10 things you need to know today: May 19, 2013

A customer holds $140 worth of Powerball tickets that he just purchased on May 17, 2013 in San Francisco, California.

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

1. U.S. HITS DEBT CEILING SECOND TIME THIS YEAR

The U.S. bumped up against its borrowing limit Sunday, forcing the Treasury Department to employ "extraordinary measures" to make sure the government keeps paying its bills. Congress agreed to suspend the nation's $16.4 trillion borrowing limit the last time they approached it, in January. In a letter to congressional leaders, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said the extraordinary actions should allow the government to meet all its obligations at least through the Sept. 2 Labor Day holiday. [Chicago Tribune, The Hill]

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U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on North Korea to refrain from carrying out any further missile tests as Pyongyang test-fired a fourth short-range missile from its east coast on Sunday. Such launches are routine but come as countries in the region are trying to break a stalemate in relations there. Ban urged Pyongyang to lower the tensions in the region and "resume dialogue" over its nuclear program. [BBC]

President Obama came out of a week riddled with the IRS and Benghazi scandals and more with his approval rating holding steady, according to a new national poll conducted by CNN. According to the survey, which was conducted Friday and Saturday, 53 percent of Americans say they approve of the job the president is doing, with 45 percent saying they disapprove. The president's approval rating was at 51 percent in CNN's last poll, which was conducted in early April. [CNN]

Obama senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer insisted that President Obama learned that the IRS had been targeting tea party groups "when it came out in the news." Speaking on CNN's State of the Union, Pfeiffer added that the White House counsel's office learned of the IRS inspector general's investigation in late April, but Obama wasn't informed of the probe. Pfeiffer said "the political sensitivity is exactly why no one got involved." [Washington Post]

Andrea Rebello, a 21-year-old Hofstra University student, was mistakenly shot and killed by an officer who fired eight times at a home invasion suspect. Rebello was among several people taken hostage on Friday morning in an apparent robbery attempt. The Nassau County police identified the gunman as Dalton Smith, 30, a Hempstead, N.Y., resident with an extensive criminal record who was wanted for violating parole on a robbery conviction. [New York Times]

The winning Powerball ticket, worth a $590.5 million jackpot, was sold at a Publix Supermarket in Florida. It matched all six numbers for a record Powerball jackpot of an estimated $590.5 million. "This would be the sixth Florida Powerball winner and right now, it's the sole winner of the largest ever Powerball jackpot," Florida Lottery executive Cindy O'Connell told The Associated Press. [USA Today]

Terri is a freelance writer at TheWeek.com. She's a graduate of Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism and has worked at TIME and Brides. You can follow her on Twitter.

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