Stocks, bonds and the dollar drift after the latest downgrade to the US government’s credit rating

Stocks, bonds and the dollar drift after the latest downgrade to the US government’s credit rating

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — After recovering from an initial jolt, U.S. stocks, bonds and the value of the U.S. dollar drifted through a quiet Monday following the latest reminder that the U.S government may be hurtling toward an unsustainable mountain of debt.

The S&P 500 edged up by 0.1% after Moody’s Ratings became the last of the three major credit-rating agencies to say the U.S. federal government no longer deserves a top-tier “Aaa” rating. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 137 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite inched up by less than 0.`%.

Moody’s pointed to how the U.S. government continues to borrow more and more money to pay for its expenses, with political bickering making it difficult to either rein in Washington’s spending or raise its revenue in order to get its ballooning debt under more control.

They’re serious problems, but nothing Moody’s said is new, and critics have been railing against Washington’s inability to control its debt for many years. Standard & Poor’s lowered its credit rating for the U.S. government in 2011.

Because the issues are so well known already, investors have likely already accounted for them, according to Brian Rehling, head of global fixed income strategy and other analysts at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. They’re expecting “limited additional market impact” following the initial reactions to the Moody’s move.

Stocks and U.S. government bond prices at first fell sharply early in Monday’s trading, but they trimmed their losses as the day progressed. The S&P 500 went from a loss of 1.1% to a modest gain of 0.2% before drifting through the afternoon.

The move by Moody’s essentially warns investors globally not to lend to the U.S. government at such low interest rates, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly jumped above 4.55% early Monday morning. That number shows how much in interest the U.S. government has to pay in order to borrow money for 10 years, and it was up sharply from 4.43% late Friday. But it later regressed to 4.45% as more calm returned to the market.

The yield on a 30-year Treasury bond briefly leaped above 5% before likewise receding, up from less than 4% in September.

The downgrade by Moody’s comes ahead of a tense period for Washington, where it’s set to debate potential cuts in tax rates that could suck away more revenue, as well as the nation’s limit on how much it can borrow.

If Washington has to pay more in interest to borrow cash to pay its bills, that could filter out and cause interest rates to rise for U.S. households and businesses too, in everything from mortgage rates to auto loan rates to credit cards. That in turn could slow the economy.

The downgrade adds to a long list of concerns that have already weighed on the market. Chief among them is President Donald Trump’s trade war, which itself has forced investors globally to question whether the U.S. bond market and the U.S. dollar still deserve their reputations as some of the safest places to park cash during a crisis.

The U.S. economy seems to be holding up OK so far despite the pressures of tariffs, and hopes are high that Trump will eventually relent on his tariffs after striking trade deals with other countries. That’s a major reason the S&P 500 has rallied back within 3% of its all-time high after falling roughly 20% below that market last month.

But big companies have been warning recently they’re uncertain about the future. Walmart, for example, said recently that it will likely have to raise prices because of tariffs. That caused Trump over the weekend to criticize Walmart and demand it and China “eat the tariffs.”

Walmart’s stock slipped 0.1% Monday.

Other big retailers on the schedule to report their latest quarterly results this upcoming week include Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s and TJX Cos.

On the winning end of Wall Street was Novavax, which rose 15% after it said U.S. regulators approved its COVID-19 vaccine under some conditions. The approval triggered a $175 million milestone payment under the company’s collaboration agreement with Sanofi.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 5.22 points to 5,963.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 137.33 to 42,792.07, and the Nasdaq composite rose 4.36 to 19,215.46.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid mostly modest movements across Europe and Asia.

Indexes were close to flat in both Shanghai and Hong Kong after the Chinese government said retail sales rose less in April than expected. Growth in industrial output slowed to 6.1% year-on-year from 7.7% in March.

In the foreign currency markets, the value of the U.S. dollar fell against everything from the euro to the Australian dollar.

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AP Writers Jiang Junzhe and Matt Ott contributed.

Trump says Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks will begin immediately following call with Putin

Trump says Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks will begin immediately following call with Putin

By ZEKE MILLER, JOSH BOAK and KATIE MARIE DAVIES Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire negotiations, President Donald Trump said Monday after separate calls with the leaders of both countries meant to spur progress toward ending the three-year war. The conversations did not appear to yield a major breakthrough.

It was not clear when or where any talks might take place or who would participate. Trump’s announcement came days after the first direct engagement between Russian and Ukrainian delegations since 2022. Those negotiations Friday in Turkey brought about a limited exchange of prisoners but no pause in the fighting.

