Simulated robot performs realistic acrobatics and other news

Scientists carrying out HIV research in the Democratic Republic of Congo have discovered a rare group of people who could potentially unlock new treatments to tackle the virus. Known as HIV controllers the group tested positive for HIV antibodies but they had a low to non-detectable viral load without the use of medication. The head…

There is a “tradition” of racism in the British press, Joseph Harker, deputy opinion editor at the Guardian has said. Mr Harker, who is also a former publisher and editor of Black Britain told BBC World News it was a “laughable claim” to suggest the press was not racist in the UK. “You can look…

The winner of this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature says he thought the phone call telling him he’d won was a cold caller. Luckily, Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah was persuaded not to hang up. Speaking to the BBC’s Ros Atkins, he says he was making a cup of tea when the phone rang, telling the…

As coronavirus vaccine programmes are rolled out, governments around the world are looking for ways to ease us back into pre-pandemic life – getting people back to sporting fixtures, theatres and other crowded public places. One solution being considered is a digital Covid-19 “vaccine passport” but many have called them discriminatory and some say it…

The Delta variant of Covid-19 is spreading rapidly throughout the world and has been detected in 124 territories the World Health Organisation has said. An emergency room doctor in the United States has told BBC World News about how the initial narrative of it being a virus which kills older people is now problematic as…

On November 2nd, a Chinese tennis star accused a top Chinese government official of sexual assault. Peng Shuai was one of the leading doubles players in the world. And since her allegations, we’ve heard nothing. Until an email was released – apparently from her – saying the allegations weren’t true. But many questions remain. Producer:…