App.java

private static final String NEWS_URL = "https://news.google.com/news/rss";

private static final HttpClient HTTP_CLIENT = HttpClient.newBuilder()
    .version(Version.HTTP_2)
    .followRedirects(HttpClient.Redirect.NORMAL)
    .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10))
    .build();

private String getNewsFromGoogle() 
    throws IOException, InterruptedException, XMLStreamException {

  final HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
      .GET()
      .uri(URI.create(NEWS_URL))
      .setHeader("User-Agent", "Daily News Lambda")
      .build();

  final HttpResponse<String> response = HTTP_CLIENT
      .send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());

  return rssToNewsItems(response.body()).toString();
}

private List<NewsItem> rssToNewsItems(final String rssFeed) 
    throws XMLStreamException {

  final List<NewsItem> newsItems = new ArrayList<>();
  final XMLInputFactory inputFactory = XMLInputFactory.newInstance();
  final InputStream inputStream = new ByteArrayInputStream(rssFeed.getBytes());
  final XMLEventReader reader = inputFactory.createXMLEventReader(inputStream);
  NewsItem newsItem = null;
  while (reader.hasNext()) {
    XMLEvent nextEvent = reader.nextEvent();
    if (nextEvent.isStartElement()) {
      final StartElement startElement = nextEvent.asStartElement();
      switch (startElement.getName().getLocalPart()) {
        case "item":
          newsItem = new NewsItem();
          break;
        case "title":
          nextEvent = reader.nextEvent();
          setTitle(nextEvent, newsItem);
          break;
        case "pubDate":
          nextEvent = reader.nextEvent();
          setPubDate(nextEvent, newsItem);
          break;
        default:
          break;
      }
    } else if (nextEvent.isEndElement()) {
      final EndElement endElement = nextEvent.asEndElement();
      if (endElement.getName().getLocalPart().equals("item")) {
        newsItems.add(newsItem);
      }
    }
  }
  return newsItems;
}

private void setTitle(final XMLEvent xmlEvent, final NewsItem newsItem) {

  if (null != newsItem) {
    newsItem.setTitle(xmlEvent.asCharacters().getData());
  }
}

private void setPubDate(final XMLEvent xmlEvent, final NewsItem newsItem) {

  if (null != newsItem) {
    newsItem.setPubDate(xmlEvent.asCharacters().getData());
  }
}