Ahead of the calls, the White House said Trump had grown “frustrated” with both leaders over the continuing war. Vice President JD Vance said Trump would press Russian President Vladimir Putin to see if he was truly interested in stopping the fighting, and if not, that the U.S. could disengage from trying to stop the conflict. Trump later told reporters that he believed Putin was serious about wanting peace.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Moscow is ready to work towards ending the fighting in Ukraine, following a two-hour phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump. (AP Video)

“The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of,” Trump said in a social media post.

Trump said the call with Putin was “excellent,” adding, “If it wasn’t, I would say so now, rather than later.”

Later, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, he noted the process has “got very big egos involved, I tell you.”

“Big egos involved. But I think something’s going to happen and, if it doesn’t I’d just back away and they have to keep going,” Trump said. “This was a European situation. It should have remained a European situation.”

Trump also said he told Putin, “We’ve got to get going.”

Trump has struggled to end a war that began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022, a setback for his promises to quickly settle the conflict once he was back in the White House, if not before he took office.

‘Weary and frustrated’

“He’s grown weary and frustrated with both sides of the conflict,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday before the calls.

The Republican president is banking on the idea that his force of personality and personal history with Putin will be enough to break any impasse over a pause in the fighting. He dangled the prospect of reduced sanctions and increased trade with Russia should the war end.

After the call, Putin said Russia was ready to continue discussing an end to the fighting after a “very informative and very frank” conversation with Trump. Putin said the warring countries should “find compromises that would suit all parties.”

Moscow, he said, will “propose and is ready to work with” Ukraine on a “memorandum” outlining the framework for “a possible future peace treaty.”

But indicating that little had fundamentally changed about his demands, Putin said: “At the same time, I would like to note that, in general, Russia’s position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he reaffirmed to Trump that Ukraine is ready for a full and unconditional ceasefire. He urged the international community to maintain pressure on Moscow if it refuses to halt its invasion.

“Ukraine doesn’t need to be persuaded — our representatives are ready to make real decisions. What’s needed is mirrored readiness from Russia for such result-oriented negotiations.” Zelenskyy said.

Trump and Putin addressed each other by first names

Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov, who previously served as Russian ambassador to the U.S., described the conversation as friendly, with Trump and Putin addressing each other by their first names.

“Trump said, ‘Vladimir, you can pick up the phone at any time, and I will be happy to answer and speak with you,’” he said.

Ushakov also said Trump and Putin could meet face-to-face at some point, but no timeline was set.

Putin and Trump also talked about a Russia-U.S. prisoner exchange, which Ushakov said was “in the works” and envisioned Moscow and Washington releasing nine people each. Ushakov did not offer any other details.

Speaking before the call, Vance said Trump could walk away from trying to end the war if he feels Putin isn’t serious about negotiation.

“I’d say we’re more than open to walking away,” Vance told reporters before leaving Rome after meeting with Pope Leo XIV. Vance said Trump has been clear that the U.S. “is not going to spin its wheels here. We want to see outcomes.”

Zelenskyy, who spoke to Trump one-on-one before the Putin call and then jointly with European leaders after, told reporters that he emphasized to Trump that no decisions should be made about Ukraine without involving Kyiv. He also said that he discussed the potential for “serious sanctions” on Russia.

Trump said the Vatican expressed interest in hosting the negotiations, but there was no immediate confirmation that any talks had been scheduled.

Trump tries the carrot — and stick — with Putin

Trump sought to use financial incentives to broker some kind of agreement after Russia’s invasion led to severe sanctions by the United States and its allies that have steadily eroded Moscow’s ability to grow.

“Russia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic “bloodbath” is over, and I agree,” he said in a social media post. “There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth. Its potential is UNLIMITED.”

Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Trump had made it clear that a failure by Putin to negotiate “in good faith” could lead to additional sanctions against Russia.

Bessent suggested the sanctions that began during the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden were inadequate because they did not stop Russia’s oil revenues, due to concerns that doing so would increase U.S. prices. The United States sought to cap Russia’s oil revenues while preserving the country’s petroleum exports to limit the damage from the inflation that the war produced.

Trump and Zelenskyy spoke with leaders from France, Italy and Finland, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who have threatened tougher sanctions on Russia in a bid to force Putin into negotiations.

