Oil soars to $100 on fresh Mideast attacks

Oil prices surged to $100 a barrel on Thursday as Tehran-backed Houthi rebels targeted Red Sea shipping and US President Donald Trump threatened to strike them in return. International benchmark oil contract Brent North Sea soared more than six percent to hit the symbolic $100 level, as the attacks potentially opened a new front in the Middle East war and Trump threatened the Houthis with "major military punishment".