The A’s were the only MLB team to decide to stop paying minor leaguers starting June 1, but club owner John Fisher has now committed to paying them their weekly $400 stipend through the end of the minor league season. “I changed my mind after spending a lot of time talking to our team,” Fisher told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I concluded I’d made a mistake.” MORE: Dayton Moore, Royals hailed for keeping minor leaguers, employees on the job...

Matt Chapman, Matt Olson and Sean Manaea came up through the A’s farm system together, and they’ve in turn developed a love for each other and their franchise that has helped power the team to consecutive 97-win seasons. The next crop of rookies can now bond over their disdain for the organization. The franchise on Tuesday became the first in MLB to cut weekly pay entirely for minor leaguers amid the coronavirus pandemic, leaving its players wishing they’d been drafted elsewhere....

Those who fear something may get lost in the translation might want to hang around Hong Kong instead: the sequel–actually, a prequel–“Infernal Affairs II,” is due out Oct. 1. (The third installment, filming now, will be released on Dec. 12.) But even Alan Mak Siu-fai, who co-directed the trilogy with Andrew Lau Wai-keung, has some misgivings this time. “I like all three movies, but I worry about the second one,” he says....

But utility investors today can’t rely on the lessons of the past. Deregulation is going to spin through this stuffy industry like a twister. You won’t even be able to count on the stocks for support when the market flattens or falls. Sometimes they’ll hold up; sometimes they won’t. So why look at utilities today? Because they carry two interesting investment stories. Story one, for traditional income investors: Good utility stocks are yielding nifty dividends today–between 5 and 6 percent, compared...

His hosts listened warily. “We have to be very careful that any such project does not retrigger… a renewed arms race,” warned German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder. The reception in Moscow over the weekend was expected to be even chillier. The Russians are fearful that Washington will junk the 28-year-old antiballistic-missile treaty that bans America and Russia from erecting national missile defenses. The Russians can’t afford to rebuild their aging ICBM arsenal to be able to overcome a missile shield in the West....

The former U.S. president was on a self-assigned peace mission to North Korea, hoping to resolve a nuclear dispute that could yet lead to war. In two days of talks, he extracted assurances from Kim about freezing his nuclear program and submitting to continued international inspection. Carter took it upon himself to promise that the United States would drop its efforts to impose sanctions on North Korea. He concluded his missionary work by embracing the 82-year-old strongman....

WHEN KEVIN MITNICK, THE 31-YEAR-OLD computer hacker on the run since 1992, was finally arrested last week, he made a point of telling the man who had helped ensnare him of his admiration. “Hello, Tsutomu, I respect your skills,” he said to Tsutomu Shimomura, the cybersleuth who had cornered Mitnick earlier that day in Raleigh, N.C. It seemed an unusual remark to make to the person responsible for putting him in leg shackles....

It is axiomatic that everyone is entitled to his own opinions, but not to his own facts, so what are the pertinent facts? Here are three. The economic slowdown began around June 2000. That the budget is still in surplus is not only remarkable, it is probably unwise. And the bipartisan fetish (Oxford English Dictionary: “something irrationally reverenced”) about “preserving” the Social Security surplus is quite new. At a conference last week Kathryn Shaw, a member of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers, said that last summer she told senior Clinton aides that the economy was heading into a recession....

To Megawati and current president Habibie alike, Amien is a bridge to Indonesia’s Islamic world. The Chicago-trained political scientist earned himself a name as an Islamic firebrand in the 1980s by struggling against Suharto’s repression of Muslims’ political and cultural aspirations. He has gradually moderated his views: ignoring the opposition of more conservative Muslim supporters, Amien last year formed the National Mandate Party and opened it to Indonesians of all ethnic and religious backgrounds....

But Polanski didn’t want to use his own story–it was far too close, far too personal. For years he searched for someone else’s to adapt. He advised Steven Spielberg on the script of “Schindler’s List” but turned down the offer to direct it because it was set in Krakow. Then, at the premiere of Polanski’s “The Ninth Gate” in Paris three years ago, an old friend handed him a book called “The Pianist,” a memoir by Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew and classical pianist who slipped out of the Warsaw ghetto and spent the war in hiding....

