Although 'news' ends in 's' it is a singular noun. Thus it is 'the news is...' and not 'the news are...'
In the Newspaper
The usage of 'IN' in the phrase 'News in the newspaper', or in the a sentence like 'I've read something in the newspaper' has puzzled me all the for a long time. For me, I would think news is are written/printed on the newspaper, not in the newspaper.
Then I came to the realisation that news are is not something like a cup sitting on top of the newspaper, and so in this sense, the news is are in the newspaper.
I'm fully aware of so-called 'common sense' but in different cultures what is considered common sense varies. What I'm doing is trying to make sense of things from other people's perspective.
What do native English speakers think about 'news in newspapers? I'd appreciate it if I can hear from you.