A win for pluralistic democracy in Turkey

TURKEY: In a controversial rerun of Istanbul’s mayoral election, opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu won again, potentially breaking the 25-year dominance of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Islamist Justice and Development Party rose to power after his stint as Istanbul’s mayor. Thousands turned out in the city’s streets to celebrate, in what pundits described as a contest between one-man rule and a pluralist democracy. In a victory speech Sunday night, Imamoglu, who is a devout Muslim, embraced the country’s ethnic and religious minorities, naming each.

IRAN: Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative on Iran, is a name to watch, the man carrying out the behind-the-scenes shuttle diplomacy in the ramped-up U.S.-Iran confrontation. Hook told reporters that President Donald Trump “is very willing to sit down with the regime” and hinted at willingness to secure a new agreement with Iran over nuclear weapons—one that could be ratified by Congress, unlike the 2015 accord now abandoned by both the White House and Tehran.

HONG KONG: Composite photos showing the scale of demonstrations against an extradition law undermine Chinese government estimates of the number of protesters. Protests over the weekend included nonstop hymn singing.

HAITI is caught in another cycle of crippling corruption and violence.

FRANCE: Temperatures across Europe are expected to climb to near or above 100 degrees F this week in a record-setting heat wave.

PACIFIC: Seizing more than 16,500 pounds of cocaine and 1,500 pounds of marijuana, plus saving four sea turtles, seems all in a day’s work for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Cutter Mohawk.

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