NATION
REPUBLICANS BLINK
Confronted with negative polls and a frustrated public, Republicans staged a tactical withdrawal from the three-week government shutdown. At week's end, both houses passed and the President signed legislation returning all federal employees to work with pay through Jan. 26. However, the measures will leave many government functions still unfunded.
WHERE THERE'S SMOKE...
The nation's five largest tobacco companies jointly denounced the Food and Drug Administration's proposed tough new restrictions on tobacco ads and sales to minors as not only unnecessary and unwise but also an "illegal power grab." The attorneys general of 25 states begged to differ....
