Who Won the Shutdown Showdown?  It Wasn't Even Close  —  While Republicans wanted to cut more spending in Saturday's early morning compromise to keep the government open, they think they got the better of the deal.  —  Here's why: HR1 was originally to seek spending cuts …

The Aftermath  —  I have to rescind my assessment last night that John Boehner got nothing out of the late negotiations on the 2011 budget.  Apparently, he won the restoration of a ban on the District of Columbia spending its own money to help poor women obtain abortions.

Sidney Lumet, Director of American Film Classics, Dies at 86  —  Sidney Lumet, a director who preferred the streets of New York to the back lots of Hollywood and whose stories of conscience — “12 Angry Men,” “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “The Verdict,” “Network” — became modern American film classics …

Donald Trump Responds  —  To the Editor:  —  Re “Donald Trump Gets Weirder,” by Gail Collins (column, April 2):  —  Even before Gail Collins was with the New York Times, she has written nasty and derogatory articles about me.  Actually, I have great respect for Ms. Collins in that she has survived so long with so little talent.

Ending America as We Know It  —  Hey, it's the weekend, and everyone's singing the same maddeningly catchy refrain!  Rebecca Black's “Friday”?  Nah, that was last week's moronic singalong.  This week's is even perkier!  “Paul Ryan proposes to end Medicare as we know it,” sings former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta.

US to fund $20m remake of Sesame Street for Pakistan  —  The show will be set in a Pakistan village and be mostly in Urdu  —  The United States is funding a Pakistani remake of the popular TV children's show Sesame Street.  —  In a new effort to win hearts and minds in Pakistan, USAID …

Muslims offended by Trinny & Susannah  —  Channel 10 apologizes for ads showing British fashion advisors in immodest clothing against backdrop of al-Aqsa Mosque  —  Eran Baron  —  Channel 10 apologized for the incident on Wednesday evening and promised to change the ads immediately.

The Success Of Hostage-Taking Highlights The Importance of Elections  —  Details on the appropriations deal are still hard to come by, but you don't need the details to know that substantial short-term cuts in domestic discretionary spending will hurt the poor while harming macroeconomic performance.

Why Progressives Keep On Losing and the Right Keeps On Winning  —  Congratulations!  The “grand compromise” will cut nearly thirty nine billion dollars in needed government spending, which proves how “serious” everyone is about reducing the deficit.  The grand compromisers could have cancelled …

Soldiers and Protesters Clash in Cairo  —  CAIRO (AP) — Demonstrators burned cars and barricaded themselves with barbed wire inside a central Cairo square demanding the resignation of the military's head after troops violently dispersed an overnight protest killing one and injuring 71.