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Health

Repeated Stress Accelerates Aging of the Eye

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Summary: Stress such as intraocular pressure elevation in the eye causes the retinal tissue to undergo transcriptional and epigenetic changes similar to natural aging.

Source: UC Irvine

New research from the University of California, Irvine, suggests aging is an important component of retinal ganglion cell death in glaucoma, and that novel pathways can be targeted when designing new treatments for glaucoma patients.

The study was published today in Aging Cell. Along with her colleagues, Dorota Skowronska‐Krawczyk, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Departments of Physiology & Biophysics and Ophthalmology and the faculty of the Center for Translational Vision Research at the UCI School of Medicine, describes the transcriptional and epigenetic changes happening in aging retina.

The team shows how stress, such as intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation in the eye, causes retinal tissue to undergo epigenetic and transcriptional changes similar to natural aging. And, how in young retinal tissue, repetitive stress induces features of accelerated aging including the accelerated epigenetic age.

Aging is a universal process that affects all cells in an organism. In the eye, it is a major risk factor for a group of neuropathies called glaucoma. Because of the increase in aging populations worldwide, current estimates show that the number of people with glaucoma (aged 40-80) will increase to over 110 million in 2040.

“Our work emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis and prevention as well as age-specific management of age-related diseases, including glaucoma,” said Skowronska-Krawczyk.

“The epigenetic changes we observed suggest that changes on the chromatin level are acquired in an accumulative way, following several instances of stress. This provides us with a window of opportunity for the prevention of vision loss, if and when the disease is recognized early.”

In humans, IOP has a circadian rhythm. In healthy individuals, it oscillates typically in the 12-21 mmHg range and tends to be highest in approximately two thirds of individuals during the nocturnal period.

Due to IOP fluctuations, a single IOP measurement is often insufficient to characterize the real pathology and risk of disease progression in glaucoma patients.

Long-term IOP fluctuation has been reported to be a strong predictor for glaucoma progression. This new study suggests that the cumulative impact of the fluctuations of IOP is directly responsible for the aging of the tissue.

When the UCI-led team investigated the optic nerve head of eyes treated with mild pressure elevation, they noted that in the young optic nerve head, there was no sign of loss of axons. However, in the optic nerves of old animals, significant sectorial loss of axons was observed similar to the phenotype commonly observed in glaucoma patients. Credit: UCI School of Medicine

“Our work shows that even moderate hydrostatic IOP elevation results in retinal ganglion cell loss and corresponding visual defects when performed on aged animals,” said Skowronska-Krawczyk.

“We are continuing to work to understand the mechanism of accumulative changes in aging in order to find potential targets for therapeutics. We are also testing different approaches to prevent the accelerated aging process resulting from stress.”

Researchers now have a new tool to estimate the impact of stress and treatment on the aging status of retinal tissue, which has made these new discoveries possible. In collaboration with the Clock Foundation and Steve Horvath, Ph.D., from Altos Labs, who pioneered the development of epigenetic clocks that can measure age based on methylation changes in the DNA of tissues, it was possible for researchers to show that repetitive, mild IOP elevation can accelerate epigenetic age of the tissues.

“In addition to measuring vision decline and some structural changes due to stress and potential treatment, we can now measure the epigenetic age of retinal tissue and use it to find the optimal strategy to prevent vision loss in aging,” said Skowronska-Krawczyk.

About this visual neuroscience research news

Author: Press Office
Source: UC Irvine
Contact: Press Office – UC Irvine
Image: The image is credited to UC Irvine

Original Research: Open access.
“Stress induced aging in mouse eye” by Qianlan Xu et al. Aging Cell

Abstract

See also

Stress induced aging in mouse eye

Aging, a universal process that affects all cells in an organism, is a major risk factor for a group of neuropathies called glaucoma, where elevated intraocular pressure is one of the known stresses affecting the tissue.

Our understanding of molecular impact of aging on response to stress in retina is very limited; therefore, we developed a new mouse model to approach this question experimentally.

Here we show that susceptibility to response to stress increases with age and is primed on chromatin level.

We demonstrate that ocular hypertension activates a stress response that is similar to natural aging and involves activation of inflammation and senescence.

