Britain’s new biometric passports - containing technology that will be used in its controversial national ID card scheme -are supposed to be encrypted to military standards to combat fraud and terrorism. So how come we cracked it?

One of the last things Tony Blair did before leaving office was to pave the way for government departments to gather and share frightening amounts of information about us. Newsmonster looks at the implications for privacy. By Steve Boggan

Once, it was only the rich and famous who used private eyes to spy on their errant husbands and wives - but now gumshoes are involved in most divorce cases. Newsmonster goes watching the detectives. By Steve Boggan.

The murder of Alexander Litvinenko by polonium-210 poisoning sent shockwaves around the world and continues to strain relations between Britain and Russia. But what about the scientists in the middle of this unprecedented radiation scare? Newsmonster tells their story.