News | Latest Breaking News Stories & Headlines

Swedish group wants music artists paid for AI training

A Swedish organisation representing musicians said it signed the "world's first collective AI licence for music", aiming to compensate artists for use of their work in training artificial intelligence.

News Lens • 09 Sep

Super Mario collector Kikai posing for photographs ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Nintendo mascot

40 years of 'Mario' games that have grown up with fans

Surrounded by thousands of objects bearing the likeness of Nintendo's moustachioed plumber, 40-year-old Kikai reflects that his "life would be totally different without Mario" who also marks four decades this week.

News Lens • 09 Sep

The moon is seen as it is nearly completely shrouded by the shadow of the earth as it heads into a total Lunar eclipse known as the "blood moon" from the Samburu National Reserveon

'Blood Moon' rises as Kenya looks to stars for tourism

Under the Kenyan stars, tourists and tribal dancers looked up at the rust red "blood Moon" as the east African country launched a new tourism initiative promoting the country's night skies.

News Lens • 08 Sep

A tapestry featuring Saint of the Catholic Church Carlo Acutis hangs from a balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in between three statues

Pope declares 'God's influencer' first millennial saint

The canonisation of the first Catholic saint of the millennial generation, Carlo Acutis, and an Italian Catholic activist Pier Giorgio Frassati is set to take place in St Peter's Square at the Vatican.

Europe • 08 Sep

A man holding a cross arrives with other members of the LGBTQ+ community holding a crucifix in rainbow colours

Vatican receives first LGBTQ pilgrimage

In a first for the Vatican, more than a thousand LGBTQ Catholics and their supporters are this weekend holding a pilgrimage, in what they are promoting as an important sign of diversity in the Church.

News Lens • 06 Sep

'God's Influencer' to become first millennial saint

An Italian teenager dubbed 'God's Influencer' for his efforts to spread the Catholic faith online will become the first millennial saint on Sunday at a canonisation attended by thousands of pilgrims.

News Lens • 06 Sep

Close-up of a woman's eye with a dilated pupil

100 micrograms of LSD could keep anxiety at bay - study

A 100 microgram dose of a pharmaceutical version of the hallucinogenic drug LSD could help stave off the symptoms of severe anxiety for weeks, a study suggests.

News Lens • 05 Sep

A member of the Argentine Federal Police stands outside the house that was raided after a photo showing a 17th century masterwork allegedly stolen by the Nazis from a Dutch Jewish art collector

Couple held as Argentina searches for Nazi-looted artwork

Argentine police are investigating a deceased Nazi's daughter and son-in-law after a 17th century painting stolen from a Dutch Jewish art collector was recently spotted in a property ad before promptly disappearing

News Lens • 02 Sep

Earlier this year the iceberg known as A23a was more than twice the size of the greater London area

World's biggest iceberg could disappear 'in coming weeks'

Nearly 40 years after breaking off Antarctica, a colossal iceberg ranked among the oldest and largest ever recorded is finally crumbling apart in warmer waters, and could disappear within weeks

News Lens • 04 Sep

Mushrooms playing instruments using electrical currents

Fun guys: Musicians using mushrooms to make melodies

Two musicians in England have been plugging mushrooms and plants into sensors, which translate their electrical language into musical notes, in a bid to make new music.

News Lens • 02 Sep

People ride past a portrait of the late communist leader Mao Zedong on Tiananmen Square

China parade inspires military-themed haircuts for kids

A hair salon in Beijing has been offering patriotic and military-themed haircuts and styles to children in the weeks leading up to China's largest military parade to date to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two.

News Lens • 29 Aug

Nazi-looted masterwork spotted in Argentina property ad

A 17th century masterwork allegedly stolen by the Nazis from a Dutch Jewish art collector re-emerged this week in pictures of a house for sale in Argentina, only to disappear again.

newslens • 27 Aug

A group of archaeologists carry out an excavation using hand tools

1.8-million-year-old human jawbone discovered in Georgia

Archaeologists in Georgia have discovered a 1.8-million-year-old jawbone belonging to an early species of human that they say will shed light on some of the earliest prehistoric human settlements on the Eurasian continent.

News Lens • 27 Aug

This picture shows Mount Fuji, Japan's highest mountain at 3,776 meters, seen from the window of a passenger aircraft en route to Kagoshima

Japanese climber, 102, sets Mount Fuji record

A 102-year-old Japanese man with a serious heart condition has been certified as the oldest person to climb Mount Fuji - but still shrugged off the feat as nothing special.

News Lens • 26 Aug

This picture taken on May 23, 2010 shows a Nepalese sherpa collecting garbage, left by climbers, at an altitude of 8,000 metres during an Everest clean-up expedition

Drones take on Everest's rubbish collection

A team of drone operators joined climbers and guides at Everest Base Camp this climbing season, armed with heavy-duty drones to help clear rubbish from the world's highest peak.

News Lens • 26 Aug

Partial skeleton remains of a female human ancestor named of 'Lucy' lays on display on a table

Human ancestor Lucy gets first European showing in Prague

The 3.18-million-year-old bone fragments of human ancestor Lucy, which rarely leave Ethiopia, will go on display in Europe for the first time at the Czech National Museum in Prague.

News Lens • 25 Aug

Not drinking enough water causes stress response - study

People who do not drink enough water have a stronger biological response to stress, according to a study.

News Lens • 22 Aug

Footage shows teenagers breaking down the door of a burning house to rescue trapped dogs

Watch: Teens break down door to rescue dogs

Dramatic footage shows a group of teenage boys breaking down the door of a burning home in the US, to rescue two trapped dogs.

News Lens • 21 Aug

Memorial Cairn for fallen Jacobite soldiers on the Culloden Battlefield near Inverness

Culloden cannonball sells for almost £19k at auction

A cannonball recovered from the battlefield at Culloden has sold for almost £19,000 (€22,000) at auction.

News Lens • 21 Aug

A group of tourists take photos of a penguin in Antarctica

Surging tourism is polluting Antarctica, scientists warn

Soaring numbers of tourists and expanding research projects are increasingly polluting Antarctica, scientists have warned, a fresh blow for one of Earth's most pristine environments already threatened by human-driven climate change.

News Lens • 21 Aug

The wooden Kiruna Church is transferred to its new location, in Kiruna, Sweden

Swedish church arrives at new home after two-day journey

A landmark Swedish church in the Arctic has arrived at its new home after a two-day move across the town of Kiruna to allow Europe's biggest underground mine to expand.

Europe • 21 Aug

A view of a fireball in the night's sky in Japan

Watch: Fireball lights up night sky in Japan

A flashing fireball dashed across the skies of western Japan, shocking residents and dazzling stargazers, though experts said it was a natural phenomenon and not an alien invasion.

News Lens • 20 Aug

Black and white discs on a checked board

Time to Go: Japan pro board game player retires at 98

Japan's oldest professional player of the board game Go retired aged 98, saying that she can no longer handle "six hours without a break".

News Lens • 20 Aug

violinist Inmo Yang plays the "Carrodus violin"

300-year-old violin to star at UK music festival

One of the most valuable violins in the world, crafted three centuries ago and once owned by composer Niccolo Paganini, is to be played at a top UK classical music festival.

News Lens • 19 Aug

Several yellow-crested cockatoos perch on bamboo scaffolding

HK scientist puts hope in nest boxes to save cockatoos

Above the teeming shopping streets of Hong Kong's Causeway Bay district, a fight to save one of the world's most endangered species is unfolding high in the branches of a decades-old cotton tree.

News Lens • 19 Aug