Your Thursday Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/26/briefing/iran-turkey-boris-johnson.html

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Good morning.

We’re covering a new potential flash point in Iran, the strategy that bested President Erdogan and plans for the world’s first time-free zone.

Iran, responding to American sanctions, has said that by Thursday its uranium stockpile will have exceeded the limits set in the 2015 deal that President Trump pulled the United States out of last year.

This milestone follows a vow from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Iran would never capitulate to U.S. sanctions, in the supreme leader’s first public comments since Mr. Trump’s last-minute cancellation of a military strike.

Explained: Iran is allowed to keep up to 300 kilograms, or about 660 pounds, of uranium, enriched to a level that can be used for civilian purposes.

By some estimates, Iran would need roughly triple that amount, enriched at a higher level, to make one weapon.

Reminder: Iran says its nuclear program has stayed in compliance with the 2015 accord. The U.S. disputes that and has accused the country of attacking oil tankers. It also says that Iran shot down an American surveillance drone over international waters, though Iran says it was in its airspace.

That was the winning formula for the campaign of Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul’s mayor-elect.

In his bid to take on the candidate backed by Turkey’s strongman leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr. Imamoglu sent a message of optimism aimed at the religious conservatives who form the base of Mr. Erdogan’s support, according to his campaign.

Ates Ilyas Bassoy, the national campaign manager for the party that led the opposition alliance, published a booklet on how to woo voters with “radical love,” urging opposition candidates to get out and talk to people — while avoiding arrogance and sarcasm.

Erdogan’s mistakes: Officials on both sides said Mr. Imamoglu’s success had as much to do with missteps by the governing party and Mr. Erdogan — who pushed for the do-over mayoral election — as with anything the winner had done.

Context: Two years of inflation, flagging growth and a currency collapse, much of it easily traceable to the Erdogan government’s economic policies, had soured the atmosphere around the election.

Ten Democrats took the stage in Miami for the first of two debates, and there were some clashes.

At times, the debate became a free-for-all, with candidates desperate to wedge their personalities and signature ideas into brief snippets of television airtime.

Immigration: Julián Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio, repeatedly brought up his proposal to decriminalize illegal immigration, at one point asking Beto O’Rourke, a fellow Texan, why he would not support making it a civil offense.

Economy: Asked whether her plans risked hurting the economy, Senator Elizabeth Warren said the economy was “doing great” for a “thinner and thinner slice at the top,” but “not for African-Americans and Latinx whose families are torn apart, lives destroyed, communities ruined.”

Biggest geopolitical threat: Several said climate change, some said China or Russia, and Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington said Donald Trump. Here are other highlights from the debate, which we fact-checked. (We also kept track of how long each candidate spoke.)

From Opinion: Our columnists Michelle Goldberg and Ross Douthat and an editorial board writer, Michelle Cottle, recapped and analyzed the evening.

In Japan, President Emmanuel Macron of France threatened not to sign any joint statement at the Group of 20 summit this week that doesn’t address the issue.

He emphasized the importance of reiterating the group’s support for the Paris climate agreement of 2015, from which President Trump has vowed to withdraw the United States.

“If we don’t speak about the Paris Agreement, and if, to come to an agreement in a meeting of 20, we are no longer able to defend our climate goals, it will be without France,” Mr. Macron told a group of French citizens in Tokyo.

Meanwhile: Days before Mr. Trump is expected to meet with President Xi Jinping at the summit, he threatened to target another $300 billion worth of Chinese products if trade negotiations failed to progress.

Related: As coal fades in the U.S., natural gas has become the next battleground. A rush to build new gas-fired plants has the potential to lock in decades of new fossil-fuel use, just as scientists say emissions need to fall drastically by midcentury.

Boris Johnson, the front-runner to become the country’s next prime minister, is frequently caught in gaffes, oversights and outright lies. But that’s what his fans like about him.

“Part of his appeal is that he upsets the grown-ups,” said one of his biographers. Our London correspondent examines the history of the phenomenon everyone calls, simply, “Boris.”

