News Wrap: Federal employee union sues Biden and Yellen over debt limit

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• Amna Nawaz:

  In the day's other headlines: A federal employees union is suing President Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen over the debt limit.

  The National Association of Government Employees has 75,000 members. It argues that, if the government reaches the debt limit and defaults, it will have to choose which debts to pay. The lawsuit contends only Congress has that authority.

  Russia today launched its largest wave of Iranian-made drones in months targeting Ukrainian cities. Ukraine says it shot down all of the drones aimed at the capital of Kyiv. But debris hit some apartments and terrified residents.

• Natalia Havryliuk, Kyiv Resident (through translator):

  The sounds were terrible. I had never heard such a thing. Then, five minutes later, there were flashing lights, and I understood what happened. I was horrified when I realized my house was nearby at the same window level just 50 yards away.

• Amna Nawaz:

  The attacks came on the eve of Victory Day in Russia celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

  In Eastern Congo, the death toll from a flood disaster has now passed 400. Torrential rains lashed South Kivu province last week, heavily damaging lakeside villages with water and landslides. Workers have spent days recovering bodies, some of them in the lake or buried beneath muddy wreckage. U.N. officials estimate hundreds more are missing.

  Two men were hanging today in Iran for blasphemy amid a surge of executions after anti-government protests. Rights groups say Iran has put to death at least 200 people this year, making it one of the world's top executioner's. Last year, the Islamic Republic executed 582 people. That is up from 333 in 2021.

  Back in this country, the Transportation Department says it's working on new protections for airline passengers. U.S. airlines would have to cover meals and hotel rooms if the carrier is responsible for a canceled or delayed flight. That would be on top of ticket refunds.

  The Pulitzer Prize winners for 2022 are out, and the war in Ukraine features prominently.The New York Times won for covering the Russian killings in Bucha. The Associated Press one two prizes for its Ukraine coverage. In the arts, the fiction prize went to "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver and "Trust" by Hernan Diaz. Beverly Gage won for her biography of the late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover

  And, on Wall Street, stocks mostly drifted, as investors wait for major economic reports this week. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 55 points to close at 33618. The Nasdaq rose 21 points. The S&P 500 added not quite two points.

  Still to come on the NewsHour: the El Paso mayor discusses the surge of migrants as a controversial immigration order expires; Tamara Keith and Amy Walter examine the latest political headlines; the singer-songwriter Aoife O'Donovan embarks on the latest leg of her musical journey; plus much more.

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