Putin recently rejected an offer by Zelenskyy to meet in-person in Turkey as an alternative to a 30-day ceasefire urged by Ukraine and its Western allies, including Washington. Instead, Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul for talks, the first such direct negotiations since March 2022.

Those talks ended Friday after less than two hours, without a ceasefire in place. But both countries committed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, with Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, saying on Ukrainian television Saturday that the exchanges could happen as early as this week.

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Davies reported from Manchester, England. Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price and Will Weissert in Washington; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; and Hanna Arhirova and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

SAG-AFTRA files unfair labor practice charge over use of AI to make Darth Vader’s voice in Fortnite

SAG-AFTRA files unfair labor practice charge over use of AI to make Darth Vader’s voice in Fortnite

By SARAH PARVINI AP Technology Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood’s actors’ union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Llama Productions on Monday, alleging the company replaced actors’ work by using artificial intelligence to generate Darth Vader’s voice in Fortnite without notice.

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said Llama Productions, a subsidiary of gaming giant Epic Games, “failed and refused to bargain in good faith with the union” in the last six months. The company made unilateral changes to the terms and conditions of employment “without providing notice to the union or the opportunity to bargain” by using AI-generated voices to replace bargaining unit work, SAG-AFTRA said.

Epic Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

SAG-AFTRA called a strike against major game companies in July after more than a year of negotiations around the union’s interactive media agreement broke down over concerns around the use of unregulated artificial intelligence.

In a statement, SAG-AFTRA said the union supports the rights of members and their estates to control the use of their digital replicas.

“However, we must protect our right to bargain terms and conditions around uses of voice that replace the work of our members, including those who previously did the work of matching Darth Vader’s iconic rhythm and tone in video games,” the union said.

North Carolina governor urges state lawmakers to include more Helene aid in upcoming budget

North Carolina governor urges state lawmakers to include more Helene aid in upcoming budget

By MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein urged state lawmakers Monday to allocate hundreds of millions more dollars toward western North Carolina’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Helene instead of waiting on “uncertain federal assistance.”

The money requested — $891 million — would go toward critical needs in Helene’s aftermath, such as revitalizing local economies, repairing town infrastructure and providing housing assistance, Stein said during a news conference in still-recovering western North Carolina. Stein released the Helene proposal as the GOP-led North Carolina General Assembly prepares to finalize its state budget this summer.

More than 100 people died as Helene tore through western North Carolina in September, destroying homes, businesses and roadways. The storm’s record-breaking devastation totaled $59.6 billion in damages and recovery needs. Recovery has been slow in parts of the region as some hard-hit mountain towns still appear ravaged by the storm nearly eight months later.

Navigating Helene recovery is one of the chief issues Stein has been tasked with handling upon his first few months in office. Some of the first actions his administration took focused on rehabilitating the western part of the state, as well as establishing the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina.

“This recovery is going to take a long time,” Stein said Monday. “My administration, though, is in this for the long haul. I know that the legislature is as well.”

In March, state lawmakers passed another Helene relief bill for $524 million — significantly less than the $1.07 billion Stein had requested the month before. That package added to more than $1.1 billion in Helene recovery activities appropriated or made available by the General Assembly the year prior, according to Stein’s office.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved a $1.4 billion grant that would facilitate western North Carolina’s long-term recovery. The Federal Emergency Management Agency — the federal organization responsible for addressing some of the immediate needs in Helene’s aftermath — has also provided more than $700 million to state and local governments, as well as directly to North Carolinians.

Talks over FEMA’s effectiveness have ushered western North Carolina’s recovery process into the national spotlight as President Donald Trump has suggested the agency’s dissolution. As a candidate, Trump continually disparaged the agency’s work in the region, which garnered support from those frustrated with a sometimes slow and complicated recovery process. Just last week, the agency’s acting chief David Richardson announced plans to shift disaster recovery responsibilities to states for the upcoming hurricane season.

Stein has called on the federal government to reform the agency but not to get rid of it, which he reiterated during his budget proposal announcement Monday.

More than a quarter of Stein’s proposal would go toward restoring local economies and their tourism industries. Another quarter would fund infrastructure repairs, debris cleanup and resiliency projects to better protect the region from future storms. Other allocations include addressing recovery needs such as housing assistance, fixing waterways and farmlands, and food insecurity.

The state Senate has already approved its budget proposal and now awaits the House to release its plan this week. Then, state lawmakers can decide whether to incorporate some of Stein’s requests on Helene aid as the two chambers work out differences, with the goal of having a final budget enacted by July 1.

