The leader of France's hardline CGT union on Wednesday called for strikes after talks with Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu over fresh protests collapsed, as the country reeled from last weekend's riots.

Argentina's far-right President Javier Milei called Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez a "dictator" in a visit to Madrid on Wednesday, urging voters to oust the Socialist leader in upcoming elections.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday took an apparent swipe at counterpart Donald Trump of exploiting France's riots for advantage in the U.S. midterm election battle, as Paris prepared for more protests this weekend.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky called Wednesday for freezing the front in his country's war against Russia as a first step toward ceasefire talks.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that he had secured gas from Qatar during his Gulf tour, as he seeks to bring down the price of energy following violent protests sparked by rising living costs.

Moscow is ready to resume trilateral U.S.-Ukraine-Russia talks next month, the Kremlin said Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin met with US envoy Steve Witkoff in Russia.

Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei told the visiting Pakistani army chief Asim Munir that Tehran would not allow nuclear material to leave the country, according to state TV.

"Not even a tiny bit of enriched nuclear material will leave Iran; such materials constitute a major asset and national wealth for the Iranian people, intended for use within the country," said Rezaei, Iran's secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

Rising fuel costs, discontent with the state of schools, declining public services and a housing crisis are fueling an autumn of protests in Europe.

Crowds have protested for weeks in major cities, with some demonstrations marked by arrests, looting, injuries and violence across France, Italy and Albania. In Spain and Portugal, tent camps have sprung up to protest unaffordable housing.

A Russian drone strike near Kyiv has killed three people and wounded four others, Ukrainian prosecutors said Tuesday, publishing images showing the burned-out chassis of a car on a road.

"An enemy drone attack resulted in an impact near the Kyiv–Odesa highway in the village of Chabany, close to a shopping centre," the Kyiv region's prosecution service said on Telegram, reporting that "three people were killed".

Rioters clashed with police, set cars on fire, stormed public buildings and engulfed a historic city hall in flames in France's worst civil unrest in years as violence and looting swept through major cities during nationwide protests.

About 2,400 people were arrested over the weekend, and authorities said thousands of businesses were damaged or looted. The rioting overshadowed demonstrations against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools in which hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully.