← 18 Aug Wednesday 19 August 2026 · to 23:59 UTC 20 Aug →
What the world's news said happened to people.
Counts of coverage, not of suffering
13,209 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 helicopter crash in Kenya, abductions in Sudan and protests in Kyiv (Ukraine). Ukraine's coverage was about twice as angry as the world's. Language across the world's news ran about as usual.

Help and hope: reports of vaccination ran at about one and a half times the usual rate →
Part of lifeHealth 28 in 100 of the stories about harm · more than usual Country that rose mostPhilippines 38 in 100 of its 443 stories, usually 22
RegionSoutheast Asia 28 in 100 of its stories, usually 23
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 →
Disasters & accidents

Kenya

126 of its 332 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Samburu accounted for 58 of Kenya's 126 stories about harm, carried by 118 outlets. Reports of people killed ran at about 4 times the usual rate (88 stories). Helicopter crash was named in 63 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual. Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Sudan

37 of its 44 stories (84%) were about people being harmed, usually 65%. Reports of abductions ran at about 5 times the usual rate (9 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

6 more places the news pointed at
Disasters & accidents

Central African Republic

16 of its 17 stories (94%) were about people being harmed, usually 33%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (16 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Philippines

169 of its 443 stories (38%) were about people being harmed, usually 22%. Reports of evacuations ran at about three times the usual rate (14 stories). Power cuts were named in 16 of its stories about harm, more than ten times usual.

Disasters & accidents

Cameroon

16 of its 39 stories (41%) were about people being harmed, usually 18%. Reports of people killed ran at about twice the usual rate (13 stories). Its coverage was about one and a half times as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Palestine

Gaza accounted for 67 of Palestine's 101 stories about harm, carried by 66 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at about twice the usual rate (8 stories). Its coverage was about twice as grief-stricken as the world's.

Conflict & violence

Syria

Damascus accounted for 35 of Syria's 61 stories about harm, carried by 157 outlets. Reports of abductions ran at more than ten times the usual rate (7 stories). Its coverage was about twice as angry as the world's.

Disasters & accidents

Vietnam

35 of its 143 stories (24%) were about people being harmed, usually 17%. Reports of people killed ran at about three times the usual rate (21 stories).

Also named far more than usual: earthquake in Spain (10 of its stories, about 6 times its usual); landslides in New Zealand (11 of its stories, about 10 times its usual); power cuts in Philippines (16 of its stories, more than ten times its usual); heatwave in Ireland (10 of its stories, about 4 times its usual); illness in Iran (11 of its stories, about 4 times its usual).

19 in 100 stories were about harm

usually 20; 19 the day before
22 in 10019 in 10021 Jul28 Jul4 Aug11 Aug19 Aug21 Jul: 20 in 10022 Jul: 20 in 10023 Jul: 19 in 10024 Jul: 20 in 10025 Jul: 20 in 10026 Jul: 21 in 10027 Jul: 20 in 10028 Jul: 19 in 10029 Jul: 20 in 10030 Jul: 20 in 10031 Jul: 20 in 1001 Aug: 20 in 1002 Aug: 22 in 1003 Aug: 19 in 1004 Aug: 19 in 1005 Aug: 19 in 1006 Aug: 19 in 1007 Aug: 19 in 1008 Aug: 19 in 1009 Aug: 20 in 10010 Aug: 20 in 10011 Aug: 20 in 10012 Aug: 19 in 10013 Aug: 19 in 10014 Aug: 19 in 10015 Aug: 20 in 10016 Aug: 21 in 10017 Aug: 20 in 10018 Aug: 19 in 10019 Aug: 19 in 100 · this day

Stories about people being harmed, in every 100 stories, the 30 days to 19 Aug. 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 13,209 stories about harm among 70,382 counted on 19 Aug.

Read the day's briefing

The share of stories about people being harmed was the lowest since 16 July 2026. 19 in every 100 of the day's 70,382 news stories were about people being harmed, as usual. In Kenya's news, mentions of helicopter crash ran more than ten times their usual. Reports of vaccination, a sign of help, ran at about one and a half times the usual rate. Kenya's news was 38% about people being harmed, against a usual 22%.

Written by code from the day's numbers.

Where it happened

feelings in full →
Feelings Events Harm Warmth
Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia -- accidents & disasters: 7 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Ranchi, India -- protests & strikes: 16 stories, carried by 13 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Qusra, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 29 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 93 in 100West Midlands, UK -- accidents & disasters: 28 stories, carried by 27 outlets; harsh wording in 79 in 100Sichuan, China -- accidents & disasters: 5 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Penticton, Canada -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 18 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Paris, France -- accidents & disasters: 37 stories, carried by 47 outlets; harsh wording in 70 in 100Carlow, Ireland -- deaths, cause not given: 41 stories, carried by 26 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Yasukuni, Japan -- attacks & violence: 6 stories, carried by 16 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kabul, Afghanistan -- attacks & violence: 13 stories, carried by 23 outlets; harsh wording in 92 in 100Kariba, Zimbabwe -- accidents & disasters: 13 stories, carried by 20 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Salt Lake City, US -- deaths, cause not given: 25 stories, carried by 56 outlets; harsh wording in 72 in 100Hawaii County, US -- accidents & disasters: 14 stories, carried by 44 outlets; harsh wording in 86 in 100Gaza, Palestine -- attacks & violence: 67 stories, carried by 66 outlets; harsh wording in 90 in 100Moscow, Russia -- attacks & violence: 65 stories, carried by 67 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Kyiv, Ukraine -- protests & strikes: 34 stories, carried by 97 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Subic Bay, Philippines -- protests & strikes: 20 stories, carried by 67 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Jerusalem, Israel -- attacks & violence: 90 stories, carried by 105 outlets; harsh wording in 96 in 100Kherson, Ukraine -- attacks & violence: 29 stories, carried by 96 outlets; harsh wording in 100 in 100Kolkata, India -- accidents & disasters: 97 stories, carried by 103 outlets; harsh wording in 99 in 100Samburu, Kenya -- accidents & disasters: 58 stories, carried by 118 outlets; harsh wording in 98 in 100Sussex, UK -- accidents & disasters: 69 stories, carried by 186 outlets; harsh wording in 87 in 100Damascus, Syria -- attacks & violence: 35 stories, carried by 157 outlets; harsh wording in 94 in 100Tehran, Iran -- attacks & violence: 114 stories, carried by 168 outlets; harsh wording in 97 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 · 19 Oct – 25 Oct

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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.