Monday, June 3, 2002		Lens on IT

Facial recognition technology is used to screen people before they visit the Statue of Liberty in New York. With a heightened security alert for Memorial Day weekend, law enforcement have increased their efforts to ensure safety at national monuments.

Young Japanese patronise the "Nakata.net cafe" in Tokyo. The Internet cafe, which was opened last month by Japan's star midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata, who is seen on video screens in the background, offers information to soccer fans keen on the World Cup finals. 

A judicial officer guards German Internet millionaire Kim Schmitz (R) before a trial at a district court in Munich. Schmitz, a 28-years-old former hacker who made millions advising firms on computer security, was detained at Bangkok airport on January, 2002, at the request of German authorities in connection with 11 counts of insider dealing.

Chinese actors perform a lion dance at a ceremony in Shanghai to mark the launch of Alcatel Shanghai Bell, the first foreign-invested telecom company limited by shares in China. In 2001, the number of China's mobile phone users and fixed phone subscribers accounted for 15 per cent and 17 per cent of the world's total, respectively. China has the most mobile phone users anywhere in the world.

Arctic explorer Dave Mill speaks at a news conference at the Royal Geographical Society in London. Mill, who set last month in an attempt to become the first man to complete a solo and unaided walk from Canada to the North Pole had to be rescued after becoming marooned on an ice floe near the North Pole. Mill contacted his Canadian rescuers by email and sent them a digital picture of the runway he had cleared in the ice using his sledge.

— Reuters photos