News Wrap: Treasury Secretary says U.S. will hit debt limit next week

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• Geoff Bennett:

  In the day's other headlines: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Congress that the federal government will hit its debt limit next Thursday.

  After that date, Yellen said the Treasury will take what she called extraordinary measures to shift funds around and prevent a national default. In turn, the White House urged Congress to quickly raise the limit now set at $31.4 trillion.

• Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary:

  There's been a bipartisan cooperation when it comes to lifting the debt ceiling. And that's how it should be. That's how we should continue. It's not — it's not and should not be a political football. This is not political gamesmanship, and we're — this should be done without conditions.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Congress is in recess through next week, and the new House Republican leaders have said they will demand concessions on spending in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

  In the meantime, Yellen estimated that the Treasury can avoid a default until early June.

  On the war in Ukraine, Russia's Defense Ministry issued a new claim that a small town in Eastern Ukraine has fallen after weeks of fierce fighting. The capture of Soledar would mark Moscow's biggest victory since last July. Ukraine insisted the battle is not over, and TV footage showed heavy fighting around the town on Thursday. Several hundred civilians were said to be trapped there.

  A top epidemiologist in China is warning that rampant COVID-19 infections may not subside for two to three months. Instead, he says, the virus will spread from cities into the countryside as millions of people travel home for lunar new year celebrations. That raises new fears since many of China's rural communities cannot cope with major medical emergencies.

  Police in South Korea are seeking manslaughter and negligence charges against 23 officials following a deadly crowd surge last October. Nearly 160 people died in the crush at a Halloween party in Seoul. Officials had said they expected more than 100,000 revelers, but assigned fewer than 150 officers to the event.

  The man accused of assassinating former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been formally charged with murder. He was arrested after the shooting last July. Police say he acted because of our Abe's apparent ties to a controversial religious group, the Unification Church.

  Today, Japan's chief cabinet secretary condemned the assassination.

• Matsuno Hirokazu, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary (through translator):

  Free and fair elections are the base of democracy. And it's absolutely unforgivable to perform an act of such violence during an election campaign.

• Geoff Bennett:

  The suspect was charged after a six-month mental evaluation found him fit to stand trial.

  Back in this country, there is word tonight that officials at a Virginia elementary school knew that a 6-year-old might have a gun before a teacher was shot and wounded last week. The superintendent in Newport News says at least one administrator was notified and had the boy's backpack searched, but did not find the handgun.

  The revelation came during an online meeting with parents last night.

  A New York judge ordered the Trump Organization today to pay $1.6 million for crimes including tax fraud. The fine was the maximum under state law. The company was convicted of schemes to let top executives avoid taxes on lavish benefits, like luxury cars, apartments and tuition fees. Former President Trump denied knowing anything about it.

  And, on Wall Street, stocks finished the week on the upside. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 112 points to close it 34302. The Nasdaq rose 78 points, and the S&P 500 added 16.

  Still to come on the "PBS NewsHour": cancer deaths drop significantly, but more late-stage prostate cancer diagnoses spark concerns; David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart weigh in on the week's political headlines; and a small-town store owner gives her Brief But Spectacular take on helping people.