Boeing seeks to reverse guilty plea as FAA struggles with aviation system failures

Boeing seeks to reverse guilty plea as FAA struggles with aviation system failures

RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) — Ongoing issues with outdated technology and staffing shortages continue to disrupt operations at Newark Liberty International Airport, and officials are now exploring short-term solutions to ease the impact ahead of the busy summer travel season.

Aviation Analyst Jay Ratliff says one proposed measure includes increasing the spacing between arriving flights to help reduce delays.

“But imagine if you were United Airlines and that’s one of your hubs,” said Ratliff. “The FAA shows up and says ‘Hey, I know you’re planning on making this much money through your profitable hub, but because we haven’t really upgraded technology in about 58 years and we don’t have enough air traffic controllers, you’re going to have to accept reduced revenue.'”

According to Forbes, major U.S. airlines met with Federal Aviation Administration officials this week to discuss potentially capping the number of flights at Newark. The talks come after weeks of severe disruptions caused by equipment failures and a shortage of air traffic controllers.

Ratliff points to decades of inaction from lawmakers as a root cause of the current situation.

“And all those useless people in Washington D.C. started pointing at the President who had only been in office a few weeks,” said Ratliff. “You guys are the ones for 30 or 40 years who’ve done nothing to upgrade this technology, and you have the audacity to point your finger—of course you do—at somebody else.”

According to The New York Times, the FAA announced it will begin limiting the number of hourly arrivals at Newark Airport starting May 28. Meanwhile, 6ABC Philadelphia reports the FAA is also pursuing technical repairs and a broader plan to manage air traffic with fewer available controllers.

Ratliff says an aggressive, coordinated solution—similar in urgency to the Manhattan Project—may be the only path forward.

“[If we’re] all hands on deck for [the next] two or three years, we can knock this out,” said Ratliff.

As federal officials work to address flight delays and air traffic issues, Boeing is facing renewed scrutiny over its legal troubles. The company is seeking to withdraw its guilty plea in a criminal fraud case stemming from two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft.

“All those years ago, we had two horrific crashes where 346 people died, and they finally reached an agreement where Boeing last year agreed to plead guilty to defraud,” said Ratliff.

According to CNN, some families of the crash victims have called on the Department of Justice to reject Boeing’s effort and push for a trial instead.

Ratliff believes the political shift in Washington may impact how the case proceeds.

“I knew one thing—the Trump administration is very aviation friendly,” said Ratliff. “And all of the things that the Biden administration did to hold airlines accountable, which I was so thankful for, was going to stop. Sadly, I think that this thing could actually happen. What will probably happen is they will be allowed to walk back the guilty plea if they pay more money.”

CNBC reports Boeing’s original plea agreement was tied to a 2021 deal with the DOJ, which the company is now seeking to modify.

Ratliff says the move is likely devastating for the families seeking justice.

“Because they want justice, and we’re not getting anything close to that because of the games that are being played here,” said Ratliff. “What a horrible way to tarnish the memories of those that were lost.”

According to TheLayoff.com, the victims’ families have spent years demanding a public trial and harsher penalties for Boeing and its executives.

Pence speaks in North Carolina against broad Trump tariffs and praises House on tax bill

Pence speaks in North Carolina against broad Trump tariffs and praises House on tax bill

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke Monday in North Carolina against the Trump administration’s zealous efforts to impose tariffs on trading partners worldwide — another effort that shows his willingness to split at times with his former boss.

The education arm of Pence’s political advocacy group kicked off in Raleigh a series of events nationwide that was also billed as building support to extend individual income tax reductions enacted by Trump and fellow Republicans in 2017 but set to expire at year’s end.

In a brief interview with The Associated Press, Pence praised congressional Republicans for pushing ahead President Donald Trump’s bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, saying “there should be no higher domestic priority” than making permanent the tax cuts passed in Trump’s first term. But much of the meeting focused on Pence and key conservative business leaders in North Carolina opposing Trump’s recent tariff efforts.

Monday’s event marked another step by Pence to try to distinguish himself among the small group of Republicans in Washington willing to publicly criticize policies sought by the second Trump administration.

Pence and others said protectionism would ultimately harm the U.S. economy in the form of higher prices and employment losses.

“It is ultimately for the most part American consumers that will pay the price of higher tariffs,” Pence said at the event assembled by Pence’s Advancing American Freedom Foundation and the Raleigh-based John Locke Foundation.

