Schools and businesses were closed across the United Arab Emirates after about a year's worth of rain fell in a single day. Flooding has also disrupted travel at Dubai International Airport.

By the end of Tuesday, more than 5.59 inches of rain had soaked Dubai over 24 hours. An average year sees 3.73 inches at Dubai International Airport, which partially flooded and halted arrivals.

The United Arab Emirates celebrated after Emirati astronaut Sultan Alneyadi splashed down to Earth following six months in space, a milestone for its growing space program.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are among 6 nations invited Thursday to join the BRICS bloc of developing economies. United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia are also set to join the bloc from 2024.

The United Arab Emirates nominated Sultan al-Jaber, who both leads Abu Dhabi's state-run oil company and oversees its renewable energy efforts, to be the president of climate negotiations in Dubai.

Visiting Saudi Arabia last summer, President Biden tried to reassure Arab leaders of U.S. commitment to the region's security. But Gulf nations aren't necessarily rushing to side with Washington.

Israel is lobbying against calls for an urgent session of the U.N. Security Council, following Tuesday's visit by far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to a sensitive holy site.

Filipino workers come to the United Arab Emirates seeking opportunity and to support relatives back home. Christmas isn't a UAE holiday, so many will work — but also manage to find joy and community.

A Tokyo company aimed for the moon with its own private lander Sunday, blasting off atop a SpaceX rocket with the United Arab Emirates' first lunar rover and a toylike robot from Japan.

The movie, which chronicles the adventures of space cadet Buzz Lightyear, is slated to be released June 16.

The seizure of data from the former leader of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan is part of a probe that has ensnared a former ambassador who pleaded guilty to charges of illegal foreign lobbying.

The United Arab Emirates' long-ailing ruler, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, died Friday, the government's state-run news agency announced in a brief statement. He was 73.

The UAE is overhauling laws on an array of business, cultural and social norms. On paper, it makes the emirate one of the region's most progressive countries, but critics say the reality is complex.

Ghani said on Sunday that he had left the country to avoid further bloodshed.

Oil prices were surging, but a dramatic meeting of many of the world's crude producers has thrown things into a bit of turmoil.