:00:00. > :00:00.Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News. Now for the latest
:00:00. > :00:19.financial news in World Business Report.
:00:20. > :00:24.President Obama leaves Malaysia to fly to the last leg of his week`long
:00:25. > :00:30.tour of Asia where demonstrators rallied against his push for a free
:00:31. > :00:34.trade deal. We bring you up to date.
:00:35. > :00:37.2014 marks 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and, with it, the
:00:38. > :00:40.collapse of communism. We take a look at how the countries behind the
:00:41. > :00:46.Iron Curtain have changed, starting in Germany.
:00:47. > :00:54.Welcome to World Business Report. In a minute, we'll be looking at the
:00:55. > :00:59.Brazil economy which is looking unfit ahead of the World Cup. First:
:01:00. > :01:02.Security and economic ties will dominate President Obama's visit to
:01:03. > :01:10.the Philippines, his final stop on a week`long tour of four Asian
:01:11. > :01:13.countries. He's due into Manila in about an hour, flying in from
:01:14. > :01:15.Malaysia where demonstrators rallied against his push for a free trade
:01:16. > :01:22.deal, the Trans`Pacific Partnership, which includes 12 nations around the
:01:23. > :01:25.Pacific Rim. It looks like an uphill battle to get Malaysia to sign up,
:01:26. > :01:33.after worries it'll lead to higher prices for food and medicines.
:01:34. > :01:43.Jennifer Pak is in Kuala Lumpur to bring us up to date what happened in
:01:44. > :01:51.the Malyasian leg of the tour. How would you assess his success
:01:52. > :01:54.rate in Malaysia? President Obama and the Prime Minister has said that
:01:55. > :01:59.the visit is nothing short of historic. He is the first US
:02:00. > :02:04.president to come to this country in 48 years. In that time, China has
:02:05. > :02:10.become the biggest trading partner of Malaysia. The US wants to get
:02:11. > :02:14.involved and increase its economic ties. We saw in the case of the
:02:15. > :02:21.missing airliner that the US and Malaysia are close but economically,
:02:22. > :02:24.it is not up there. The US has dropped to the fourth largest
:02:25. > :02:32.trading partner for Malaysia. The ten nations in South East Asia are
:02:33. > :02:37.one of the fourth largest trading partners of the US in terms of
:02:38. > :02:42.exporters. It is an important strategic partner. Mr Obama didn't
:02:43. > :02:45.quite get the commitment required or the controversial deal you were
:02:46. > :02:49.talking about, The Trans`Pacific Partnership. This is a free`trade
:02:50. > :02:55.deal which is controversial locally there are ethnic Malay groups
:02:56. > :03:00.concerned that there privileges over other races will be reduced under
:03:01. > :03:03.the deal. We do not know a lot of details about this. A legion
:03:04. > :03:08.officials have been quite guarded about what they will and will not
:03:09. > :03:13.reveal, what they are actually discussing. It has been difficult to
:03:14. > :03:20.assess the impact. A lot of people here are concerned about the prices
:03:21. > :03:26.of commodities will go up if it is signed with the US. President Obama
:03:27. > :03:30.has assured that the US is not bullying Malaysia to sign a deal.
:03:31. > :03:32.Malaysia has said that it will attempt to work out some of the
:03:33. > :03:38.sensitivities that local people have. Still a long way to go. Not
:03:39. > :03:43.the commitment required that a good step forward. The partnership has
:03:44. > :03:50.been hailed, moving forward into the new era. Described as a start but
:03:51. > :03:56.still an uphill struggle to get all of the nation to sign up to the TPP
:03:57. > :04:00.pact. This year sees the 25th anniversary
:04:01. > :04:03.of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism. In the
:04:04. > :04:06.first of a series of reports, Tanya Beckett looks at how the countries
:04:07. > :04:11.behind the Iron Curtain have changed. We're starting in Germany,
:04:12. > :04:14.the most visibly divided. East Germany benefited from trillions of
:04:15. > :04:16.euros of investment from the west but some are critical of the
:04:17. > :04:33.reunification process. A momentous night in Berlin, 25
:04:34. > :04:35.years ago. There was jubilation as Germans from East and West were
:04:36. > :04:43.reunited for the first time in nearly three decades. On November
:04:44. > :04:48.nine in 1989, Germans celebrated here at the Brandenburg gate in
:04:49. > :04:55.Berlin. The wall which had divided them for nearly 30 years was coming
:04:56. > :04:59.down. As they call at the brick with hammers and chisels, what was
:05:00. > :05:02.perhaps harder to grasp was that the road ahead would bring more
:05:03. > :05:08.difficult challenges. `` tore at the brick. What followed was an
:05:09. > :05:13.absorption of the economy of the east by that of the West. You could
:05:14. > :05:23.not imagine that there would be no wall in Berlin but it happened. This
:05:24. > :05:29.German financial minister was a key figure. I don't know how many
:05:30. > :05:36.mistakes we made but the biggest mistake would have been to not have
:05:37. > :05:44.acted. He economy was not competitive. They were not
:05:45. > :05:52.competitive. This is one of the few remaining parts of the Berlin Wall.
