May 3, 2023 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2022–2023 Western Russia attacks
- 2023 Kremlin drone attack
- Russia accuses Ukraine of attempting to assassinate President Vladimir Putin after two drones were shot down near the Kremlin. A spokesman claimed that Putin was not inside the Kremlin at the time of the attack. A video shows at least one drone hitting the compound. Ukraine denies any involvement in the attack. (BBC News)
- 2023 Kremlin drone attack
- 2022–2023 Crimea attacks
- Russia's Federal Security Service says that it has arrested seven Ukrainian agents who were allegedly planning a "series of high-profile sabotage and terrorist acts" in Crimea, including an attack on the Head of the Republic of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov. (Reuters)
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian forces shell Kherson Oblast, killing 16 civilians and injuring 22 others. (Reuters)
- 2022–2023 Western Russia attacks
- War in Sudan (2023)
- Evacuation of foreign nationals during the War in Sudan (2023)
- Australia's Royal Australian Air Force evacuates 36 Australians from Sudan, reportedly overnight. (Sydney Morning Herald) (ABC News Australia)
- The South Sudanese foreign ministry announces that a seven-day ceasefire has been agreed to in Sudan, lasting from May 4 to 11. (Firstpost) (Reuters)
- Evacuation of foreign nationals during the War in Sudan (2023)
- The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seize the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi in the Strait of Hormuz. (Tasnim News Agency)
Business and economy
- The World Bank's board of governors elects American business executive Ajay Banga as the next President of the World Bank Group. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- 2023 Africa floods
- 2023 Emilia-Romagna floods
- Two people are killed, one is missing and several are displaced during heavy floods in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy. (AP)
- Seventeen people are killed and 29 others are injured after a public bus and a truck collide with each other on a highway in New Valley Governorate, Egypt. (Reuters)
- Eight people are killed after a fire breaks out in a construction container in Brno, Czech Republic. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School shooting
- A boy kills nine people in a mass shooting at an elementary school in Belgrade, Serbia. (Reuters)
- 2023 Atlanta shooting
- One person is killed and four others are injured in a mass shooting at a medical facility in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The suspected shooter is later arrested following an 8-hour manhunt. (AP)
- Myanmar's State Administration Council pardons 2,153 political prisoners to mark Vesak Day. (ABC News) (Xinhua)
- Belarusian activist and blogger Roman Protasevich is sentenced to eight years in prison. (AFP via Barron's)
Science and technology
- Researchers announce the successful extraction of ancient DNA from a 20,000 year old elk-tooth pendant found in Denisova Cave. (Reuters)