October 4, 2023 (Wednesday)
Business and economy
- Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces the cancellation of Phase 2 of the United Kingdom's high-speed rail project High Speed 2. (BBC News)
- Over 75,000 workers from Kaiser Permanente, an integrated managed care consortium in the United States, go on strike. (The New York Times)
- The gap between Italy and Germany's 10 year bond yields increases by 200.2 basis points. Italy comes under intensifying pressure to sell off the public assets. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- 2023 Sikkim flash floods
- At least 14 people are killed and 100 others are missing after a cloudburst causes severe flooding in Sikkim, India. (CNN)
- The Lhonak Lake bursts its banks, causing major flooding and impacting 22,000 people. It its the worst such disaster in the region in over 50 years. (Reuters)
- Large parts of the Teesta Dam have been washed away, with multiple large bridges also being destroyed. (NOS)
Health and environment
- In his exhortation Laudate Deum, Pope Francis speaks out against climate change denial and in favor of fighting the climate crisis. (Vatican)
International relations
- The United States and Russia test their emergency population warning systems. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova is sentenced to eight and a half years in prison in absentia for interrupting a news broadcast with anti-war slogans. (Reuters)
- Around 11 anti-war protesters involved with Code Pink are arrested outside the office of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders after calling for the Biden administration to bring an end to the war. (The Hill)
Science and technology
- Moungi Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexey Ekimov are awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on quantum dots. (BBC News)
- Lars Schaade is appointed as the new President of the Robert Koch Institute. (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit)
Sports
- Spain–Portugal–Morocco 2030 FIFA World Cup bid
- In association football, FIFA awards the 2030 FIFA World Cup to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, making it the first FIFA World Cup tournament to be hosted in North Africa. The opening ceremony will take place in Montevideo, Uruguay, to mark the 100th anniversary of the competition. (Bloomberg) (FIFA)