We show that multiple instances of pressure elevation cause aging of young retina as measured on transcriptional and DNA methylation level and are accompanied by local histone modification changes.

Our data show that repeated stress accelerates appearance of aging features in tissues and suggest chromatin modifications as the key molecular components of aging.

Lastly, our work further emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis and prevention as well as age-specific management of age-related diseases, including glaucoma.

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Health

Being Sad and Lonely Accelerates Aging More Than Smoking

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According to Deep Longevity, the effects of mental health can be as important as physical health on the pace of aging. In fact, vulnerable mental health has a stronger effect on the pace of aging compared to smoking.

Deep Longevity has bridged the gap between the concepts of biological and psychological aging. According to the new aging clock, vulnerable mental health has a stronger effect on the pace of aging compared to a number of health conditions and smoking.

As we age, molecular damage accumulates and contributes to the development of aging-related frailty and serious diseases. These molecular processes are more intense in some people than in others, resulting in a condition commonly referred to as accelerated aging.

Fortunately, it is possible to detect the increased pace of aging before its disastrous consequences manifest by using digital models of aging (aging clocks). These models can also be used to derive anti-aging therapies at individual and population levels.

Research confirms: Psychological issues can accelerate your pace of aging. Credit: Fedor Galkin

According to the latest article published in the journal Aging-US, any anti-aging therapy needs to focus on one’s mental health as much as one’s physical health. An international collaboration led by Deep Longevity with US and Chinese scientists has measured the effects of being lonely, feeling unhappy, or having restless sleep on the pace of aging and discovered it to be substantial.

A new aging clock trained and verified with blood and biometric data of 11,914 Chinese adults is featured in the scientific paper. This is the first aging clock to be trained exclusively on a Chinese cohort of such volume.

AI to connect psychological and biological aging. Credit: Fedor Galkin

Aging acceleration was detected in people with a history of stroke, liver and lung diseases, smokers, and most intriguingly, people in a vulnerable mental state. In fact, feeling unhappy, hopeless, and lonely was demonstrated to increase one’s biological age more than smoking. Living in a rural area (due to the low availability of medical services) and being single are two additional factors associated with an accelerated aging process.

Therefore, the authors of the paper conclude that the psychological aspect of aging should not be overlooked either in research or in practical anti-aging applications. According to Manuel Faria from Stanford University:

“Mental and psychosocial states are some of the most robust predictors of health outcomes — and quality of life — yet they have largely been omitted from modern healthcare.”

Alex Zhavoronkov, the CEO of Insilico Medicine, points out that the study provides a course of action to “slow down or even reverse psychological aging on a national scale.”

Earlier this year, Deep Longevity released FuturSelf.AI, an AI-guided mental health web service, that is based on a preceding publication in the journal Aging-US. The service offers a free psychological assessment that is processed by an artificial intelligence algorithm and provides a thorough report on a user’s psychological age as well as current and future mental well-being. Deepankar Nayak, the CEO of Deep longevity affirms,

“FuturSelf.AI, in combination with the study of older Chinese adults, positions Deep Longevity at the forefront of biogerontological research.”

Reference: “Psychological factors substantially contribute to biological aging: evidence from the aging rate in Chinese older adults” by Fedor Galkin, Kirill Kochetov, Diana Koldasbayeva, Manuel Faria, Helene H. Fung, Amber X. Chen and Alex Zhavoronkov, 27 September 2022, Aging.
DOI: 10.18632/aging.204264

About Deep Longevity

Deep Longevity developed the Longevity as a Service (LaaS)© solution to integrate multiple deep biomarkers of aging dubbed “deep aging clocks” to provide a universal multifactorial measure of human biological age. Deep Longevity is owned by Hong Kong Stock Exchange listed Endurance Longevity (SEHK:0575.HK).



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Business

UK inflation hits 10% as cost-of-living crisis accelerates

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Annual consumer price inflation hit 10.1% in July, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday, up from 9.4% in June. Soaring food prices — up 12.7% since July 2021 — were the largest single contributor to the acceleration in inflation, the ONS said.

