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THE REFRACT 2026RSSEVERY STORY HAS MANY SIDES

Prism of the week — 2026-W3620 STORIES · 46 COUNTRIES · 1 NARRATIVEREAD THE PRISM

One story. Many countries. Different accounts.

The Refract compares how each country’s media tell the same news.

The CDU's "heaviest defeat": Merz holds his ground as the succession fight opens in Saxony-Anhalt

13 countries

Gap between media framings

73/100

How the world tells it

« Berlin is gauging the cost of Merz's survival: a secure position at the top of the party. »

ZEIT Online · FAZ · Handelsblatt

« Paris gauges how Friedrich Merz's survival hinges on the lack of alternative within a stunned CDU rather than a resurgence of… »

Le Monde · France 24 · RFI

« Rome is interpreting the upheaval in Berlin through its own right-left divide. »

ANSA · Libero Quotidiano

+10 more readings

See what the media in 10 other countries are saying.

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Top stories

2

Justice internationale

Thousands attend Ratko Mladic's funeral in Belgrade as Sarajevo recalls its embassy staff

Several thousand people filed through Belgrade on Monday for the funeral of Ratko Mladic, who died on 27 August aged 84 in the UN prison in The Hague where he was serving a life sentence for genocide. Patriarch Porfirije officiated; the burial took place at Topcider cemetery. Bosnia's foreign minister recalled almost all staff from his embassy in Serbia, and Brussels again rejected any "glorification".

8 countries

divergence

82

Close accountsOpposed accounts

Two accounts that clash

Germany

Berlin is gauging the cost of Merz's survival: a secure position at the top of the party.

ZEIT Online · FAZ · Handelsblatt

↔

France

Paris gauges how Friedrich Merz's survival hinges on the lack of alternative within a stunned CDU rather than a resurgence of…

Le Monde · France 24 · RFI

Read both accounts side by side →

/100

ConsensusPolarisation

Compare the 8 perspectives

3

Energie & Climat

Shipping collapses in the Strait of Hormuz as Iran announces a restricted zone

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen to its lowest level since May: a ten-day moving average of ten vessels a day, down from more than fifteen on Friday, according to Kpler cited by Reuters. Iran has announced a new restricted zone near the strait and three tankers turned back after a warning from the Revolutionary Guard. Canada has joined the US-French-British effort to reopen the passage.

14 countries

divergence

78/100

4

Catastrophes naturelles

Anak Krakatau shuts eight Indonesian airports and grounds hundreds of flights in Jakarta

The eruption of Anak Krakatau in the Sunda Strait suspended operations at eight Indonesian airports and paralysed part of Jakarta's air traffic. The continuous eruptive episode lasted about twenty-five hours before activity returned to a Strombolian pattern. Five fallback airports were opened around the clock. The number of passengers affected ranges from 150,000 to 170,000 depending on the source.

15 countries

divergence

36/100

5

Diplomatie & Gouvernance

AfD wins Saxony-Anhalt with 43.8% and falls three seats short of an absolute majority

The AfD won Sunday's regional election in Saxony-Anhalt with 43.8% of the vote, 23 points more than in 2021, on a record turnout of 77.8%. It takes 39 of the Landtag's 83 seats and falls three short of an absolute majority. Sahra Wagenknecht's BSW scraping in at 5.3% makes both an AfD majority and a cordon-sanitaire coalition of all the other parties impossible at once.

17 countries

divergence

70/100

6

Conflits & Securite

Washington destroys three Iranian tankers, Tehran says it hit three American ships

US Central Command said on Saturday 5 September that it had struck three Iranian oil tankers in response to ballistic missiles which it says the Revolutionary Guard fired at an aircraft carrier and a destroyer. Tehran calls the strikes a war crime under the United Nations Charter, and says it hit three American ships of its own. The two accounts of that night cannot be reconciled.

16 countries

divergence

68/100

7

Diplomatie & Gouvernance

Witkoff and Kushner received for three hours at the Kremlin, expected in Kyiv under a three-day truce

Vladimir Putin received US emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at the Kremlin on Saturday 5 September for three hours and ten minutes. The two men are expected in Kyiv on Sunday, where Volodymyr Zelensky is to receive them for the first time. The local three-day truce framing the visit suspends strikes on Kyiv and Moscow alone: elsewhere along the front, the bombardments continued.

13 countries

divergence

59/100

8

Diplomatie & Gouvernance

Falklands: Milei announces oil sanctions and a naval base, London reasserts sovereignty, Washington leaves doubt hanging

In a national televised address on September 4, Javier Milei announced a package of decrees, a bill and a national security council targeting the Sea Lion offshore oil project, 220 kilometers north of the Falklands, along with a naval base in Tierra del Fuego. He disputes the 3,600 islanders' right to self-determination. The announcement follows remarks by Donald Trump suggesting Washington is reassessing its position; London replied with an "unshakeable commitment".

14 countries

divergence

48/100

9

Diplomatie & Gouvernance

The UN drops Mercator for Equal Earth: Africa at its true size, the United States the only vote against

On September 4 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution encouraging member states to move away from the Mercator projection, in use since 1569, in favor of Equal Earth. Togo led the initiative on behalf of the African Union: on Mercator, Greenland appears almost as large as Africa though it is fourteen times smaller. The United States was the only country to vote against.

13 countries

divergence

73/100

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ConsensusPolarisation

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ConsensusPolarisation

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ConsensusPolarisation

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ConsensusPolarisation

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ConsensusPolarisation

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ConsensusPolarisation

Compare the 14 perspectives

ConsensusPolarisation

Compare the 13 perspectives

The Refract — News, refracted through 69 countries