The massive 1,116-page budget bill, which also contains additional tax breaks that Trump campaigned for in the 2024 election — as well as spending reductions and beefed-up border security — initially failed to pass the House Budget Committee late last week.

A handful of conservatives who voted against the bill want further cuts to Medicaid and green energy tax breaks. House Speaker Mike Johnson aims to send the bill to the Senate by Memorial Day. The bill cleared the committee in a rare Sunday night meeting, but Johnson told reporters afterward that negotiations were ongoing.

“I’m encouraged,” Pence told the AP after Monday’s event. ”I’m grateful that conservatives in the House have been pressing for more common sense reforms in Medicaid.”

Three days ago, Moody’s Ratings mentioned the 2017 tax cuts as it stripped the U.S. government of its top credit rating, citing the inability of policymakers to rein in debt.

Conservatives see the tax cuts as providing fuel for the economy while putting more money in taxpayers’ pockets. Democrats say the wealthiest Americans benefit the most from them.

Pence told the AP the larger issue is the unwillingness of politicians to consider “commonsense, compassionate” entitlement reforms for Medicare and Social Security that would address the nation’s nearly $37 trillion of debt and “set us back on a path of fiscal integrity.”

Pence said at the roundtable that he’s proud of Trump’s first-term efforts to use the tariff threat to reach new free-trade agreements with trading partners. And Pence agreed that China is an exception for retaliatory tariffs, citing intellectual property theft and dumping products like steel onto world markets. But Trump’s second-term effort, seeming to make tariffs large and permanent, are very different and misguided, he said.

Trump has said broad tariffs on foreign goods are needed to narrow the gap with taxes other countries place on U.S. goods.

Trump said that countries “have to pay for the right to sell here,” Pence said in recalling first-term conversations. “Any time I’d remind him that actually it’s American importers that pay the tariff, he would look a little annoyed at me from time to time and say, ‘I know how it works.’ And then he’d say, ‘but they have to pay.’”

While the former Indiana governor and U.S. House member refused to break with Trump during their time serving together, the two had a falling out over his refusal to go along with Trump’s efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election. Trump had tried to pressure Pence to reject election results from swing states where the Republican president falsely claimed the vote was marred by fraud.

A 2024 presidential campaign by Pence — and potentially against Trump — ended early. He committed to invigorating Advancing American Freedom by promoting conservative principles as Trump’s brand of populism has taken hold in the GOP.

Pence’s group spent nearly $1 million on ads opposing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. And Pence also has spoken in favor of Trump standing with long-standing foreign allies.

Steak Frites

Steak Frites

Steak Frites

Photo Courtesy of BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com

Steak Frites Recipe from Beef It’s What’s For Dinner

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serving size: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 4 Beef Flat Iron Steaks (about 6 oz each)

Bearnaise Sauce

  • 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1/4 cup minced shallots
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted, warmed
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 dash hot pepper sauce
  • 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground peppercorns

Frites

  • 4 each russet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch strips
  • 1/4 cup salt
  • 4 cups Beef Tallow or canola oil

Directions

  1. To prepare bearnaise sauce, heat small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add vinegar, white wine and shallots; simmer 5 to 7 minutes or until liquid has reduced by half (about 1/4 cup). Remove from heat; set aside and keep warm.
  2. Prepare a double boiler. Whisk egg yolks and water constantly over low heat 4 to 6 minutes or until yolks become fluffy and light in color. Add reserved shallot mixture; slowly drizzle melted butter in while whisking constantly. Season with tarragon, salt, pepper, hot pepper and Worcestershire sauces.(Be careful of getting the eggs too hot or not whisking constantly, or your mixture will coagulate and become lumpy.)
  3. Keep sauce warm in a thermos until ready to serve. This sauce also doubles as a dipping sauce for fries.  
  4. Drizzle steaks evenly with oil; season with salt and peppercorns.  
  5. Place steaks on grid over medium, ash-covered coals or over medium heat. Grill 11 to 14 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, 11 to 15 minutes) for medium-rare (145°F) to medium (160°F) doneness, turning occasionally.
  6. Place potatoes in container with 1/4 cup salt; run under cold water 10 minutes to remove starch. Drain potatoes; place paper towel lined baking sheet. Pat dry with paper towels.
  7. Heat beef tallow to 275°F in countertop fryer according to manufacturer’s directions. Blanch fries in oil 4 to 5 minutes or until tender and cooked through; drain. Fry in batches to avoid overcrowding fryer.
  8. Increase fryer heat to 350°. Fry potatoes, a second time in oil, another 3 to 5 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown and crisp.  Salt as desired, immediately after removing from oil.
  9. Divide steaks and frites evenly among serving plates; drizzle with warmed bearnaise sauce.
Great Scottie! Scheffler pulls away to win PGA Championship for 3rd major title

Great Scottie! Scheffler pulls away to win PGA Championship for 3rd major title

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler had every reason to worry the PGA Championship was slipping away.

