The Aug. 5 opening of the 2016 Summer Olympics is still a week away, but Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes is already playing catch-up. A squad of blue overall-clad plumbers, electricians and custodians descended on the Athletes Village this week for emergency repairs. It turns out the brand new, $900 million complex of apartment buildings — “the best …

When President Barack Obama is trying to persuade Americans not to do something, he has a go-to line: “That’s not who we are.” Whether the issue involves discrimination, immigration, torture, criminal violence or health care, he invokes the nation’s very identity. And he likes to follow it by adding, “We are better than that.” In this way, throughout his political …

  Cecilia Tortajada and Udisha Saklani On July 30 and 31, 2012, India witnessed its worst power failure in a decade. Eight states were in complete darkness as the northern grid collapsed. The second day, July 31, saw another acute power failure that affected more than 600 million people in 20 states across the country. Essential services were interrupted for …