Russia shot down 808 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian defense ministry said Thursday, in the wake of a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.

The drones, launched after Putin met Wednesday in Saint Petersburg with U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy, were destroyed by air defense systems over various regions of Russia and annexed Crimea, the ministry said in a statement.

No nation does mass protests quite like France.

When the French fight high fuel taxes, they don yellow vests and march. When angry farmers want better pay, hundreds of them drive tractors down the Champs-Élysées. And when museum workers want better tourist management, they strike and shut down the Louvre.

Russia prides itself on its digital advances — from an extensive e-commerce services sector to ambitious plans for developing artificial intelligence.

But now, some of the key data centers at the heart of its technical prowess have been knocked out by Ukrainian drone attacks in the 4 1/2-year-old full-scale invasion, suffering damage that could take a long time to repair.

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.