Indonesia battles widespread forest and peatland fires driven by El Niño as haze spreads across Southeast Asia
Indonesia deployed thousands of firefighters, soldiers, and aircraft to combat forest and peatland fires across Kalimantan and Sumatra in August 2026, driven by an intensifying El Niño pattern and prolonged dry season. Smoke from the fires crossed into Malaysia and Brunei, closing hundreds of schools and causing severe air pollution. President Prabowo Subianto visited affected areas and ordered additional military deployments and firefighting resources.
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Divergence score
7 outlets covered it, splitting into 7 framing camps across 4 bias groups.
7 camps
4 bias groups
The spectrum · how 7 outlets placed this story
LeftCenterRight
Washington Times
The Guardian
AP News
NPR
Al Jazeera
South China Morning Post
The Telegraph
Supportive of action
Neutral
Dismissive
Critical
Alarmist
International angle
Widest split · the two outlets furthest apart, and who published first
Furthest apart on this story
Washington Times
Indonesia intensifies aerial firefighting as forest fires scorch multiple provinces
operational response and cross-border cooperation · neutral
The Guardian
'Like smoking a cigarette': Indonesia chokes on haze as blazes intensify amid super 'El Niño'
health crisis and corporate accountability · negative
First to report
- South China Morning Postfirst
- Al Jazeera+24 min
- Washington Times+48.7 h
- The Guardian+63.1 h
- NPR+64.2 h
- The Telegraph+310.2 h
By each outlet's earliest publish time in this story. Feeds that index slowly can appear later than they printed.
The split, in one line
Coverage splits between government/military response (wires, SCMP), health crisis and corporate accountability (Guardian, Telegraph), climate amplification (Al Jazeera), and spiritual/prayer appeals (NPR).
How each outlet covered it
Broad agreement on what happened
Outlets across the spectrum land in roughly the same place: the shared language is highlighted.
THE LEFT
“'Like smoking a cigarette': Indonesia chokes on haze as blazes intensify amid super 'El Niño'”G The Guardian LEFT
33LOW DIVERGENCE
THE RIGHT
“Indonesia intensifies aerial firefighting as forest fires scorch multiple provinces”WT Washington Times RIGHT
DOWN THE MIDDLE
“Indonesia bolsters troop numbers to combat Borneo wildfires” · AP News, Al Jazeera, South China Morning Post, The Telegraph
+Hide the full sourcingSee how all 7 outlets put it
LEFT2
GThe Guardian 'Like smoking a cigarette': Indonesia chokes on haze as blazes intensify amid super 'El Niño' 17d ago NPRNPR Indonesians brave choking smoke to pray for rain as country battles wildfires 17d ago 11 tracked claims across 7 outlets
Fact ledger
All11Disputed2Claimed2Corroborated7
2/7
Disputed
Total area burned: Washington Times and AP report over 36,000 hectares in 10 provinces; Al Jazeera and SCMP report over 200,000 hectares January-July
Corroborated
Disputed
10 more tracked claims, including 1 disputedSign up free to see the full ledger