An American user of popular short-term property rental website 'Airbnb' has been fined by a New York judge who ruled that renting for fewer than 30 days was illegal according to state law, sparking fears among other users that letting their property might be illegal, reports the BBC.

Airbnb was founded in 2008 in California and was set up to allow homeowners and lessors the opportunity to offer their accommodation to the world at large over the internet.

The site shows property with bright, enticing photographs and simple descriptions, offering users the chance to rent a room, flat or house anywhere in the world from Brooklyn to Bodmin. The lessor greets tenants and provides keys, and receives a fee per night in return.

An Egyptian statue worth £2m is at the centre of a legal dispute between Northamptonshire council and Lord Northampton, a descendent of the Marquis of Northampton who bequeathed the statue to Northampton's museums in 1880, reports the BBC.

The statue of Sekhemka was carved around 2500BC and is of a scribe, a literate administrator who had considerable status and importance in ancient Egyptian society. It is carved in limestone and sits at 75cm high.

The statue made the headlines late last year after it was discovered collecting dust on the shelves of Northampton's town museum. The borough's council had commissioned an insurance review that revealed the true value of the piece.

The Government's decision to deny financial support to a British grandmother sentenced to death by firing squad in Bali has been declared lawful by UK judges, despite them expressing great sympathy at her plight, reports The Daily Mail.

Lindsay Sandiford was caught by police on the Indonesian island of Bali smuggling £1.6m-worth of cocaine in the lining of her suitcase through Bali's Denpasar airport.

Sandiford, 56, was surprisingly sentenced to death by firing squad by judges in Bali, despite the Government's prosecution lawyers recommending a maximum 15-year jail penalty.

A court has ruled that the Government's tests for sickness benefits are unfair towards people with mental illnesses, autism and learning difficulties, reports the BBC.

Two individuals denied support via the Work Capability Assessment have successfully challenged the validity of the measure, saying that the process is too difficult for those with mental heath issues to complete.

The Work Capability Assessment tests consider whether an individual is fit for employment and therefore determine eligibility for the Employment and Support Allowance.

The High Court has been asked to determine whether a pregnant woman with bipolar affective disorder has the mental capacity to consent to an abortion, reports the BBC.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is believed to have begun asking for an abortion shortly after stopping taking the medication she is prescribed to control the mood swings that define the bipolar condition.

Bipolar Affective Disorder is a condition that features changes in mood. In its most extreme form, patients can veer from long periods of deep depression to periods of intense hyper-activity and impulsivity known as a 'manic' phase.

A survey for the Bar Council conducted by pollsters ComRes has found that two-thirds of the public are opposed to the Government's planned next-phase of legal-aid reform, reports The Independent.

The Government completed the first tranche of its legal-aid reforms this April, with a raft of controversial changes coming into force that have seen free legal representation removed from a wide range of cases including most divorce work, housing matters, welfare disputes and employment law.

Now the Government is looking to trim additional money from the now £1.7bn-per-annum budget, with further controversial cuts to criminal legal aid and a plan to have solicitors' firms bid against each other for criminal legal-aid contracts.

A solicitor who was refused a permanent job at the end of her training contract after becoming pregnant has successfully sued a City law firm for discrimination, reported The Daily Telegraph.

Trainee solicitor Katie Tantum, who is 33, sued law firm Travers Smith for discrimination after she was refused a full-time job at the end of her two-year 'training contract' after becoming pregnant.

Solicitors must complete their 'Legal Practice Course' at Law School before taking on a two-year training post in industry to complete their qualification. At the end of this period many stay on at their training firm, or move on elsewhere for their first full-time permanent role.

A former employee of Google, the internet search giant, has sparked controversy after revealing the details of a complex accounting scheme that allows the multi-billion-dollar company to pay tiny amounts of tax in the UK, reports the BBC.

Barney Jones worked at Google for four years from 2002 to 2006. Last week he revealed that he has been collaborating with UK tax authorities to explain to them how Google gets around paying UK tax.

According to Mr Jones, Google UK used its European HQ in Dublin to conclude many of the deals struck with UK customers, allowing it to invoice from outside the UK to draw revenue across to Ireland, where the rate of corporation tax is much lower.

Victims of the latest internet craze known as 'revenge porn' are seeking a change in the law that would provide greater protection from ex-lovers who post naked images and videos online without their permission.

The practice was once the preserve of the ex-lovers of Hollywood celebrities, who would trade pornographic videos of famous stars for money and notoriety in the most extreme form of kiss-and-tell.

Famous victims of the practice included heiress Paris Hilton, as well as TV celebrity Kim Kardashian, and more recently X-factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos.

Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant chain has been ordered to pay £8,000 and £9,000 costs after serving wheat to a customer suffering from coeliac disease, reports The Daily Mail.

Kristy Richardson, 38, told staff at Jamie's Italian in Portsmouth, Hampshire, that she was allergic to gluten found in wheat, and would need to be served a gluten-free meal offered to her by the maître d'.

However, after a mix-up with the kitchen staff Ms Richardson was served regular wheat pasta, making her violently sick and sparking a legal action that has resulted in the popular chain being made to pay £17,000 in fines and costs.

New laws aimed at tackling the threat caused by dangerous dogs and their irresponsible owners are not strict enough according to MPs, reports the BBC.

The laws were drafted in the wake of a series of tragic scandals involving dangerous dogs. The new laws would make it a criminal offence to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control, allowing new prosecutions in such circumstances.

However, MPs sitting on the environment committee say that the new laws on dangerous dogs do not go far enough to deal with threatening behaviour early on and to reduce the risk of attacks rather than punishing owners after the event.

A young girl who was initially refused medical treatment because of the immigration status of her parents has finally received an operation on her arm, reports the BBC.

Sanika Ahmed was born in Portsmouth in July 2012 to parents of Bangladeshi origin. Her father, Muhammad Ahmed had worked in the UK legally in 2008 and 2009 but had overstayed in the UK after his work permit had expired.

Last year his wife Syeda gave birth to baby Sanika but there was a complication in labour and Sanika suffered an injury to her shoulder, damaging the nerves supplying her arm.

The UK claims that it has secured a breakthrough in negotiations with the EU over the dumping of unwanted fish that do not fit into existing quotas, reports the BBC.

Under the current laws concerning fishing quotas, fish that swim near to the surface and are accidentally caught by fishermen seeking other catches must be put back into the sea dead, rather than landed and sold.

The practice is designed to avoid overfishing, but instead results in tonnes of perfectly good fish being thrown back into the sea every year.

A lesbian couple on the Isle of Man have called for a change in the law after being refused rental accommodation on the basis of their sexual orientation, reports the BBC.

The couple, Kira Izzard and Laura Cull who live in the capital, Douglas, were refused the opportunity to rent a house on the island by a landlord who felt uncomfortable with their sexual orientation.

The shocked couple were then left further dismayed after learning that the Isle has no laws preventing this kind of archaic sexual orientation discrimination.

Measures put in place to protect children from sex offenders after they have been released from prison are not 'fit for purpose' according to an independent panel of child protection experts, reports the BBC.

The experts have concluded that civil court orders made to protect children from sex offenders after they are released from prison are not working.

The panel, commissioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers, included representatives from the police, lawyers and staff from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP).