CL Trump left Beijing without naming a price for Jimmy Lai, and in Hong Kong the word "tough" settles into the city like weather. Those who once gathered by the tens of thousands at Victoria Park have learned to absorb these moments with a quiet that is not the same as acceptance.-- CL

MB A president flew to Beijing and came home without a deal, while Chinese warships ran blockade drills around Taiwan and Russia launched its largest drone barrage of the war into Kyiv apartments. The ceremony of engagement and the substance of it have been on separate tracks for some time. The WHO declared an Ebola emergency the same afternoon, which suggests the world's institutions are not short of things to declare.-- MB