World leaders descend on the earthquake-scarred Italian town of L’Aquila on Wednesday for a G8 summit, amid renewed warnings that the fragile global economic recovery could be undermined by rising oil prices.

A protester in Rome throws a flare towards riot police during a demonstration against the G8 summit

Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, and Gordon Brown, UK prime minister, will urge the G8 to endorse proposals to make the oil futures markets more transparent. There are fears that speculation is increasing volatility.