Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe apologized Thursday for his "choice of language" after saying the "UK has been colonized by immigrants".

The billionaire businessman, founder and chairman of the Ineos chemicals company, made the remarks in a television interview in which he suggested "huge levels of immigration" to the UK had harmed the economy.

A member of Niger's ruling junta has urged his country's citizens to prepare for "war" with France, as relations with the former colonial power hit new lows.

Syria's defense ministry said on Thursday that the army had taken control of the Al-Tanf base after the withdrawal of U.S. forces deployed there as part of the coalition against the Islamic State group.

"Through coordination between the Syrian and American sides," army units have taken control of the base "and have begun deploying along the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian" border nearby, a defense ministry statement said.

Most foreign families have fled northeast Syria's Al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected Islamic State group fighters, since the departure of Kurdish forces who previously guarded it, humanitarian sources said Thursday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one source told AFP that "since last Saturday... there are no more than 20 families in the foreigners' annex", while a source from another humanitarian organization said the section was basically empty.

The speaker of Germany's lower house of parliament briefly visited the Israeli-controlled part of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the body told AFP.

Julia Kloeckner spent "about an hour in the part of Gaza controlled by Israeli army forces," parliament said in response to an AFP query, becoming the first German official to visit Gaza since Hamas' attack on Israel in October 2023 that sparked a war devastating the densely-populated coastal strip.

Authorities are investigating the imposter who posed as a Saudi prince, extorting several politicians with the help of a religious figure, a judicial official said.

A former prime minister and several other politicians, most of them Sunni Muslim, were caught up in the scandal that exposed the country’s deep-rooted corruption.

China said it will reduce tariffs on certain EU dairy products from Friday but still impose "anti-subsidy" levies of up to 11.7 percent for five years.

The tolls will be imposed after an investigation determined "certain dairy products originating from the EU were subsidised, causing substantial damage to the dairy industry in China", the commerce ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Winter Olympics on Thursday after refusing to back down over his banned helmet, which depicts victims of his country's war with Russia.

In a statement, the International Olympic Committee said Heraskevych is "not allowed to participate at Milano-Cortina 2026 after refusing to adhere to the IOC athlete expression guidelines".

U.S. President Donald Trump told Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House Wednesday that talks with Iran must continue, rebuffing the Israeli prime minister's push for a tougher stance against Tehran.

"There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated," Trump said on social media after their three-hour meeting.

Russian strikes overnight cut heating to nearly 2,600 residential buildings in Kyiv and killed two in east Ukraine, officials said Thursday.

"After last night's massive attack, due to damage to critical infrastructure targeted by the enemy, nearly 2,600 more buildings in the capital have been left without heat," the mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klitschko, said.