News Lens

Photo show Michaela Benthaus in front of space capsule

German engineer becomes first wheelchair user in space

A German engineer has become the first wheelchair user to go to space as part of a Blue Origin mission.

News Lens • 16 hrs

Hundreds of people dressed as Santa Claus ride motorbikes in Sofia

Hundreds of motorcycle-riding santas parade through Sofia

Hundreds of motorcycle-riding santas paraded through Sofia today as the Bulgarian capital counts down to Christmas.

News Lens • 20 Dec

A woman makes a toy baby doll in the retro style of the Middle Ages

Medieval Londoners imported cheap Christmas gifts

We often imagine medieval life as dull, dirty and short, with little in the way of material comfort or decoration. However, medieval Londoners were importing toys, treats and trinkets by the boatload centuries before the modern festive rush.

News Lens • 19 Dec

This photo taken on December 14, 2025, shows people watching during the Giant Lantern Festival in San Fernando, Pampanga. In Christmas-mad Philippines, thousands cheered as hand-crafted lanterns towering six metres (20 feet) high lit up the night sky in S

Giant lanterns light up Christmas in Catholic Philippines

In the Christmas-mad Philippines, thousands cheer as hand-crafted lanterns towering six metres high light up the night sky in San Fernando, northwest of the country's capital.

News Lens • 19 Dec

Thai Queen Suthida attend over the annual royal ploughing ceremony at the Sanam Luang park in Bangkok, Thailand. 09 May, 2019. (Photo by Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Thai queen wins gold medal at Southeast Asian Games

The queen of Thailand has won a gold medal in sailing at the Southeast Asian Games, a regional competition being held in her country this month.

News Lens • 18 Dec

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

WHO exploring AI to boost ancient, traditional medicine

The World Health Organisation is opening a major conference on traditional medicine, arguing that new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, can bring scientific scrutiny to centuries-old healing practices.

News Lens • 17 Dec

Paleontologists at the Natural History Museum of Milan Cristiano Dal Sasso comment during a press conference

Hundreds of metres of dinosaur tracks found in Italy

Hundreds of metres of dinosaur tracks with toes and claws have been found in the Italian Alps, authorities have said.

News Lens • 16 Dec

Stockholm cityscape with beautiful buildings of Gamla Stan

Elusive December sun leaves Stockholm in the dark

The Swedish capital has recorded just a half-hour of sunlight in the first half of December, putting it on track for the darkest December since 1934 if the trend continues, meteorologists said.

News Lens • 16 Dec

A nativity sand sculpture is on display in Spain

Nativity scenes carved in sand on display in Spain

A Sand Nativity Scene, sculpted by international artists, has opened on the shores of Gran Canaria island.

News Lens • 16 Dec

Alice Morrison and her camels in the desert

UK explorer walks length of Saudi Arabia in world first

A British explorer has become the first person to walk the length of Saudi Arabia from north to south entirely on foot.

News Lens • 15 Dec

Japan's only two pandas to be sent back to China

Two pandas at a Tokyo zoo will be returned to China in January, the Tokyo government said potentially leaving Japan without the beloved animals for the first time in half a century.

News Lens • 15 Dec

A dachshund wearing a festive coat takes part in the Christmas Hyde Park Sausage Dog Parade in Hyde Park, central London

Santa-Paws: Sausage dogs don festive dress in London

Cosy knits, sparkly bobbles and Santa hats were all the canine rage as hundreds of sausage dogs and their owners converged on central London for an annual parade and get-together.

News Lens • 14 Dec

Students wait for the start of the annual college entrance exam, known locally as Suneung, at an exam hall in Seoulon

Korean exam head quits after English test deemed too hard

The chief organiser of South Korea's notoriously gruelling university entrance exams has resigned, after complaints that an English test he designed was just too difficult.

News Lens • 12 Dec

CCTV images of four people linked to museum theft

More than 600 British Empire-related artefacts stolen

More than 600 artefacts relating to the British Empire and Commonwealth have been stolen from a museum collection in Bristol.

News Lens • 11 Dec

Rubio orders US diplomats to change font

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered diplomats to stop using Calibri font, calling it a "wasteful" example of diversity initiatives established under the Biden administration, media reports said.