The headline inflation number was higher than predicted by a Reuters poll of economists, and food inflation is now running at its highest level in 14 years.

“All the eleven food and non-alcoholic beverage classes made upward contributions to the change in the annual inflation rate, where prices overall rose this year but fell a year ago,” the ONS said.

The largest upward contributions came from bread and cereals, and from milk, cheese and eggs, with notable price increases in cheddar cheese and yoghurts.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index was up 0.6% in July, compared with no change a year ago. Higher gasoline and diesel prices, together with rising air fares, were also to blame, the ONS added.

The higher-than-expected reading will keep the pressure on the Bank of England to follow last month’s biggest increase in interest rates in 27 years with further rate hikes despite mounting evidence of the pressure on household budgets and signs that the UK economy may already have entered a recession.

Data published last week showed that the country’s GDP dropped by 0.1% in the second quarter of this year.

‘Miserable’ for consumers

And Tuesday’s official labor market report found that paychecks rose by 4.7% between April and June, meaning average incomes fell by 3% during the period once inflation is taken into account — the biggest drop in real wages since the ONS began keeping records more than 20 years ago.

“The situation is miserable for UK consumers, who are currently being squeezed from all sides,” wrote Kallum Pickering, senior economist at Berenberg, in a note to clients. “Wages are not rising fast enough to offset surging inflation, but they are rising too fast for the [Bank of England’s] liking, as it wants to return inflation to target,” he added.

Inflation is forecast to go even higher later this year, driven by further rises in regulated energy bills in October. Electricity prices have already risen by 54% and gas prices by 95.7% in the 12 months to July 2022 because of rocketing wholesale costs, worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.

UK government officials are reportedly examining options to provide more support to households. But Liz Truss, frontrunner to succeed Boris Johnson as next UK prime minister in early September, has yet to set out a detailed plan beyond promising tax cuts.

The opposition Labour Party is calling for a windfall tax on UK oil and gas companies to be extended to help fund a freeze in household heating bills this winter.

— Anna Cooban and Rob North contributed to this article.

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US

Texas governor sends migrants to New York City as immigration standoff accelerates

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NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, said on Friday he has started to send buses carrying migrants to New York City in an effort to push responsibility for border crossers to Democratic mayors and U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

The first bus arrived early on Friday at the city’s Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan carrying around 50 migrants from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras and Venezuela. Volunteers were helping to steer people who had no relatives in town to city resources.

“Most of them don’t have anybody to help. They don’t know where to go, so we’re taking them to shelters,” said one volunteer at the bus station, Evelin Zapata, from a group called Grannies Respond.

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One family of four from Colombia, who ended up at a homeless intake center in the Bronx, were unsure of where they would spend the night. Byron and Leidy, both 28, said they left the country’s capital Bogota because they were having trouble finding work. They did not provide their last name.

“It’s a little easier to enter the country now, before it was very hard to come here with children,” said Leidy, who traveled with her kids Mariana, 7, and Nicolas, 13. She said the family had hoped someone they knew in New York would take them in, but that plan did not work out. “We came here because they said they would help us find a place to sleep to not have to stay in the street,” Leidy said.

Abbott, who is running for a third term as governor in November elections, has already sent more than 6,000 migrants to Washington since April in a broader effort to combat illegal immigration and call out Biden for his more welcoming policies. read more

Biden came into office in January 2021 pledging to reverse many of the hardline immigration policies of his Republican predecessor, former President Donald Trump, but some efforts have been blocked in court.

Abbott said New York City Mayor Eric Adams could provide services and housing for the new arrivals.

“I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief,” Abbott said in a statement.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, another Republican, has followed Abbott’s lead and bused another 1,000 to Washington.

U.S. border authorities have made record numbers of arrests under Biden although many are repeat crossers. Some migrants who are not able to be expelled quickly to Mexico or their home countries under a COVID-era policy are allowed into the United States, often to pursue asylum claims in U.S. immigration court.

‘POLITICAL PAWNS’

Texas Governor Greg Abbott holds a news conference with state agencies and local officials at Uvalde High School, three days after a gunman killed nineteen children and two adults in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, in Uvalde, Texas, U.S. May 27, 2022. REUTERS/Marco Bello

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Adams’ office has in recent weeks criticized the busing efforts to Washington, saying some migrants were making their way to New York City and overwhelming its homeless shelter system.

