I am going to be honest with the American people  —  The first step to fixing a problem is honestly admitting there is a problem.  America's goal must be to fix Social Security by making it more financially sound and sustainable for the long term.  But Americans deserve a frank and honest discussion …

Turner poised for big upset  —  Republican Bob Turner is poised to pull a huge upset in the race to replace Anthony Weiner as the Congressman from New York's 9th Congressional District.  He leads Democrat David Weprin 47-41 with Socialist Workers candidate Christopher Hoeppner at 4% and 7% of voters remaining undecided.

Explosion at French nuclear site of Marcoule  —  One person has been killed and four injured, one seriously, by an explosion at the southern French nuclear site of Marcoule.  —  There were no radioactive leaks after the blast, caused by a fire near a furnace in the Centraco radioactive waste storage site, officials said.

An Impeccable Disaster  —  On Thursday Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank or E.C.B. — Europe's equivalent to Ben Bernanke — lost his sang-froid.  In response to a question about whether the E.C.B. is becoming a “bad bank” thanks to its purchases of troubled nations' debt …

GOP grumbles about jobs plan  —  House Republicans may pass bits and pieces of President Barack Obama's jobs plan, but behind the scenes, some Republicans are becoming worried about giving Obama any victories — even on issues the GOP has supported in the past.

Winning ugly  —  By all appearances, Republicans are poised to win tomorrow's special election in New York's 9th, a seat left vacant by Anthony Weiner's resignation.  It's generally a Democratic stronghold, making the likely GOP victory quite surprising.  —  There are plenty of factors at play …

In Cheney's memoir, it's clear Iraq's lessons didn't sink in  —  A key lesson of the 9/11 decade for presidents and other national security decision makers is the importance of rigorously testing intelligence evidence: poking holes in it, setting out contradictions, figuring out what may have been overlooked or left out.

U.S. backs move to let Taliban open headquarters in Qatar in the hope of ending war in Afghanistan  —  Talks to end the 10-year war in Afghanistan could be on the horizon after the U.S. backed a plan to let the Taliban open political headquarters in the Middle East.

100 protesters burn American flag outside U.S. embassy in London during minute's silence for 9/11  —  Protesters set fire to the U.S. flag outside the American embassy in London today during a minute's silence to mark the moment the first hijacked airliner hit the World Trade Centre.

In Tapes, Candid Talk by Young Kennedy Widow  —  In the early days of the Cuban missile crisis, before the world knew that the cold war seemed to be sliding toward nuclear conflict, President John F. Kennedy telephoned his wife, Jacqueline, at their weekend house in Virginia.