May 3, 2023

UKRAINE | Today is day 433 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Reports say Russian authorities have accused Ukraine of attempting a drone attack on the Russian capital of Moscow today with the aim of killing President Vladimir Putin and that two Ukrainian drones involved in the attack were shot down. [more]
• In a continuing escalation of drone attacks on infrastructure by both Russian and Ukrainian forces, oil depots were damaged or destroyed by such attacks today on Russia's side of the bridge it built to occupied Crimea and in the central Ukraine city of Kropyvnytskyi. [more]
• Reports say the U.S. has agreed to provide Ukraine with a new $300 million military aid package that includes howitzers, air-to-ground rockets, artillery rounds, and other ammunition. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | U.S. military officials yesterday agreed to a request from the Department of Homeland Security to deploy 1,500 active-duty military troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to assist in administrative and surveillance efforts in anticipation of a surge in migrants seeking to enter the United States. The Pentagon emphasized that the troops will not perform any law enforcement duties on the deployment. [more]

TEXAS | Police in Texas say Francisco Oropeza, 38 — the man suspected in the shooting deaths of five of his neighbors last week after he was asked to stop firing weapons in his yard in the city of Cleveland — was arrested yesterday in the town of Conroe, Texas. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | The Federal Reserve is expected to raise its key interest rate by a quarter-point today at its scheduled policymaking meeting. Economists are also looking to the Fed for any indication that rate increases could be paused for the rest of the year amidst slowing inflation. [more]

U.S. EDUCATION | Researchers at the National Assessment of Educational Progress say middle school test scores in civics and history declined slightly from 2018 to 2022, indicating possible impacts from educational disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for increased emphasis on learning about America’s history and government. [more]

FETANYL | A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the number of drug overdose deaths involving the synthetic opioid fentanyl more than tripled in the U.S. in recent years — from 5.7 per 100,000 people in 2016 to 21.6 per 100,000 in 2021. [full report] [more]

GLOBAL HUNGER | The Global Network against Food Crises, an alliance of humanitarian organizations founded by the U.N. and European Union, says in its annual Global Report on Food Crises that the global number of people facing acute food insecurity and requiring urgent food aid grew for the fourth consecutive year to 258 million in 2022. The report suggests that conflicts, climate change, ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine played roles in the increase. [more]

SERBIA | A seventh-grade student has been arrested in Belgrade, Serbia, after he reportedly fired multiple shots at students and staff at the city’s Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school earlier today. Authorities say eight students and a school security guard were killed in the shooting. [more]

ISRAEL AND GAZA | Israeli forces conducted airstrikes on targets in Gaza yesterday in response to a series of rocket attacks that followed the death in an Israeli prison of Khader Adnan, a high-profile Islamic Jihad leader who had been staging a hunger strike for nearly three months. [more]

FRANCE | Protests took place across France yesterday against the government’s plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 — one day ahead of an expected Constitutional Council ruling on whether opponents of the measure can begin legislative or referendum-based efforts to restore the minimum retirement age of 62. Government officials say about 800,000 people took part in yesterday’s protests, while protest organizers say about 2.3 million people participated. [more]

KENYA | Police clashed with anti-government protesters in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi yesterday as opposition lawmakers marched to the offices of President William Ruto to present a petition for electoral and economic reforms. [more]

MYANMAR | State-run MRTV television reports that Myanmar’s ruling military council has announced plans to release more than 2,100 political prisoners as a humanitarian gesture. Those released were all convicted on charges of violating laws against spreading false news or comments that create public unrest or fear. [more]

SYRIA AND IRAN | Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi — a major supporter of Syria’s government in the decade-old Syrian civil war — met with Syrian President Bashar Assad today in Damascus for talks aimed at boosting cooperation between the two Middle East allies. [more]

DARK WEB | Authorities in the U.S. and Europe have announced the arrests of 288 people, the confiscation of more than $50 million, and the seizure of about 850 kilograms of drugs as part of a joint operation to take down the “Monopoly Market” dark web drug trafficking marketplace. [more]

PRESS FREEDOM | The U.N. Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, has awarded its 2023 World Press Freedom Prize to three imprisoned Iranian female journalists — Niloufar Hamedi, Elaheh Mohammadi, and Narges Mohammadi — “for their commitment to truth and accountability.” [more]

BROADWAY | Nominations for Broadway’s 2023 Tony Awards were announced yesterday, led by “Some Like It Hot” with 13 nominations. Three shows tied with nine nominations each, including “& Juliet,” “New York, New York,” and “Shucked.” [full nominations list] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1979, Margaret Thatcher of the Conservative Party was elected British prime minister, becoming the first woman in Europe to hold that post. She later became the longest continuously serving British premier since 1827.  [more history]