News Lens • 11 Dec

Arrivals walking towards US Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport

US plans to check social media history of all visitors

Irish visitors to the US will be required to disclose their social media histories from the last five years before entering the country, according to plans published by the Trump administration.

US • 11 Dec

A white plate with a vegan grilled burger made of plant-based meatless patties

EU fails to reach agreement on veggie 'burger' ban

EU wrangling over whether to give plant-based "sausages" and veggie "burgers" the chop and restrict such labels to meat products will grind on into next year after countries and lawmakers failed to reach a deal today.

Business • 10 Dec

Folk artists perform live during the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Red Fort

Argentine dance to Yemeni poetry among UNESCO bids

From Argentine cuarteto dancing to Yemeni musical poetry, Italian cooking and India's Hindu festival of lights Diwali, UNESCO is weighing 68 nominations to add to its intangible cultural heritage list.

News Lens • 09 Dec

Mario de Andrade Library in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Suspect arrested over theft of Matisse artworks in Brazil

A man has been arrested over the theft of eight Henri Matisse artworks from a library in the Brazilian city of São Paulo.

News Lens • 08 Dec

Picture of a skeleton of a Tarbosaurus Baatar mounted for an exhibition at a museum in Santiago, Chile

France to return smuggled dinosaur skeleton to Mongolia

France was to hand over a 70 million-year-old dinosaur skeleton to Mongolia, which was looted from the Gobi desert and seized by French customs.

News Lens • 08 Dec

View of the Louvre Museum facade in Paris, France

Louvre says hundreds of works damaged by water leak

A water leak in late November damaged several hundred works in the Louvre's Egyptian department, the Paris museum said, weeks after a brazen jewel theft raised concerns over its infrastructure.

News Lens • 07 Dec

Spectators gather on Nativity Square during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank

Christmas lights return to Bethlehem after three years

A giant Christmas tree adorned with red and gold baubles stands in the West Bank city of Bethlehem for the first time since 2022.

News Lens • 06 Dec

David A Lindon, who has set a new Guinness World Record for creating the world's smallest handmade sculpture of a smiley face

Micro-artist creates sculpture size of human blood cell

An artist has set a new Guinness World Record for creating the world's smallest handmade sculpture of a smiley face which is so small that it is invisible to the human eye.

News Lens • 05 Dec

A photograph taken at the archaeological site of Karahantepe

Carved faces shed new light on Neolithic in Turkey

On the windswept hills overlooking Turkey's vast southeastern plains, new archaeological discoveries are revealing how life might have looked 11,000 years ago when the world's earliest communities began to emerge.

News Lens • 04 Dec

In this photo illustration, an ATAC metro and bus ticket was photographed in front of a bus in RomE

Rome bus, metro company to offer refunds for poor service

Rome's public transport company Atac has committed to offering refunds for poor service, Italy's competition authority said on, ending an investigation of the publicly controlled body.

News Lens • 03 Dec

newslens

German engineer becomes first wheelchair user in space

Hundreds of motorcycle-riding santas parade through Sofia

Medieval Londoners imported cheap Christmas gifts

Giant lanterns light up Christmas in Catholic Philippines

Thai queen wins gold medal at Southeast Asian Games

WHO exploring AI to boost ancient, traditional medicine

Hundreds of metres of dinosaur tracks found in Italy

Elusive December sun leaves Stockholm in the dark

Nativity scenes carved in sand on display in Spain

UK explorer walks length of Saudi Arabia in world first

Japan's only two pandas to be sent back to China

Santa-Paws: Sausage dogs don festive dress in London

Korean exam head quits after English test deemed too hard

More than 600 British Empire-related artefacts stolen

Rubio orders US diplomats to change font

US plans to check social media history of all visitors

EU fails to reach agreement on veggie 'burger' ban

Argentine dance to Yemeni poetry among UNESCO bids

Suspect arrested over theft of Matisse artworks in Brazil

France to return smuggled dinosaur skeleton to Mongolia

Louvre says hundreds of works damaged by water leak

Christmas lights return to Bethlehem after three years

Micro-artist creates sculpture size of human blood cell

Carved faces shed new light on Neolithic in Turkey

Rome bus, metro company to offer refunds for poor service