Watching the images of riot police at a crowded Moscow airport, Alexey Navalny’s supporters being dragged away, and, finally, the wobbly footage of the Kremlin critic’s own detention, the catchphrase made famous by former Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin decades ago comes to mind: We wanted better, but it turned out like always. Nearly five months after being airlifted to ...

Just days after Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc said it was in talks with French grocer Carrefour SA on a potential deal, the two sides have walked away. The tie-up seems to have been sunk by French politics. The about-face deprives Carrefour’s shareholders, including France’s richest man Bernard Arnault, of an ideal exit from what has long been a difficult situation. ...

Hand it to human beings. We have repeatedly defied predictions that we will buckle under the extreme pressure of adverse events. Time and again, whether it was during the eight-month blitz in World War II, or after 9/11, people have proved remarkably resilient in the face of adversity. Will it be the same with this pandemic? On aggregate, probably yes. ...