A five-shot lead on the front nine was gone in four holes. Every shot seemed to go left and he didn’t know why. Jon Rahm was peeling off birdies and on the verge of tracking him down Sunday at Quail Hollow.

And that’s when Scheffler showed why he has been golf’s No. 1 player for two straight years, why he has compiled more PGA Tour titles quicker than anyone this side of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus since 1950.

And why he now has the Wanamaker Trophy to go along with two Masters titles.

Scheffler turned a tense Sunday into another runaway by not missing a shot when the pressure was at its peak, giving himself another pleasant walk to the 18th green with another major title secure in the hands of golf’s best.

“This back nine will be one that I remember for a long time,” Scheffler said. “It was a grind out there. I think at one point on the front I maybe had a four- or five-shot lead, and making the turn, I think I was tied for the lead.

“So to step up when I needed to the most, I’ll remember that for a while.”

There was nothing fancy about it, just fairways and greens and holing the putts that eluded Rahm in his first time in serious contention at a major since he won the 2023 Masters and left at the end of the year for LIV Golf.

Rahm’s hopes ended when he failed to convert birdie chances on the two easiest holes on the back nine at Quail Hollow, and then finished bogey-double bogey-double bogey. By then the tournament was effective over. It only cost Rahm money.

The only comfort for Scheffler was looking across the lake on the par-5 15th to see Rahm in a bunker, leading to bogey on the 16th that gave Scheffler a three-shot cushion. Scheffler recalls thinking, “If I birdie here, it’s going to go a long way.”

He drilled 3-wood just over the back of the green, and from the same spot where Rahm earlier that hit putter 12 feet by the hole, Scheffler cozied it up to a foot for birdie.

Scheffler closed with a bogey he could afford for an even-par 71, giving him a five-shot victory and his third major title. Scheffler became the first player since Seve Ballesteros to win his first three majors by three shots or more.

The margin doesn’t match up with the grind. That much was clear when Scheffler raised his arms on the 18th green and then ferociously slammed his cap to the turf, a brand of emotion rarely seen by the 28-year-old Texas star.

“Just a lot of happiness,” he said. “Just maybe thankful as well. It was a long week. I felt like this was as hard as I battled for a tournament in my career.”

It was a lot sweeter than last year, when he was arrested outside Valhalla Golf Club for charges later dropped that he wasn’t following police instructions as they investigated a traffic fatality.

No change of that happening at Quail Hollow. He stayed close enough to walk.

Inside the ropes, this was no walk in the park the final margin might suggest.

Scheffler had a five-shot lead standing on the sixth tee. But with a shaky swing that led to two bogeys, and with Rahm making three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn, they were tied when Scheffler got to the 10th tee.

It looked like a duel to the finish, with Bryson DeChambeau doing all he could to get in the mix. Under the most pressure he felt all day, Scheffler didn’t miss a shot off the tee or from the fairway until his lead was back to four shots.

Rahm wound up seven shots behind, but the two-time major champion was the only serious threat. After bogey on the 16th hole, he had to take on a dangerous pin at the par-3 17th. It bounded over the sunbaked green into the water for double bogey. And his last tee shot went left off the grassy bank and into the stream for another double bogey.

All that work to make up a five-shot deficit at the start of the day and Rahm closed with a 73 to tie for eighth.

“Yeah, the last three holes, it’s a tough pill to swallow right now,” Rahm said.

“I’ll get over it. I’ll move on,” Rahm said. “Again, there’s a lot more positive than negative to think about this week. I’m really happy I put myself in position and hopefully learn from this and give it another go in the U.S. Open.”

DeChambeau birdied the 14th and 15th to get within two shots, but he never had another good look at birdie and bogeyed the 18th for a 70. He tied for second with Harris English (65) and Davis Riley, who overcame a triple bogey on No. 7 to play bogey-free the rest of the way and salvaged a 72.

