How much of the news here is about each issue today, and how it sounds, compared with the past 4 weeks. From 444 articles by the country’s own news sites today. How we read the news

Share of the coverage

1. War and security More than usual
   8.3% of the news · usually 2.8% · 2.9× usual · 37 articles
   • Gedenken an Waffenstillstand: König Philipp am Grab des Unbekannten Soldaten (brf.be)
   • 11 novembre - Les lieux de mémoire de la Grande Guerre prennent une résonance particulière : huit sites belges inscrits au patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO (rtbf.be)

   Survey · Apr 2026 15% name “The conflict in the Middle East” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

   Survey · Apr 2026 9% name “Security and defence” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

   Survey · Apr 2026 6% name “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

2. Jobs and work
   2.9% of the news · usually 1.5% · 1.9× usual · 13 articles
   • Véronique De Kock heeft eitje te pellen met Van Gucht: "Niet gevraagd" (voetbalnieuws.be)
   • Mapa y guía de la huelga general del 11N: manifestaciones, cortes de transporte y servicios mínimos en toda España (que.es)

   Survey · Apr 2026 11% name “Unemployment” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

3. Democracy and elections
   2.5% of the news · usually 2.1% · 11 articles
   • Fusion des communes à Nassogne : "La constitution de la liste avec les huit bourgmestres a donné lieu à de vives tensions" (dhnet.be)
   • Anca Alexandrescu a comentat declarațiile lui Nicușor Dan despre AUR (stiripesurse.ro)

   Survey · Apr 2026 7% name “Threats to democracy (for example through information manipulation)” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

4. Health
   2.0% of the news · usually 1.2% · 1.7× usual · 9 articles
   • Meer dan helft Belgen maakt vloer meerdere keren per week schoon (bouwenwonen.net)
   • LIVE "Netwerkproblemen nog niet opgelost": ziekenwagens UZ Brussel nog omgeleid, bijzonder druk op spoed AZ Jan Portaels (vrt.be)

   Survey · Apr 2026 5% name “Health” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

5. AI
   1.8% of the news · usually 1.7% · 8 articles
   • "Le 11 novembre n'attire pas plus de monde" : À Latour, le musée fait vivre le devoir de mémoire, loin de l'intelligence artificielle (dhnet.be)
   • Influenceurs, IA, "dark patterns": l'UE veut protéger les consommateurs en ligne (lalibre.be)
6. Cost of living
   1.8% of the news · usually 0.7% · 2.6× usual · 8 articles
   • Bel20 sluit net onder recordniveau (beursduivel.be)
   • Γιατί είναι χαμηλά τα επιτόκια καταθέσεων (kathimerini.gr)

   Survey · Apr 2026 36% name “Rising prices / inflation / cost of living” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

   Survey · Apr 2026 16% name “The economic situation” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

   Survey · Apr 2026 8% name “Housing” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

7. Climate
   1.6% of the news · usually 1.0% · 1.6× usual · 7 articles
   • COP31 : la Belgique végète parmi les pays à 'faible' performance climatique, selon des ONG (rtbf.be)
   • Llevamos años hablando de cambio climático. Este neurocientífico explica por qué lo estamos haciendo mal (elconfidencial.com)

   Survey · 2023 58% Worried about climate change (Climate Change Opinion Survey (Meta, Yale), survey of Facebook users)

   Survey · Apr 2026 5% name “The environment and risks related to climate change” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

8. Immigration
   0.2% of the news · usually 0.5% · 1 articles
   • Belgium's new immigration rules raise fears of US-style deportation raids (thenews.com.pk)
   • EU, Nigeria sign agreement to accelerate return of irregular migrants (nigeriasun.com)

   Survey · Apr 2026 16% name “Immigration” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

How the news sounds

• Tone−1.2positive minus negative words per 100usually −1.6The GDELT Project
• Anxiety0.8× usual2.7 words per 1,000usually 3.4The GDELT Project
• Fear0.8× usual0.9 words per 1,000usually 1.2The GDELT Project
• Anger1.0× usual6.3 words per 1,000usually 6.1The GDELT Project
• Sadness1.0× usual6.2 words per 1,000usually 6.1The GDELT Project
• Happiness1.0× usual5.4 words per 1,000usually 5.4The GDELT Project
• Financial uncertainty1.0× usual8.3 words per 1,000usually 8.6The GDELT Project

News coverage in more than 100 languages, machine-translated and counted with English word lists, from The GDELT Project.