Crude oil prices closed at new highs after hitting a record $60 a barrel for a second day, on concerns strong demand will continue over the coming months.

US light sweet crude touched the $60 mark overnight, and later closed 42 cents up at a new high of $59.84.

As you buy, sell and bank on the web, criminals are thinking of ingenious ways to con you out of cash. Banking card fraud now costs the UK 500 million pounds. The banks are hoping that the roll out of chip and pin cards will stem this growth but admit the criminals will look elsewhere.

Sandra Quinn from APACS, the association for payment clearing services, told the Money programme: "If chip and pin makes a big dent in their earnings, they're going to go somewhere else. There's no doubt about it."

Glasgow councillor Bill Timoney had never lost his debit card but somehow a criminal managed to spend 2000 pounds without him realising. "It's certainly alarming and if it could happen to me and I'm a fairly careful individual, it could happen to anyone."

Just how he was robbed remains a mystery to him because the crime was committed on the internet. He was a victim of 'card not present' fraud. Criminals are taking advantage of online shopping outlets using stolen cards and some are even buying and selling stolen card numbers online. Britain has seen an explosion of online commerce.

In 2004, we spent 14.5 billion pounds online and that's tempting for the criminals.

It's not just card and banking fraud. If your home PC is infected, your computer can then become part of what is called a bot net - a robot network of thousands upon thousands of infected computers. One British business, Bluesq.com, was targeted by a Russian gang. Their site was disrupted by the criminals and a ransom request made of $30,000 (16,438 pounds) to stop the attacks. Peter Pedersen, chief technology officer, describes the impact of an attack to the Money Programme.

"It's a huge pressure, because the business is under attack. The turnover is not coming in and ultimately this could have a big impact on business."

The company refused to pay the ransom and called in the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit. They managed to track the criminals to Russia and made crucial arrests. The attacks on BlueSq have stopped but the National Hi- Tech Crime Unit estimate that the cost to British business is 2.4 billion pounds and organised gangs are behind many of the attacks.

Pope Benedict XVI made his first trip outside Rome since his election as head of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics and took the opportunity yesterday to emphasize two issues he has made clear will be fundamental to his mission: Christian unity and resistance to materialism and increasing secularism.

French employers' federation Medef has called for urgent reforms to boost the economy after France's rejection of the European constitution. The euro dropped to a seven-month low against the dollar, but analysts said the fall was not serious.

Experts believe that French voters gave a resounding "No" to the treaty amid disappointment over current economic reform efforts, rising unemployment and fears that cheaper Eastern European manufacturing could mean fewer jobs in France.

In a 300-page annual report, the group accused the US government of damaging human rights with its attitude to torture and treatment of detainees. This granted "a licence to others to commit abuse with impunity", the human rights advocates said.

The report also criticised the world as a whole for failing to act over crises, notably in Sudan's Darfur region. Afghanistan was slipping into a "downward spiral of lawlessness and instability", it added.

Muslims from the Mediterranean to the Pacific protested Friday over the reported desecration of the Quran by a US soldier at Guantanamo Bay. In Afghanistan, where anti-American riots began three days ago, at least seven people were reported killed, doubling the death toll from the violence.

The upheaval kept the Bush administration on the defensive, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appealing for calm and repeating assurances that the US military is carefully investigating the Guantanamo incident.

Tony Blair has only just walked back into No 10 Downing Street but already Britons are asking when he will be out the door.

Despite awarding his Labour party a historic third straight term, disillusioned voters at least halved his parliamentary majority, denting his authority when he needs it more than ever.

Defeat in a planned 2006 referendum on the European Union constitution could trigger the end of the Blair era.

The new Airbus A380, the largest commercial airliner ever built, is expected to make its long-awaited first test flight on Wednesday at the production facility in Toulouse, France, the company said on Monday. The new Airbus A380 is the largest commercial airliner ever built.

Pope Benedict XVI was installed as leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Sunday, receiving the symbols of his authority at an inaugural outdoor mass that mixed centuries-old pageantry with prayer.

The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the 16th pontiff to take the name Benedict, was elected in a secret conclave of the Roman Catholic Church's 115 voting cardinals last Tuesday.

For those who believe in the traditional values of the Church, the election of Joseph Ratzinger is a blessing. They know they can rely on him to hold the line against those with an agenda for change. But those who want to reform the Church may be less happy, as they see him as a man in the mould of John Paul II.

Pope Benedict is firmly opposed to birth control, supports the celibacy of the priesthood, and is against the ordination of women. He has said that anyone who supports the "grave sins" of abortion and euthanasia should be denied Communion. He has also spoken out against homosexuality, and once denounced rock music as "the vehicle of anti-religion".

This Vatican department, a descendant of the Holy Inquisition, protects Church orthodoxy. The job earned him unflattering nicknames such as "The Pope's Enforcer" and "God's Rottweiler". He has a reputation for stifling dissent, and one of his early campaigns was against "liberation theology" in Latin America.

Some priests became involved in fighting poverty through social action, but to Cardinal Ratzinger it smacked of Marxism. As a key aide to John Paul II he had a fearsome reputation, but those who know him say he is gentle and somewhat shy.

The first clue about any pope's intentions is his choice of name. Cardinal Ratzinger could have called himself John Paul III. It would have been seen as a statement that he intended to continue the work of his mentor. Instead, he opted for Benedict, which comes from the Latin for "blessing". The last Pope Benedict reigned during the First World War. He is credited with settling animosity between traditionalists and modernists, and wanted to bring about a reunion with Orthodox Christians.

The new Pope Benedict faces a variety of challenges, not least declining Church attendance and a chronic shortage of priests in many parts of Europe. Another task is to continue the drive towards better relations with Islam, as the two religions compete for converts in parts of the developing world.

When John Paul II was elected, the focus was on East-West relations, and the Polish Pope was credited with helping to bring down communism. As the new papacy begins, it is the tension between North and South that is most pressing. Globalisation and debt relief are issues Pope Benedict will be expected to face. There is some surprise that a key member of the Vatican bureaucracy has been elected pope.

Many cardinals would like to see a less centralised Church, and a less powerful pope who guides rather than governs. They may have to wait a little longer. Pope Benedict XVI looks like a man who will not be afraid to exercise his powers.

China's GDP (gross domestic product) grew by 9.5 percent to 3.1355 trillion yuan (US$379 billion) in the first quarter of this year, and the growth rate was 0.3 percent lower than a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in Beijing Wednesday.

After moments of confusion when nobody could discern if the gray smoke was meant to be white or black, and then the unmistakable ringing of the campanone, the grand bell of St Peter's Basilica, the crowd was electric with excitement.

The announcement, "Habemus Papam," or "we have a pope," sent them into wild cheers.