software

Software entrepreneur-turned-philanthropist, Bill Gates, has issued an upbeat assessment on the prospects of overcoming the challenges faced by the world's poorest people, many in Africa, in the fields of health and agriculture.

Gates argues that, "With vaccines, drugs, and other improvements, health in poor countries will continue to get better, and people will choose to have smaller families."

Microsoft has warned of flawed software in Internet Explorer that hackers can exploit to take over some computers.

The company says that vulnerability was found in a programme used in the popular web browser to play video on computers running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 operating systems.

Microsoft says that hackers can take advantage of the vulnerability when internet users visit websites that have been booby trapped with malicious code. Unsuspecting computer users may get emails enticing them to visit hazardous websites.