Sky-high fertilizer prices have farmers worldwide scaling back its use and reducing the amount of land they're planting, fallout from the Ukraine-Russia conflict that has some agricultural industry veterans warning of food shortages.

SYDNEY/TOKYO (Reuters) -Hong Kong-based activist fund Oasis Management has voted in favour of a shareholder proposal demanding Toshiba Corp solicit buyout offers from private equity firms, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Biden administration will announce on Wednesday new steps to crack down on real estate appraisers who assign lower home price estimates to Black and Latino homeowners, senior officials said.

LONDON (Reuters) -British inflation hit a 30-year high of 6.2% last month, at the top end of expectations among analysts, according to data published on Wednesday hours before finance minister Rishi Sunak announces how he will help ease a cost-of-living crisis.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday amid volatile trading on increasing concerns of global supply tightness from sanctions imposed on Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter, and on signs that exports from Kazakhstan may be disrupted.

South Korea's central bank chief reiterated on Wednesday the need to further raise the bank's policy interest rate as the economy struggles to tame red-hot inflation and amid rising uncertainties caused by the Ukraine crisis.