“I’m baffled right now. Just felt like things just didn’t go my way this week,” DeChambeau said. “I drove it as good as I can. … I gave myself a good chance. I just felt like a couple breaks went a different way.”

J.T. Poston, the North Carolina native who also flirted with an outside chance, bogeyed the last two holes for a 73 to tie for fifth.

English finished his Sunday-best score as Scheffler was making his way down the third hole. He had a flight to catch that afternoon. He also was the clubhouse leader. But he looked at Scheffler’s name atop the leaderboard and said with a smile, “I don’t see him slipping a whole lot. I see myself catching my flight.”

But then Scheffler unable to find his swing. He hit only two fairway on the front nine. He failed to convert birdies on the par-5 seventh and the reachable par-4 eighth. On eight of his nine holes, his miss was to the left. And he was tied with the red-hot Rahm.

But part of Scheffler’s greatness is his ability to wear down a field, which he did at the Masters both times he won.

“I hit the important shots well this week, and that’s why I’m walking away with the trophy,” Scheffler said.

He finished at 11-under 273 and picked up his 15th victory in just his sixth year on the PGA Tour. Dating to 1950, Scheffler is the third-fastest player to go from one to 15 tour wins, behind only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, and even then by a matter of months.

His victory comes a month after Rory McIlroy captured the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam. The PGA Championship was always going to be a tough act to follow and it didn’t come close in terms of drama. But it served as a reminder why Scheffler has been No. 1 for two straight years, and why it will take a lot to replace him.

McIlroy made the cut on the number, shot 72-72 on the weekend and tied for 47th. It was his lowest 72-hole finish in four years in the majors. McIlroy declined all four days to speak to the media.

Scheffler came into the PGA Championship off an eight-shot victory in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. And then he won a major by five. It was the first time since Woods in 2000 that a player won consecutive PGA Tour starts by five shots or more in the same season.

The Carolina Hurricanes keep leaning on their penalty kill in another deep postseason push

The Carolina Hurricanes keep leaning on their penalty kill in another deep postseason push

By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — There’s a moment of frustrated dread for any hockey team that comes with an official raising an arm to call a penalty triggering a power play.

For the Carolina Hurricanes, that moment quickly flips to next-play belief.

Their penalty kill has been the NHL’s best going back to the start of Rod Brind’Amour’s coaching tenure seven years ago. Fittingly, that unit has helped push Carolina through two playoff rounds and to the Eastern Conference final for the second time in three seasons.

“We don’t obviously want to use it,” forward Seth Jarvis said Sunday. “You don’t want to be on the penalty kill. But when the opportunity arises, we are fully confident in what we can put out there.”

The Hurricanes have had multiple days to rest and regroup after closing out the Washington Capitals as the conference’s top seed in five games Thursday. They’ll face the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, with Game 1 Tuesday night at Carolina.

The Hurricanes have the No. 1 penalty kill over those seven regular seasons under Brind’Amour with a rate of 84.8%. And they’ve been the best of this postseason so far, turning away 28 of 30 power plays — a 93.3% conversion rate — while notching a shorthanded goal from veteran forward Jordan Martinook.

It’s an extension of Carolina’s aggressive-forecheck approach that seeks to maintain puck control in the offensive zone, both to pressure opposing defenses and smother chances going the other way.

Ask assistant coach Tim Gleason, who oversees the kill, what it takes to be successful and his immediate answer ignores Xs and Os. It’s mentality, he says, workmanlike and driven by the simple motivation of “what I’m going to do for my buddy.”

“What are you going to do? You’re going to mope on it? You’re going to be sour that you took the penalty? Then you’re living in the past,” said Gleason, a former defenseman who played 1,944 shorthanded minutes during an 11-season NHL career that included at least parts of nine seasons with Carolina.

“So it’s all about what you’re doing, what’s right in front of you. That kind of goes back to the mentality. You’ve got to get your mind right, right now. … It’s all about here and now. I think the guys do a great job of that.”

Jordan Staal, Carolina’s captain, pointed to that got-your-back focus, too.

“It’s part of my job, I take pride in it,” Staal said. “It’s not that you want to have penalties, but you know they’re going to happen, no matter what. So when I’m in the box, you’re hoping the boys bail you out. And I kind of feel the same thing. Jumping over the boards hoping to bail my brother out and try to get back to square and back to moving in the right direction.”