On Friday the mayor’s press secretary Fabien Levy said Abbott was using “human beings as political pawns,” calling it “a disgusting, and an embarrassing stain on the state of Texas.”

Levy said New York would continue to “welcome asylum seekers with open arms, as we always have, but we are asking for resources to help do so,” calling for support from federal officials.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday called the Texas initiative “shameful” and an unnecessary burden on taxpayers in that state.

Costs for the effort amounted to $1.6 million in April and May, a local NBC News affiliate reported in June, more than $1,400 per rider.

Texas officials declined to provide the cost when asked by Reuters.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has also said her city’s shelter system has been strained by migrant arrivals and last month called on the Biden administration to deploy military troops to assist with receiving the migrants, a request that has frustrated White House officials. read more

A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had declined a request for D.C. National Guard to help with the transportation and reception of migrants in the city because it would hurt the troops’ readiness.

Bowser suggested on Friday that she would submit a more targeted troop request, reiterating her stance that the federal government should handle what she called a “growing humanitarian crisis.”

“If the federal government’s not going to do it, they need to at least get out of our way and give us the resources that we need,” she told reporters.

Many migrants are arriving after long and difficult journeys through South America.

Venezuelan migrant Jose Gregorio Forero said before traveling more than a day by bus from Texas he had crossed through eight countries. “It’s taken 31 days to get here, on foot and asking for rides,” he said, saying he was glad to be in New York where he thought there would be more job opportunities.

New York City, he said, “is very beautiful. I love it.”

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Reporting by Sofia Ahmed in New York and Ted Hesson in Washington; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali and Jeff Mason in Washington, Roselle Chen and Dan Fastenberg in New York; Editing by Mica Rosenberg and Daniel Wallis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

Shenzhen accelerates China’s driverless car dreams

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SHENZHEN, China, Aug 1 (Reuters) – On a busy downtown street three delivery bikes suddenly dart over the pedestrian crossing ahead of the car. On the car’s dashboard they look like small 3D blue blocks from a 1990s video game.

The steering wheel turns itself a notch and the vehicle slows to a gentle halt, while the safety driver looks on from the passenger seat.

The vehicle is one of a hundred sensor-laden robotaxis belonging to start up DeepRoute.ai cruising the dense central Futian business district in China’s southern tech hub Shenzhen, giving 50,000 trial rides to passengers in the last year.

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While the United States is regarded as taking an early lead in testing autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, in Shenzhen the industry appears to be changing gears, with trial robotaxis fast becoming a common sight.

Baidu Inc’s Apollo unit, Toyota Motor Corp-backed Pony, Nissan-backed Weride, Alibaba-backed Auto X and Deeproute have all been running trials navigating the city’s difficult environment, with frequent jaywalkers and ubiquitous e-scooters.

Shenzhen, a city of 18 million, has now brought in China’s clearest AV regulations. From Monday registered AVs will be allowed to operate without a driver in the driving seat across a broad swath of the city, but a driver must still be present in the vehicle.

So far, Chinese cities have allowed robotaxis to operate on a more limited basis with permission of local authorities, but Shenzhen’s regulations for the first time provide a crucial framework for liability in the event of an accident.

If the AV has a driver behind the wheel, the driver will be liable in an accident. If the car is completely driverless, the owner of the vehicle will be responsible. If a defect causes an accident, the car owner can seek compensation from the manufacturer.

“If you want more cars, eventually there will be accidents, so these regulations are very important for mass deployment,” said Maxwell Zhou, DeepRoute’s CEO, speaking at the company’s offices in a tech park near the Hong Kong border.

“This is not true driverless but it’s a big milestone.”

GEAR SHIFT

So far the United States has raced ahead in AV trials, with California greenlighting public-road tests from 2014, allowing Alphabet Inc’s Waymo LLC, Cruise and Tesla to rack up millions of miles in road testing.

