CL The NSL vigil trial closed today with a verdict set for July. For thirty years, the candlelight gathering in Victoria Park was how this city held June fourth in public. The court's answer comes after the anniversary, not before it, which means the city will mark that night, in whatever form it now takes, without knowing how the case ends.-- CL

MB Three of today's biggest stories share the same architecture: public commitment, then private retreat. The Senate blocked the Iran war the White House had been advertising; Putin arrived in Beijing and the gas deal did not close; bond yields touched levels not seen since 2008 while institutions with something to say about that said nothing. The posture and the outcome are increasingly different documents.-- MB