HONOLULU (Reuters) – Japan’s readiness to join Asia-Pacific free trade talks gave a major boost on Friday to President Barack Obama’s drive to assert U.S. leadership in the world’s most dynamic region and promote growth at home.

Obama arrives in Honolulu, the city of his birth, later on Friday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, seeking to reset his relations with Pacific nations and offer a counterweight to China’s growing power.

HONOLULU (Reuters) – Asia-Pacific CEOs will press world leaders on Friday to boost growth and seal a regional trade deal, goals made more urgent by the European debt crisis that has darkened global economic growth prospects.

Business leaders advising the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit said a “volatile and uncertain economic environment” was discouraging private-sector investment and could spawn protectionist sentiment.

HONOLULU (Reuters) – Europe’s economic troubles won’t be solved quickly, so Asia-Pacific countries need to plan their own policy response over the medium term, a top World Bank official said on Thursday.

Unlike the sudden shock of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008, Europe’s debt crisis is moving relatively slowly, and the remedies will take time, World Bank Managing Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati said.

HONOLULU (Reuters) – Asia Pacific business groups urged President Barack Obama and eight other regional leaders to set a goal of mid-2012 for concluding a Pacific free trade agreement.

The groups also said they would welcome Japan’s joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks provided it is willing to quickly tackle long-standing barriers to its markets and did not drag out the talks.

By Emily Kaiser, Asia Economics Correspondent

(Reuters) – Asia’s central bankers have two main choices for coping with Europe’s debt crisis: Wait it out and hope for a safe resolution, or take out an insurance policy in the form of an interest rate cut.

With the exception of Indonesia and Australia, Asia’s policymakers have opted to wait and see.

By Emily Kaiser, Asia Economics Correspondent

(Reuters) – Asia’s central bankers have two main choices for coping with Europe’s debt crisis: Wait it out and hope for a safe resolution, or take out an insurance policy in the form of an interest rate cut.

With the exception of Indonesia and Australia, Asia’s policymakers have opted to wait and see.

SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Global factory activity slowed in October on weak demand for exports, with a sharp contraction in Britain’s manufacturing sector suggesting that Europe was on the brink of a new recession.

While manufacturing surveys on Tuesday from North America to debt crisis-hit Europe to Asia painted a portrait of softening global demand, analysts do not see a world recession in the cards.

SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Global factory activity slowed in October on weak demand for exports, with a sharp contraction in Britain’s manufacturing sector suggesting that Europe was on the brink of a new recession.

While manufacturing surveys on Tuesday from North America to debt crisis-hit Europe to Asia painted a portrait of softening global demand, analysts do not see a world recession in the cards.

SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) – Global factory activity slowed down in October on weak demand for exports, raising the risk that Europe’s debt crisis could drag the global economy into a new recession.

Factory activity in Asia’s big export economies slowed to its weakest rate in nearly three years in October, while in the United States, manufacturing expanded less than expected.

SINGAPORE/LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Factory activity in
Asia’s big export economies slowed to its weakest rate in
nearly three years in October, while a sharp decline in UK
manufacturing provided the latest sign that Europe is on the
brink of recession.

China’s official PMI unexpectedly fell to its lowest since
February 2009, a survey showed on Tuesday, reflecting a drop in
new export orders — particularly from the European Union,
China’s biggest export market.