But China has its foot on the accelerator, with Beijing making AV a key area in its latest five year plan. Shenzhen wants its smart vehicle industry to reach revenues of 200 billion yuan by 2025.

In May last year Cruise Chief Executive Dan Amann warned President Joe Biden that U.S. safety regulations risked the country’s AV industry falling behind China, with the latter’s “top down, centrally directed approach”.

A safety driver sits on the passenger seat as the car with autonomous driving system by DeepRoute.ai, drives itself on a street in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China July 29, 2022. REUTERS/David Kirton

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Deeproute aims to have 1,000 robotaxis with safety drivers on Shenzhen’s roads in the next few years, when more detailed regulations are expected.

But in a city with a state-owned fleet of 22,000 electric taxis from Shenzhen-based BYD, where a 20-km (12-mile) trip costs about 60 yuan ($9), production costs for AVs will need to come down before robotaxis are commercially viable, Zhou said.

Deeproute and other robotaxi companies are banking on mass production to lower costs and gather data. Deeproute sells its driving solutions to carmarkers for around $3,000.

Zhou looks to Shenzhen’s DJI Technology Co as a role model, with the company utilising lower hardware costs and integrated supply chains to make it the dominant player in the commercial drone space worldwide.

On July 21 Baidu announced a new AV with a detachable steering wheel it will use for robotaxis next year, at 250,000 yuan a unit, almost half the price of its previous generation.

“We are moving towards a future where taking a robotaxi will be half the cost of taking a taxi today,” Baidu’s chief executive Robin Li said at the Baidu World conference.

FROGS IN A WELL

Shenzhen’s supply chain and lower costs give it a major production advantage over Silicon Valley, but AV solution maker David Chang does not want to be constrained to one market.

“In Shenzhen the capital cost is one third to California, because we have the battery suppliers, we have the sensors, we have most of the integration,” said the CEO and founder of Shenzhen-based Whale Dynamic.

“But the revenue is one twelfth to California, so it might not be a fancy business to do,” he said.

Deeproute, Weride and Pony.ai also have offices in Silicon Valley, with R&D teams and testing in both locations.

“We don’t want to shrink ourselves into a well and fight with other frogs. We want to jump out of that well,” said Chang.

($1 = 6.7433 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(This story refiles to correct spelling in paragraph 4 to sight (not site))

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Reporting by David Kirton; Editing by Michael Perry

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

Growth accelerates for euro zone

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Growth in the euro zone economy accelerated in the second quarter of the year, but the region’s prospects get hit as Russia continues to reduce gas supplies.

The 19-member bloc registered a gross domestic product rate of 0.7% in the second quarter, according to Eurostat, Europe’s statistics office, beating expectations of 0.2% growth. It comes after a GDP rate of 0.5% in the first quarter.

The numbers contrast sharply with the negative annualized readings out of the United States for both the first and second quarter, as the euro zone continues to benefit from the reopening of its economy after the pandemic.

However, a growing number of economists are expecting the euro zone to slide into a recession next year, with Nomura, for example, forecasting an annual contraction of 1.2% and Berenberg pointing to a 1% slowdown.

Even the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, has admitted that a recession could be on the cards — and as early as this year if Russia completely cuts off the region’s gas supplies.

Officials in Europe have become increasingly concerned about the possibility of a shutdown of gas supplies, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying Russia is “blackmailing” the region. Russia has repeatedly denied it’s weaponizing its fossil fuel supplies.

However, Gazprom, Russia’s majority state-owned energy giant, reduced gas supplies to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 20% of full capacity this week. Overall, 12 EU countries are already suffering from partial disruptions in gas supplies from Russia, and a handful of others have been completely shut off.

European Economics Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said the latest growth figures were “good news.”

“Uncertainty remains high for the coming quarters: [we] need to maintain unity and be ready to respond to an evolving situation as necessary,” he said.

The GDP readings come at a time of record inflation in the euro zone. The European Central Bank hiked interest rates for the first time in 11 years earlier this month — and more aggressively than expected — in an effort to bring down consumer prices.

However, the region’s soaring inflation is being driven by the energy crisis, meaning further cuts of Russian gas supplies could push up prices even more.

