Crude oil prices have climbed on concerns that Israel's attacks on Hamas could disrupt oil production and threaten supplies from the Middle East.

Light, sweet crude rose $1.22 to $38.93 a barrel in New York, below a session high of $42.20.

Meanwhile London Brent added $1.39 to $39.76 a barrel, after reaching a high of $43.18.

Oil has fallen more than $100 from its peak of $147.27 a barrel on 11 July as slowing economies have dented demand.

"Geopolitics had disappeared from the oil scene for the last couple of months but will regain some price premium with the latest Israeli attack in Gaza," Olivier Jakob, of consultants Petromatrix, said in a research note.

Meanwhile upgraded figures from the US Energy Information Administration showed that US demand in

A British man who was convicted of having sex on a beach in Dubai has been left with a legal bill of tens of thousands of pounds.

Vince Acors, 34, of Bromley, London, was given a jail sentence suspended on appeal, along with Michelle Palmer, 36, of Oakham, Rutland.

Acors told BBC Radio 5 Live it had been a "very expensive experience".

He also expressed his relief at seeing his family and friends after arriving back in the UK on Christmas Eve.

Palmer and Acors were arrested on Jumeirah Beach on 5 July, hours after meeting at a Champagne brunch.

In October, they were found guilty by Dubai's Court of First Instance of unmarried sex and public indecency. Both were fined £170 and sentenced to three months in prison.

They admitted a charge of being drunk

A Saudi Arabian campaign against the abuse of domestic workers in the country has sparked controversy.

There are an estimated 1.5 million foreign domestic workers in Saudi. Many complain of abuse.

Critics say the ads misrepresent Saudi society. Rights activists say abuse is common, and acknowledging it is a first step towards solving the problem.

A report by Human Rights Watch earlier this year said some foreign workers are treated like slaves.

The adverts appeared on Saudi-owned satellite channels and newspapers.

A television advertisement, the first of its kind, shows a Saudi man shouting angrily at a foreign maid for failing to iron his clothes properly.

US President George W Bush has granted a rare posthumous pardon to a man who broke the law to supply aircraft to Jews fighting for the state of Israel.

Charles Winters served 18 months in prison for violating the US Neutrality Act by helping to deliver in 1948 two converted B-17 Flying Fortress bombers.

In 1961, then Israeli Foreign Minister Golda Meir commended Mr Winters for his contribution to her country's survival.

Two others convicted with him in 1949 were pardoned by previous presidents.

President John F Kennedy pardoned Herman Greenspun in 1961, and President Bill Clinton pardoned Al Schwimmer in 2000. Mr Winters died in 1984.

'Overwhelmed'

In the summer of 1948, Charles Winters worked with the two men to transfer to Israel two B-17s that he

An Australian man has been arrested at Cairo airport after security staff found ancient Egyptian animal mummies in his luggage, reports say.

An airport official said the mummies of a cat and an ibis, a long-beaked bird, dated back to 300 BC.

He said another 19 figurines of ancient Egyptian gods were also found in the passenger's bags.

The man has been charged with smuggling antiquities, which can carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

According to the Associated Press, an antiquity official at the airport described the seizure as rare because of the number of items involved and their age.

The figurines found in the passenger's luggage were of the Egyptian gods Horus and Thoth.

Horus is a falcon-headed deity, who represented the greatest cosmic