A Google News Help thread reports on a confirmed Google News bug where blank or black images show up in the search results.
For example, a search for letsrecycle in Google News returns a result with an image that looks like this:
Google has confirmed the issue in the thread and said:
This is something that we see from time to time. It's usually temporary, but let us know [1] if you keep seeing it.
They seem to be aware of the bug, but not too keen on fixing it any time soon.
Forum discussion at Google News Help.