← 18 May Tuesday 19 May 2026 · to 23:59 UTC 20 May →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
14,546 stories about harm· Trends· Every past day

We measure how the world's news covered people being harmed — and the help and hope within it.

How to read these numbers →

The day's news pointed at illness in Bundibugyo, protests in la Paz (Bolivia) and violence in Damascus. Uganda's coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's. Taken together, the world's news read about as usual.

Help and hope: reports of vaccination ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 29 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostUganda 77 in 100 of its 323 stories, usually 34
RegionSub-Saharan Africa 33 in 100 of its stories, usually 26
Tone of the words About as usual across the world's stories about harm

What the world's news was about today

how these are picked →
Health

Uganda

250 of its 323 stories (77%) were about people being harmed, usually 34%. Bundibugyo accounted for 181 of Uganda's 250 stories about harm, carried by 291 outlets. Reports of evacuations ran at more than ten times the usual rate (11 stories). Haemorrhagic fever was named in 15 of its stories about harm, about 4 times usual. Its coverage was about twice as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Bolivia

22 of its 34 stories (65%) were about people being harmed, usually 32%. la Paz accounted for 21 of Bolivia's 22 stories about harm, carried by 37 outlets. 16 of la Paz's 21 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of arrests ran at about three times the usual rate (12 stories).

Conflict & violence

Syria

31 of its 63 stories (49%) were about people being harmed, usually 38%. Damascus accounted for 26 of Syria's 31 stories about harm, carried by 39 outlets. Reports of people injured ran at about 7 times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Deaths & injuries, cause not given

Maldives

34 of its 41 stories (83%) were about people being harmed, usually 36%. Vaavu Atoll accounted for 23 of the Maldives' 34 stories about harm, carried by 30 outlets. Reports of people affected ran at about three times the usual rate (19 stories).

6 more places the news pointed at
Health

Congo

81 of its 88 stories (92%) were about people being harmed, usually 56%. Reports of refugees ran at about 8 times the usual rate (14 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Health

DR Congo

49 of its 50 stories (98%) were about people being harmed, usually 62%. Ituri accounted for 29 of the DR Congo's 49 stories about harm, carried by 81 outlets. Its coverage was about one and a half times as fearful as the world's.

Protests & strikes

Kenya

90 of its 253 stories (36%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. 46 of Nairobi's 57 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people injured ran at more than ten times the usual rate (23 stories).

Rights & justice

Israel

370 of its 659 stories (56%) were about people being harmed, usually 50%. Reports of refugees ran at about 4 times the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as angry as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Türkiye

44 of its 155 stories (28%) were about people being harmed, usually 21%. Reports of people injured ran at about 4 times the usual rate (18 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Protests & strikes

South Korea

22 of Gwangju's 23 stories were about protests or strikes. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (23 stories). Anger in its coverage rose to about one and a half times its own usual.

Also named far more than usual: flooding in China (26 of its stories, about 7 times its usual); gas explosion in Germany (13 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); diphtheria in Australia (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); ebola in US (122 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heatwave in UK (13 of its stories, about 5 times its usual).

18 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 17; 18 the day before
19 in 10017 in 10020 Apr27 Apr4 May11 May19 May20 Apr: 18 in 10021 Apr: 18 in 10022 Apr: 17 in 10023 Apr: 17 in 10024 Apr: 17 in 10025 Apr: 17 in 10026 Apr: 19 in 10027 Apr: 18 in 10028 Apr: 17 in 10029 Apr: 17 in 10030 Apr: 17 in 1001 May: 17 in 1002 May: 17 in 1003 May: 17 in 1004 May: 17 in 1005 May: 17 in 1006 May: 17 in 1007 May: 18 in 1008 May: 17 in 1009 May: 18 in 10010 May: 18 in 10011 May: 18 in 10012 May: 17 in 10013 May: 17 in 10014 May: 17 in 10015 May: 17 in 10016 May: 18 in 10017 May: 19 in 10018 May: 18 in 10019 May: 18 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 May. The big dot is this day; the shaded band is a normal day (the 30 days before it). Click a day to open it. Based on 14,546 stories about harm among 80,168 counted on 19 May.

Read the day's briefing

It was the fourth day running that the news turned to Uganda. of the day's 80,168 news stories, 18 in every 100 were about people being harmed, as usual. Reports of vaccination, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Mentions of flooding ran about 7 times their usual in China's news. In Uganda, 77% of the news was about people being harmed, where 34% is usual.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Harouf, Lebanon -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Barakah, Iraq -- attacks & violence: 9 stories, carried by 14 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Lagos, Nigeria -- attacks & violence: 42 stories, carried by 34 outlets; harsh wording in 81 in 100Minab, Iran -- attacks & violence: 7 stories, carried by 11 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Johannesburg, South Africa -- people displaced: 36 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Mersin, Türkiye -- attacks & violence: 14 stories, carried by 17 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kamloops, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 8 stories, carried by 41 outlets; harsh wording in 38 in 100Genoa, Italy -- accidents & disasters: 17 stories, carried by 28 outlets; harsh wording in 76 in 100Brisbane, Australia -- accidents & disasters: 21 stories, carried by 78 outlets; harsh wording in 67 in 100Beirut, Lebanon -- attacks & violence: 18 stories, carried by 21 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Vaavu Atoll, Maldives -- deaths, cause not given: 23 stories, carried by 30 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kordofan, Sudan -- attacks & violence: 10 stories, carried by 22 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 35 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Gwangju, South Korea -- protests & strikes: 23 stories, carried by 24 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Nairobi, Kenya -- protests & strikes: 57 stories, carried by 32 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100La Paz, Bolivia -- protests & strikes: 21 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 26 stories, carried by 37 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 26 stories, carried by 39 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Hubei, China -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 38 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 70 stories, carried by 64 outlets; harsh wording in 97 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 52 stories, carried by 158 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Simi Valley, US -- accidents & disasters: 55 stories, carried by 228 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 169 stories, carried by 341 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100San Diego, US -- attacks & violence: 489 stories, carried by 800 outlets; harsh wording in 95 in 100
Attacks & violenceAccidents & disastersPeople displacedDeaths, cause not givenProtests & strikesDisease & outbreaks

The day's biggest events: attacks, accidents and disasters, people displaced, protests, outbreaks. Bigger dot: more stories. Ranked by the share of the day's outlets that reported it and how clearly it was about one thing, the same way for every place and year; the news data does not say who attacked whom, so both sides of a war appear where the news put them. Click a dot for its stories.

The day in three measures

How it felt 30 days →

harshwarm

The words in the day's stories were about as usual. Filled dot: today. Ring: usual.

● Angerabout as usual
● Warmthabout as usual
● Griefabout as usual
● Fearabout as usual

From the words reporters used across the whole day, never one story. Fear is the weakest of the four measures. How?

The weekly briefing · 18 Oct – 24 Oct

The week in human impact

Read the week →

Unlock a year of trends, free. Follow up to 5 countries, with a bell when their news changes, and 👍 vote for Pro — ten years of the archive, any period, daily alerts.

Create a free account

Sign in · a username, an email and a password.

How to read these numbers →

These are counts of stories, not counts of suffering. Most of what happens to people is never reported at all.