Our daily journey around the world

🇻🇪 Both parties claimed victory in Venezuela’s presidential election. Venezuela’s United Socialist Party said incumbent President Nicolás Maduro (☝️ left) won a third term by a 51%-44% margin in Monday’s election, with 80% of votes counted. However, the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable party claims its presidential candidate, Edmundo González (☝️ right), actually won 70% of the vote (based on independent exit polls). The US, EU, and several nations in North and South America are calling on Venezuela’s government to release detailed vote tallies.

🇯🇵🇺🇸 The US is upgrading its military forces in Japan. The Pentagon announced plans to establish a joint force headquarters in Japan led by a three-star general, bringing operational control of US troops stationed in Japan from Hawaii to a local Tokyo headquarters. Separately, Australia, India, Japan, and the US released a statement yesterday pledging to bolster joint defense in the South China Sea, where China has ramped up military pressure amid territorial disputes.

🇫🇷 France experienced two major infrastructure attacks during the Olympics. On Friday, three long-distance train lines connecting Paris to major French cities were set on fire, disrupting travel for ~800,000 people across Europe. In a separate incident on Sunday, several regions of France experienced internet disruptions after long-distance fiber optic cables across the country were cut. French police arrested a person described as a left-wing activist on suspicion of causing the railway sabotage, though no group has claimed responsibility for the internet outage.