Robert Mueller: The agreement for the special counsel to testify on Capitol Hill materialized after weeks of phone calls and meetings between congressional staff and associates of Mr. Mueller. He was extremely averse to the public spectacle of a hearing, according to someone involved in the talks.

Germany: An avowed neo-Nazi has admitted to the murder this month of a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right party, Walter Lübcke, who had defended her decision to accept refugees into Germany.

Denmark: Mette Frederiksen will become the country’s next leader after striking a deal with several other left-leaning parties. She will be Denmark’s youngest-ever prime minister, and she vowed to work toward a 70 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2030.

Israel: Ehud Barak, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s predecessors and longtime critics, is forming a new political party and will run in the September election.

Jamal Khashoggi: The United Nations expert on extrajudicial killings called for an international investigation into the dissident journalist’s death, excoriating the U.N. for its “paralysis” and Saudi Arabia for its handling of the case.

Britain: At least 12 people in southeastern England have died after an outbreak of a rare bacterial infection, the invasive Group A streptococcal disease, the British health authorities said.

Snapshot: Residents of the island of Sommaroy in Norway, above, are campaigning to create the world’s first “time free zone,” doing away with clocks, deadlines, start times and the concept of sleeping or eating at certain hours. “When you have the possibility to just be impulsive, you feel alive,” said one proponent. From May to July, the sun doesn’t set on the island.

Royal real estate: Agents throughout Europe say buyers can be swayed by knowing that a home was once occupied by a royal or is close to a famous palace. Even countries without monarchies are not immune.

What we’re reading: This piece from The Cut, by Allison P. Davis, about the rise and fall of the website Babe.net. Dan Saltzstein, our senior editor for special projects, writes: “The site stirred controversy last year for a #MeToo essay about the comedian Aziz Ansari. This article asks ‘whether the site’s writers — often with little or no journalistic experience or training — understood the traditions they were turning inside out or ignoring,’ capturing a fraught moment for youth media.”

Cook: This cold rice-noodle dish, topped with spicy pork, herbs and peanuts, has roots in Yunnan, a southwestern Chinese province.

Watch: In his Netflix series “Mr. Iglesias,” Gabriel Iglesias pays tribute to his alma mater, and to a classic comedy about underdog students.

Listen: Miley Cyrus sings a synth-pop remake of a Nine Inch Nails song in her role as Ashley O, a pop star in a recent “Black Mirror” episode. It’s the most effective Miley song of the past five years, our critic writes.

Read: The New York Times’s book critics select the most outstanding memoirs published since 1969.

Smarter Living: Your phone’s contacts list is probably less a list of people you talk to than a list of everyone you’ve ever talked to. We have tips for cleaning it up.

And try our seven-day money challenge to strengthen your financial well-being.

Belvedere Castle in Central Park in New York City is scheduled to reopen on Friday after a 15-month renovation.

The castle was conceived as part of the park’s original design and was built in the late 1860s.

It sits atop the second-highest spot in Central Park, offering a panoramic look to the north of the Great Lawn. (“Belvedere” is derived from the Italian for “beautiful view.”)

Designed as an architectural “folly” with no practical purpose, the castle was later modified to house equipment for the U.S. Weather Service.

After falling into disrepair in the late 1960s and ’70s, the castle was renovated in the early 1980s. The current work is part of a broader $300 million renovation effort by the Central Park Conservancy.

Even if you haven’t visited, you may have seen the castle. It has had numerous appearances in TV and film, including in early episodes of “Sesame Street” as the home of Count von Count.

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— Melina

Thank youTo Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. Chris Stanford wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about the Democratic presidential debates in the U.S. • Here’s today’s Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: Terrain at the Italy/Switzerland border (4 letters). You can find all our puzzles here. • A letter to The Times in 1853, the year that Central Park was approved, said it would “present an object of public health, amusement and recreation, unsurpassed by any city in the world.” The park was completed 23 years later.