Kroger Taps Walmart Exec; Venezuela Frees, Then Rearrests

Kroger announced Monday that it had appointed Greg Foran, a former Walmart executive, as its new CEO, according to ABC News. The announcement came 11 months after the abrupt resignation of the previous CEO. Meanwhile, in Venezuela, a group of prominent opposition leaders were freed on Sunday, only to have one, Juan Pablo Guanipa, reportedly rearrested hours later, as reported by the NY Times. Elsewhere, Japanese stocks surged to a record high Monday following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) historic election victory, according to BBC World.

Foran led Walmart's U.S. division for six years before departing in 2019, ABC News reported. During his tenure, he introduced online ordering and pickup and accelerated Walmart's digital capabilities. The LDP secured 316 out of 465 seats in Sunday's election, the first time a single party has won a two-thirds lower house majority since Japan's parliament was established in its current form in 1947, according to BBC World. The Japan Innovation Party, the LDP's coalition partner, won in 36 more constituencies, taking their combined total to 352 seats.

The confusion surrounding the Venezuelan opposition leaders cast dark clouds over tentative hopes that Venezuela's interim government might move away from the most repressive practices, the NY Times reported. Ramón Guanipa Linares, Mr. Guanipa's son, wrote on social media that his father had been kidnapped by a group of about 10 armed, unidentified men, according to the NY Times.

The pastor of Nancy Guthrie's Arizona church asked congregants to continue praying for her safe return during Sunday morning's service, Fox News reported. Pastor John Tittle of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church said the congregation continues "to pray and to stand with Nancy Guthrie and her family," adding the church is seeking "to just honor the family's pr," according to Fox News.