U.S.-Iran Latest: Iran’s Nuclear Standoff Is About to Enter a Perilous New Phase (Bloomberg)
In a move foreshadowed by Iranian leaders for weeks, the cap set on the country’s stockpile of enriched uranium could be broken by Thursday, a day before negotiators from the countries, mostly European, still committed to the accord meet in Vienna.

Former Top Military Advisor Adm. Mike Mullen Concerned President Trump is ‘Running out of Options’ with Iran (ABC News)
“My biggest concern is the president is running out of room, running out of options, and while the rhetoric goes back and forth on how close we came to hitting Iran just the other day, that this thing could spin out of control,” Mullen told ABC News anchor Martha Raddatz.

A Populism Setback in Turkey: Erdogan Dealt Stunning Blow as Istanbul Elects Rival Candidate in a Landslide (Bloomberg)

Today in Finance:
-Bank of America, PNC Seen as Stress-Test Winners in Fed’s First Round of Tests (Bloomberg)
-Mark Carney on Brexit: ‘150,000 Firms Not Ready for No-Deal Brexit’ (BBC News)
-Financial Jobs Aren’t Just in New York (Bloomberg Opinion – Justin Fox)
The most finance-heavy local economies in the U.S. are in the heartland, and there are some well-paid money managers in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Solutions Wanted! A ‘Shark Tank’ for a World in Transition (Axios AM)
Mike Bloomberg today announced a contest for solutions to mega-issues that flummox world leaders, including trade, technology, climate, finance and capital markets, inclusion, urbanization and global governance.

The authors of winning ideas in those seven categories will join 500 of the world’s most influential executives, tech innovators, officials, experts and academics in November at the Bloomberg New Economy forum in Beijing.

As Mike tweeted today: Solutions to global challenges are out there. What’s yours? 500 world leaders are ready to help turn the best ideas into reality.

Climate Watch: Editorial Board: Trump Abdicating, Again, on Climate (New York Times)
President Trump’s new energy plan aims to save coal-burning power plants and miners’ jobs. It won’t do either. The industry is already on life support, battered by market forces — cheaper natural gas, the rapid growth in renewable fuels — and by intense public pressure from the likes of Michael Bloomberg, who recently pledged $500 million of his fortune to moving the electric power industry away from all fossil fuels, not just coal but natural gas.

Sydney Declares Climate State of Emergency as Mayor Clover Moore Urges Global Leadership (The Australian)
Members of Sydney’s city council unanimously agreed that its citizens are at “serious risk” from climate change. Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore said Australia’s largest city needed to step up and show global leadership, especially given the failure of “successive federal governments (which) have shamefully presided over a climate disaster”.

Pink Floyd Guitarist Auctions Guitar Collection and Raises $21M to Fight Climate Change (CNN)

Commencement Recap: A Millennial’s Message for the Class of 2019 (New York Post)
In his commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis on May 17, Mike Bloomberg seemed to have the 2020 election in mind as he encouraged grads to embrace political discussion.

“There is not a single issue that is not affected by political debates, and there is not a single issue that isn’t threatened by the breakdown in our civil discourse,” said Bloomberg. “Real patriotism is about taking pains. I hope you’ll take the pains necessary to preserve and extend our democracy. Take pains to understand the other side, to expose lies. . . take the pains not to fall for easy answers and to hold leaders accountable for their words and their deeds.” Read his full address here.

Editorial: Pedestrian Plazas are a Times Square Success Story (AM New York)
This summer marks the ten-year anniversary of Times Square as a collection of pedestrian plazas.

It’s worth stopping and applauding a real win for the cityscape: That’s what Times Square became–a win–when Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan nudged out the cars.

Times Square has gone through many changes over its history, but in the modern era it was distinguished by crowds, traffic, dinginess, and honking horns. Pedestrians packed against one another waiting for lights to change. Cars dangerously swung through the space. The area was a place to hustle through while constantly dodging vehicles. Bloomberg and Sadik-Khan had the foresight to change that. And Midtown improved.

Also in Times Square: Daredevil Brother and Sister Walk High Wire Over Times Square in Death Defying Stunt (New York Times)

Best of late night.

On Facebook’s announcement of a cryptocurrency named ‘Libra’:

“I don’t know if the name ‘Libra’ was the right choice. First off, it sounds like counterfeit Italian money. And more importantly, Libra won’t sound that cool in a rap song.”
–Trevor Noah

James Corden taped his show in London last week:

“It’s been a year since we last did our show in London. We wanted to give you guys plenty of time to sort out this whole Brexit situation. I’m glad everything’s worked out.”
— James Corden

On architecture in London vs architecture in Los Angeles:

“Back in Los Angeles the buildings aren’t quite the same. The closest you’ll come to architectural history is someone saying, ‘Yeah, that building was originally conceived as a KFC. But they just converted it to a Shake Shack…oh my god.’”
— James Corden

On the renovation of Big Ben in London:

“Here’s the thing, I came to the UK to get away from the shallow, superficial culture of Los Angeles. And now I find out that Big Ben is getting a facelift? It’s like I never left LA!”
— James Corden