“Given the challenging geopolitical and macroeconomic factors that have been at play over the past few months, it’s positive to see the eurozone experience growth, and at a higher rate than last quarter,” Rachel Barton, Europe strategy lead for Accenture, said in an email.

“However, it’s clear that persistent supply chain disruption, rising energy prices and record-breaking levels of inflation will have a longer-term impact.”

Meanwhile, Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist at Capital Economics, said Friday’s GDP figure would mark “by far the best quarterly growth rate for a while.”

“Indeed, news that inflation was once again even higher than anticipated only underlines that the economy is heading for a very difficult period. We expect a recession to begin later this year,” he added.

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Health

The metastatic spread of breast cancer accelerates during sleep

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    Business

    Wall Street stocks open in bear market as sell-off accelerates

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    US stocks slid sharply at the start of trading on Monday with the benchmark S&P 500 opening in bear market territory, as a sell-off sparked by high inflation and the prospect of aggressive central bank tightening rippled across global financial markets.

    Wall Street’s S&P 500 index fell 2.4 per cent, pushing it more than 20 per cent below an all-time high set in January, a decline identified commonly as a bear market. The gauge of US stocks had briefly entered a bear market in late May, before rebounding off its lows.

    The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.9 per cent, taking its losses for the year to roughly 30 per cent. Speculative corners of the market have suffered acutely this year as central banks in the US and Europe begin to raise interest rates and drain liquidity from the financial system.

    Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that tends to react to broader market sentiment, traded below $24,000, having tumbled almost 20 per cent since Friday.

    Analysts have upgraded their forecasts of how far the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, with some speculating that the US central bank might implement an extra large 0.75 percentage point increase at its monetary policy meeting this week.

    US consumer price inflation hit an unexpectedly high annual rate of 8.6 per cent in May, data on Friday showed, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raised fuel and food costs. Money markets are now pricing in a 3.4 per cent fed funds rate by December, up from a range of 0.75 per cent to 1 per cent currently.

    “I think with this latest [inflation] number the Fed is really going to go for it and this will cause an economic slowdown,” said Julian Howard, lead investment director for multi-asset solutions at fund manager GAM. “It’s all looking pretty ugly in the short term and there is nowhere really to escape from it, apart from going into cash for now.”

    The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which underpins global borrowing costs, rose above 3.29 per cent to hit its highest level since 2011 as the price of the instrument fell. The two-year Treasury yield, which tracks interest rate expectations, rose 0.17 percentage points to 3.23 per cent.

    US investment bank Goldman Sachs on Monday raised its Fed policy forecasts to include 0.5 percentage point increases this week and again in July, September and November, with further quarter-point rises in December and January.

    “There is very little chance of the Fed pivoting to support financial markets until there is a trend of very meaningful economic disappointments,” said Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors.

    Analysts at Barclays predicted a 0.75 percentage point increase this week. Standard Chartered strategists said, in a research note, that they would “not preclude” this outcome.

    In Europe, the Stoxx 600 share index dropped 2.1 per cent, putting it on track for its fifth straight session of falls. The regional share gauge has dropped more than 9 per cent this quarter.

    The yield on Italy’s 10-year bond rose 0.19 percentage points to 3.94 per cent, having more than quadrupled since mid-December. This came after the European Central Bank last week paved the way for its first interest rate rise in more than a decade.

    The pound fell 1.1 per cent against the dollar to less than $1.22, depressed by a strengthening US currency and concerns about the UK economy.

    Economists see the Bank of England lifting its main borrowing rate by 0.25 percentage points on Thursday, with an increasing chance of a 0.5 percentage point rise, escalating fears of stagflation.

    Elsewhere, the yen touched a 24-year low of ¥135.19 per dollar as traders bet on the Bank of Japan continuing to defy the global trend towards higher interest rates. A FTSE index of Asian shares outside Japan fell 2.8 per cent.

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    World

    Australia accelerates missile upgrade due to growing threats

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    CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia has accelerated plans to buy long-range strike missiles years ahead of schedule because of growing threats posed by Russia and China.