:05:53. > :05:54.These two were at school in the east. They described how the
:05:55. > :06:00.aftermath was felt in their communities. The industry collapsed
:06:01. > :06:05.in a short time. More than 2 million people lost work. There was hardly
:06:06. > :06:11.any industry left in east Germany. People had to move to West Germany
:06:12. > :06:16.and begin from scratch. They felt all the time that they were
:06:17. > :06:20.second`class citizens. There was a mistake that people said that you
:06:21. > :06:24.had your attempt and your socialist ideas but you obviously failed.
:06:25. > :06:33.Now, you have to begin all over again. No part of German society,
:06:34. > :06:39.including the student in Berlin, would wish for a return of the wall.
:06:40. > :06:44.Many a fact `` except that it could take another generation to close the
:06:45. > :06:48.gap which it created. `` accept the fact.
:06:49. > :06:58.With little over a month until kick`off, the spotlight is very much
:06:59. > :07:01.on Brazil right now. The country won the right to host the World Cup
:07:02. > :07:03.during a period of huge economic growth but since then, that growth
:07:04. > :07:07.has been spluttering. Economists expect the economy to grow just 2%
:07:08. > :07:10.this year, compared with more than 7% in 2010. And one of the biggest
:07:11. > :07:13.issues the country's facing at the moment is rising prices ` inflation
:07:14. > :07:20.remains stubbornly high at around 6%. Katy Watson now reports.
:07:21. > :07:32.It is market today in south polo. People here are doing their weekly
:07:33. > :07:38.shop, the cost of each keeps rising. `` Sao Paulo. Inflation is a
:07:39. > :07:42.sensitive problem here. The hike in bus prices sparked widespread
:07:43. > :07:46.protests around the country. With presidential elections coming up
:07:47. > :07:52.later this year, inflation is a real focal point, something that will not
:07:53. > :07:56.go away during the World Cup. The critics are more vocal. This
:07:57. > :08:01.Facebook page which highlights high prices has more than 2000 followers.
:08:02. > :08:05.Some of them are celebrating today at a picnic. They say that there is
:08:06. > :08:13.more work to be done, especially ahead of the World Cup. The memory
:08:14. > :08:19.of hyperinflation in the 1980s and 1990s still feels recent. During the
:08:20. > :08:21.worst of times, prices rose more than 2000% per year. People need not
:08:22. > :08:23.worry about the past repeating itself according to this man. He
:08:24. > :08:32.should know. He was finance minister during those times. Everytime
:08:33. > :08:38.inflation rises, it gets crazy. People manifested their opinion in
:08:39. > :08:41.the opinion polls and production drops. The President is forced to
:08:42. > :08:48.act to support the central bank in order to cut expenses in order to
:08:49. > :09:00.avoid runaway inflation. It would mean electoral defeat. Back at the
:09:01. > :09:04.market, the sellers are trying to convince shoppers that their food is
:09:05. > :09:06.cheap. People are finding it harder and harder to believe.
:09:07. > :09:10.In other news: Germany's Siemens says it wants to talk to the maker
:09:11. > :09:12.of TGV high`speed trains Alstom about strategic opportunities
:09:13. > :09:18.raising the prospect of a takeover tussle for the firm. It follows
:09:19. > :09:26.reports that General Electric also wants to buy the company.
:09:27. > :09:28.The British Government is facing a rebellion over the controversial
:09:29. > :09:32.multi`billion dollar HS2 high`speed rail link when politicians vote
:09:33. > :09:35.later today. The HS2 link will run between London, the Midlands and the
:09:36. > :09:40.North of England and is expected to cost over $71 billion. Those
:09:41. > :09:48.opposing want a cheaper and more environmentally sympathetic route.
:09:49. > :09:57.Looking at the market now. For the most part, Asian shares wavered. An
:09:58. > :09:59.uninspiring performance on Wall Street and its increasing tension in
:10:00. > :10:23.Ukraine. Thank you for that. We will get to
:10:24. > :10:27.the papers in a moment. But first: The BBC has learned that the police
:10:28. > :10:29.are reviewing evidence to see if there's enough to justify a criminal
:10:30. > :10:32.investigation into allegations of a cover`up of child abuse linked to
:10:33. > :10:34.the late Liberal MP, Sir Cyril Smith. Our political correspondent,
:10:35. > :10:35.Victoria Young,