After divorcing Deladurantaye in 1995, Spinelli married a fellow Marine and had two children. Her lawyer says she has received more than 20 decorations. In court last week, she admitted to conspiracy and passport fraud. Under a plea agreement, Spinelli, who declined to comment through her lawyer, has been expelled from the military and faces up to nine months in prison. She was not charged with security violations, but investigators have wondered if both cases point to an effort by Hizbullah to plant moles in U....

LISA L. MAGNINO WASHINGTON, D.C. SANDRA STOCKWELL NAPERVILLE, ILL.

After learning that protests were taking place, the YouTuber with over 20 million subscribers traveled to the Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale on Saturday with a camera crew in tow. One of his videographers, Andrew Blue, posted footage to his Instagram story showing Paul walking through the looters and even taking a vodka bottle that was ripped from a P.F. Changs. Paul released a statement on his Twitter after Blue took down the videos claiming that nobody in his group “engaged in any looting or vandalism....

Aldridge, 27 at the time, was an All-Star, in the heart of his prime years. The Blazers, though, were a young team still trying to figure out how to remain competitive in the Western Conference. That was the basis for rumors of his unhappiness—the team was starting over, but Aldridge was already fairly advanced in his career. Aldridge was, indeed, disappointed with a 13-game losing streak to close the season, one that knocked Portland out of any hope of a playoff spot, but truth is, he was never angling to leave the team....

Cincinnati let a 15-point lead go by the wayside in the fourth quarter, but then something miraculous happened. MORE: Week 1 photos | Week 1 scores | Hearns’ big start | Brown blasts Browns’ punter Head coach Marvin Lewis and quarterback Andy Dalton remembered that they had one of the best wide receivers in the world on their team. Cue A.J. Green. A.J. Green can do things very few people in the world can do, and the Bengals remembered that when they needed him most....

The new eight-team spring football league co-founded by Ebersol and former NFL/ESPN front office insider Bill Polian is off to a strong start through Week 5. MORE: AAF Power Rankings for Week 6 The sports media world and Madison Avenue sat up and took notice when TV ratings for the AAF’s broadcast debut on CBS equaled that of an NBA game telecast on ABC. With NFL castoffs such as Trent Richardson and Steve Spurrier finding a second life, the quality of play has been good in a league where players only earn $75,000 a season....

Earlier in the day a bomb threat delayed proceedings for more than an hour, and by the end of the day it was reported Hernandez’s fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, will testify Friday. MORE: Prosecutors could soon rest case | Most heinous crimes connected to athletes According to The Associated Press, Jenkins has received immunity, meaning she can be compelled to testify or face jail time for contempt of court. With the prosecution about a week away from resting its case, Jenkins’ testimony could prove to be one of the most important declarations in the case since prosecutors claim Jenkins removed a box from the home she shared with Hernandez that contained the murder weapon....

On Sunday against the Cowboys, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers called an audible at the line of scrimmage early in the first quarter and said “New York Bozo.” MORE: Playoff photos | Five facts about the Ice Bowl | Rodgers’ doppleganger gets commercial That’s right, “New York Bozo.” Who is he referring to? Roger Goodell? Alex Rodriguez? Mike Francesa? We wan’t to think it’s Cowboys superfan Chris Christie, but he’s the governor of New Jersey, not New York....

First reported by Pat McAfee, followed closely by NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport with reported terms of the deal, Aaron Rodgers is heading back to Green Bay to presumably finish out his career, ending a year-long saga that led to retirement talk and trade rumors surrounding the quarterback. The terms of the deal are being debated in real-time, however. In Rapaport’s initial report, Rodgers and the Packers agreed on a new deal that will not only keep the quarterback in Green Bay for the foreseeable future, and make him the highest-paid player per year in NFL history....

A year-long saga between the organization and the franchise quarterback could be nearing its end, with reports indicating that Rodgers’ future with the team could be decided as soon as this week. While retirement seems like a distant third option at this point, it appears Rodgers is “truly torn” regarding what he wants to do moving forward: Play with the Packers for another season, or move on from Green Bay and try the Tom Brady experience elsewhere....