    Defense Minister Peter Dutton said Tuesday the accelerated rearming of fighter jets and warships would cost 3.5 billion Australian dollars ($2.6 billion) and increase Australia’s deterrence to potential adversaries.

    “There was a working assumption that an act of aggression by China toward Taiwan might take place in the 2040s. I think that timeline now has been dramatically compressed,” Dutton told Seven Network television.

    “When we look at what’s happened in the Ukraine, there is the prospect of Russian going into Poland or somewhere else in Europe. That would be a repeat of the 1930s and that’s not something that we should allow to happen,” Dutton added, referring to the beginning of World War II.

    Under a revised timetable, FA-18F Super Hornet fighter jets would be armed with improved U.S.-manufactured air-to-surface missiles by 2024, three years earlier than planned.

    The JASSM-ER missiles would enable fighters to engaged targets at a range of 900 kilometers (560 miles).

    Australia’s ANZAC Class frigates and Hobart Class destroyers would be equipped with Norwegian-made Kongsberg NSM missiles by 2024, five years ahead of schedule.

    The missiles would more than double the warships’ strike range.

    The new rearmament timetable comes after the Solomon Islands announced a draft security pact with China. Under its terms, China could send military personnel to the South Pacific islands to help maintain order and for other reasons. It could also send warships to the Solomons for stopovers and to replenish supplies, which had led to speculation about the possibility of a Chinese naval base there.

    China has denied seeking a military foothold in the islands and accused others of raising tensions.

    U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Samuel Paparo told reporters in Washington on Monday the Solomons-China pact was “very concerning.”

    “I’m undoubtedly concerned … and it’s a concern for all of our partners throughout the western Pacific and notably Australia and New Zealand,” Paparo told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

    Anne-Marie Brady, global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington and professor in politics at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand said a hostile power in control of the Solomons would have a direct impact on sea lanes linking South Pacific states.

    “There is no justification for China establishing a military presence in the Solomon Islands,” Brady said.

    “It is meant to cut off Australia and New Zealand from U.S. military support. … It is both an immediate and long-term threat,” she added.

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    Business

    Wholesale prices likely surged again in January as inflation accelerates

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    Ironsides Macroeconomics director of research Barry Knapp discusses his sector picks and how the Russia-Ukraine conflict will affect the markets.

    Wholesale prices likely accelerated again in January as strong consumer demand and pandemic-related supply-chain snarls continued to fuel the highest inflation in decades.

    The Labor Department is releasing the producer price index on Tuesday morning, providing a fresh look at just how hot inflation ran in January. Economists expect the gauge – which measures inflation at the wholesale level before it reaches consumers – to show that prices surged 0.5% in January from the previous month. 

    RED-HOT INFLATION PROBABLY COSTING MOST AMERICANS AN EXTRA $276 A MONTH

    That would be up from December, when prices rose just 0.2% from the previous month.

    The surge in wholesale prices comes on the heels of a separate Labor Department report released last week that showed consumer prices climbed 7.5% in January from the previous year, the biggest increase since February 982, when inflation hit 7.6%. Consumers are paying more for everyday necessities, including groceries, gasoline and cars.

    The eye-popping reading – which marked the eighth consecutive month the gauge has been above 5% – will likely amp up pressure on the Federal Reserve to chart a more aggressive course in normalizing monetary policy. The central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates in March, but the hotter-than-expected inflation report could mean that policymakers pencil in a super-sized half-point hike.

    Hiking interest rates tends to create higher rates on consumers and business loans, which slows the economy by forcing them to cut back on spending. 

    Workers unload shipments of food at Union Market in Washington, DC, on February 9, 2022.  ((Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) / Getty Images)

    “At this point it’s not a question of will they, won’t they – it’s a question of how many hikes we’ll see in 2022, and what the magnitude and pace will be,” Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*Trade, said after the CPi report. “Given views on these aspects are all over the map at this point, there is a lot for the market to be uncertain about.”

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    Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has left open the possibility of a rate hike at every meeting this year and has refused to rule out a more aggressive, half-percentage point rate hike, but said it’s important to be “humble and nimble.” 

    “We’re going to be led by the incoming data and the evolving outlook,” he told reporters during the central bank’s policy-setting meeting last month. 

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