Carolina’s postseason started with a 15-for-15 showing in Round 1 against New Jersey, while one of Washington’s two power play goals was NHL career goals leader Alex Ovechkin banging in a one-timer on a 5-on-3 advantage in Game 4.

Overall, the Devils and Capitals combined for 33 shots on goal on 30 power plays, a meager 1.1 per attempt.

And contributions keep coming.

Frederik Andersen leads all goaltenders with more than one postseason start in goals-against average and save percentage. Staal is a mainstay and a two-time finalist for the Selke Trophy for the league’s top defensive forward, alongside Martinook’s grinding presence.

There’s the long-running presence of Jaccob Slavin, with Washington coach Spencer Carbery saying after the last series that Slavin deserves more accolades and “it doesn’t seem right” that the 31-year-old isn’t more heavily in the mix every year for the Norris Trophy presented to the league’s top defenseman.

There’s also 2017Norris winner in Brent Burns. Jarvis and Sebastian Aho as proven strong two-way players with eight shorthanded goals in the regular season. And Carolina has gotten contributions from defensemen Jalen Chatfield, Dmitry Orlov and Sean Walker; as well as forwards Eric Robinson and Mark Jankowski in a sign of its deep rotation.

The trickiest part, Slavin said, is embracing the reality that there’s always going to be someone open with the extra man. That comes as penalty killers spend tense shifts in scrambling rotations in pursuit of a quick-moving puck, with the hope of getting control long enough to clear it to the far end of the ice and kill precious seconds.

But the payoff is worth it once the penalty-box door opens in a return to even strength.

“There’s a willingness to go out there and do a job that’s tough, that a lot of times you’re going to have to sacrifice your body,” Slavin said. “I mean, you’re down a man, right? And the odds are kind of stacked against you.

“So it’s just fun to go out there and compete, kill it off and get the momentum. Because when you have a big kill, you feel the momentum on your side — and that can be a huge turning point in a game.”

Biden has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer

Biden has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, his office said Sunday.

The finding came after the 82-year-old reported urinary symptoms, which led doctors to discover a nodule on his prostate. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone.

“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” his office said. “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”

Prostate cancers are graded for aggressiveness using what’s known as a Gleason score. The scores range from 6 to 10, with 8, 9 and 10 prostate cancers behaving more aggressively. Biden’s office said his score was 9, suggesting his cancer is among the most aggressive.

When prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it often spreads to the bones. Metastasized cancer is much harder to treat than localized cancer because it can be hard for drugs to reach all the tumors and completely root out the disease.

However, when prostate cancers need hormones to grow, as in Biden’s case, they can be susceptible to treatment that deprives the tumors of hormones.

Outcomes have improved in recent decades and patients can expect to live with metastatic prostate cancer for four or five years, said Dr. Matthew Smith of Massachusetts General Brigham Cancer Center.

“It’s very treatable, but not curable,” Smith said. “Most men in this situation would be treated with drugs and would not be advised to have either surgery or radiation therapy.”

Many political leaders sent Biden their wishes for his recovery.

President Donald Trump, a longtime political opponent, posted on social media that he was saddened by the news and “we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”

Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, said on social media that she was keeping him in her family’s “hearts and prayers during this time.”

“Joe is a fighter — and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership,” Harris wrote.

Former President Barack Obama said his thoughts and prayers were with Biden, his former vice president, lauding his toughness. “Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe, and I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace,” Obama wrote on social media.

The health of Biden was a dominant concern among voters during his time as president. After a calamitous debate performance in June while seeking reelection, Biden abandoned his bid for a second term. Harris became the nominee and lost to Trump, a Republican who returned to the White House after a four-year hiatus.

But in recent days, Biden rejected concerns about his age despite reporting in the new book “Original Sin” by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson that aides had shielded the public from the extent of his decline while serving as president.

In February 2023, Biden had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer. And in November 2021, he had a polyp removed from his colon that was a benign, but potentially pre-cancerous lesion.

In 2022, Biden made a “cancer moonshot” one of his administration’s priorities with the goal of halving the cancer death rate over the next 25 years. The initiative was a continuation of his work as vice president to address a disease that had killed his older son, Beau, who died from brain cancer in 2015.

His father, when announcing the goal to halve the cancer death rate, said this could be an “American moment to prove to ourselves and, quite frankly, the world that we can do really big things.”

___

Associated Press writer Jon Fahey in New York contributed to this report.

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