formally kicked off negotiations to
:05:05. > :05:09.leave the European Union. Both sides now have two years to agree on a new
:05:10. > :05:13.trade deal. The British Prime Minister wants an orderly exit,
:05:14. > :05:18.nothing like what happened in the financial markets after the
:05:19. > :05:22.referendum last year Brexit when the pound lost 10% of its value against
:05:23. > :05:29.the US dollar in just one day. The final deal will also depend on what
:05:30. > :05:33.the EU trading partners wish for in an new relationship.
:05:34. > :05:40.A lively serenade on one of the busiest shopping streets in Germany.
:05:41. > :05:49.When it comes to Brexit, the mood is more downbeat. A few months ago we
:05:50. > :05:55.thought that would not really happen, it but, well, today, we know
:05:56. > :06:01.better. I was quite sad about it because I have friends living in the
:06:02. > :06:07.UK so I hope that the day, as Germans, can still live there. I
:06:08. > :06:13.don't think it will be a good deal in the end. It does not influence my
:06:14. > :06:19.daily life so I don't know how to feel. On one side it is a bad sign,
:06:20. > :06:23.we need to show unity in the world. On the other hand, it is a good sign
:06:24. > :06:28.because it shows that people still have voice in democracy. Down the
:06:29. > :06:31.road, a multinational T-shirt company is already making
:06:32. > :06:38.contingency plans. Even for its British-born boss. In two years
:06:39. > :06:42.time, the UK will be marginalised and for that we will do less
:06:43. > :06:47.business and we will have gone like many other countries, to concentrate
:06:48. > :06:50.on the other European markets such as Spain, Italy, all of whom are
:06:51. > :06:56.growing fast and are far more valuable to us. Personally, I will
:06:57. > :07:01.probably buy them have become German because I am really a European who
:07:02. > :07:05.wants to do business in Europe. It is not all doom and gloom. One
:07:06. > :07:14.specialist shop knows that even Brexit can't dampen the appeal of an
:07:15. > :07:22.English cup of tea. In other business news making headline, a
:07:23. > :07:30.deal between China's insurers group and Kushner has fallen through. It
:07:31. > :07:35.was criticised as a potential attempt by China to curry favour
:07:36. > :07:40.with the White House. Mr Kushner is a senior adviser to the White House
:07:41. > :07:46.and the son-in-law of Donald Trump. He stepped down as CEO of the
:07:47. > :07:49.company in January. They have not said why discussions were called.
:07:50. > :07:57.The past few months have been anything but. Song as has been
:07:58. > :08:07.implicated in one of the biggest corruption scandals in South Korea.
:08:08. > :08:10.It was forced to recall its flagship smartphone after batteries caught
:08:11. > :08:15.fire. It now looks to redeem itself with a new smart phone. Here they
:08:16. > :08:22.are. The long-awaited new smart phones from Samsung. Aid big home
:08:23. > :08:30.screen, a hidden home screen and their own virtual assistant. Can you
:08:31. > :08:42.tell me more about this wine? Here are the search result. Samsung calls
:08:43. > :08:47.this phone a artform but it is still familiar. The fingerprint button has
:08:48. > :08:50.moved to the back but there is no official recognition screen
:08:51. > :08:53.unlocking and improve split screen. Samsung is sticking with the
:08:54. > :08:57.traditional headphone jack. It can also dog with a monitor or TV if you
:08:58. > :09:01.still need a bigger screen but after the disaster of the note seven's
:09:02. > :09:06.exploding battery there is no extra battery flower power. We learned a
:09:07. > :09:13.lot lessons with the old phone on the battery. So we have put in new
:09:14. > :09:20.quality assurer and processes and controls that we are implementing in
:09:21. > :09:29.the production of the S8. It is 61 degrees with sunshine. It is perhaps
:09:30. > :09:32.typical of the newly cautious response that the virtual assistants
:09:33. > :09:38.only speaks US English and Korean at the moment. I spoke with a digital
:09:39. > :09:42.consultant and asked him if a new phone will help the electronics
:09:43. > :09:45.giant repair its damaged reputation. Definitely they are trying because
:09:46. > :09:55.this is one of their flagship product is due to replace the S7.
:09:56. > :10:02.They have been a good embarking on an aggressive PR campaign. It will
:10:03. > :10:05.be difficult to read brand themselves. -- rebrand themselves.
:10:06. > :10:12.Just days before this new phone launched, the Samsung experience
:10:13. > :10:16.store caught fire under mysterious circumstances that will not help
:10:17. > :10:20.with their reputation. Moreover, every time we fly today, airlines
:10:21. > :10:24.still remind you of the note seven to buckle, that it is a
:10:25. > :10:29.life-threatening device to bring on board a plane. Last, but not least,
:10:30. > :10:32.the customer services have also been reported to actually tell people not
:10:33. > :10:36.to say anything about the device or talk to any media for any device
:10:37. > :10:40.replaced. The brand promise and what they are doing off-line on the
:10:41. > :10:44.retail side, well, they are out of sync. They have a lot of work to do
:10:45. > :10:50.to rebuild their reputation. Reputational damage has been huge
:10:51. > :10:55.with the exploding batteries of the Galaxy Note7 and key here is over
:10:56. > :11:02.the next few months it will regain the trust of humour and not only
:11:03. > :11:08.that, pressure of releasing a new phone in a competitive market.
:11:09. > :11:11.Definitely so. They compete with other major smartphone makers so
:11:12. > :11:16.they are under pressure above and below. They are hoping with a
:11:17. > :11:28.successful launch they will put the previous phone behind as a glitch,
:11:29. > :11:32.but a quick look now at the markets and on the motherboard screen, Asia
:11:33. > :11:36.is currently mixed in early Thursday trade. Opening lower due to the
:11:37. > :11:53.weakness of Wall Street and investors are waiting for results
:11:54. > :11:59.from Toshiba. You are watching BBC World News and I am Babita Sharma.
:12:00. > :12:01.Britain starts the