Syria's foreign minister Asaad al‑Shaibani says country weighing Mecca defence pact

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Syria's foreign minister Asaad al‑Shaibani says country weighing Mecca…?

Of the 14 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 14% are rated left, 15% are rated centre, 71% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 25. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.

Is Syria's foreign minister Asaad al‑Shaibani says country weighing Mecca… left or right?

The story itself is neither. What can be counted is who has covered it, and 71% of the 14 rated outlets on it are rated right — so far this is a story carried mostly by the right. Coverage is still arriving and that can change, which is why the figure is dated rather than fixed.

Is the coverage of Syria's foreign minister Asaad al‑Shaibani says country weighing Mecca… biased?

Syria's foreign minister Asaad al‑Shaibani says country weighing Mecca defence pact is one event reported by 25 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.

Which side is not reporting Syria's foreign minister Asaad al‑Shaibani says country weighing Mecca…?

When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.

Which outlets covered Syria's foreign minister Asaad al‑Shaibani says country weighing Mecca…?

25 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.

What did Syria’s foreign minister say about joining the pact?

He said Damascus is evaluating whether to become a member of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, a regional security treaty signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, and that discussions are currently underway at the Manama Dialogue.

Which countries are part of the defence pact?

The agreement was signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan in August in the Saudi city of Mecca, and it obliges each signatory to consider an attack on any member as an attack on all.

How many attacks did the minister say Israel carried out on Syria?

The minister claimed that Israel has carried out more than 1,000 attacks on Syrian territory in less than two years, killing dozens of people.