Dubai police on Thursday urged residents to stay indoors unless it was "absolutely necessary" as heavy rainfall was expected in the desert country which saw record downpours last year.

The warning came hours after rainfall in the Emirati city caused flooding in streets.

"For your safety, please remain cautious as unstable weather conditions are expected in the coming hours, and avoid going out unless it is absolutely necessary until midday on Friday," said a police alert sent to residents' phones.

The United States will host talks in Miami on Friday to push the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire, as President Donald Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely visit him at the close of the year.

Trump's roving special envoy Steve Witkoff is to meet senior officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey in Florida, a White House official told AFP Thursday, amid fears that efforts to reach the second stage of the deal are stalling.

WASHINGTON, Dec ​18 (Reuters) - ​U.S. ⁠President Donald Trump's special envoy ​Steve ‍Witkoff will ​meet Friday with ⁠Qatari, Egyptian and Turkish officials in Miami, ​Florida, ⁠to ⁠discuss the Gaza deal, ‌a White ​House official said on Thursday.

(Reporting ‍by Steve Holland, ‌Writing ‌by Caitlin Webber; Editing by ⁠Katharine Jackson)

Dec 18 (Reuters) - ​Israel and ​Germany signed ⁠a contract worth around $3.1 billion ​to ‍expand the Arrow-3 ​air and missile defence system ⁠manufactured by Israeli aerospace industries, Israel's defence ministry said ​on Thursday.

The ⁠contract ⁠expansion complements the initial purchase agreement ‌signed two years ​ago. Combined, the two agreements ‍total approximately $6.7 billion, the ministry ‌added.

(Reporting ‌by Yomna Ehab and Enas Alashray; Editing ⁠by Susan Fenton)

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Timour Azhari, Maya Gebeily and Jonathan Spicer

AMMAN/RIYADH/BEIRUT/ANKARA, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Syrian, Kurdish and U.S. officials are scrambling ahead of a ​year-end deadline to show some progress in a stalled deal to merge Kurdish ​forces with the Syrian state, according to several people involved in or familiar with the talks.

Discussions have accelerated in recent days despite growing frustrations over delays, according ⁠to the Syrian, Kurdish and Western sources who spoke to Reuters, some of whom cautioned that a major breakthrough was unlikely.

Dec 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary ​of State Marco ​Rubio said on Thursday ⁠that the U.S. was sanctioning two judges of the International ​Criminal Court for ‍targeting Israel.

"Today, I ​am designating two International Criminal Court (ICC) judges, Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and ⁠Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, pursuant to Executive Order 14203," Rubio said in a statement, referring to the order President Donald Trump signed ​in February ⁠sanctioning the ⁠ICC.

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on two more judges of the International Criminal Court after they rejected a challenge by Israel which sought to end a war crimes probe in Gaza.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had already ordered sanctions on judges and prosecutors in the case, explicitly linked the new sanctions to a vote Monday in which the judges sided with the majority and upheld arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.

Dec 18 (Reuters) - ​Islamic ​State ⁠said on Thursday the killing ​of ‍15 people ​at a Jewish event ⁠at Sydney's Bondi Beach was a "source of ​pride', ⁠in ⁠an article published on the ‌group's telegram ​channel.

The group did not ‍explicitly claim responsibility ‌for ‌Sunday's attack.

(Reporting by Dubai NewsroomEditing by ⁠Alexandra Hudson)

Women swaying to dance music at a DJ set, strolling without headscarves through cutting-edge art exhibitions and in coffee shops showing off trendy styles that could have come from the streets of Europe.

Until recently, such scenes would have been unthinkable in the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose strict dress code for women has required they wear the hijab in public since shortly after the 1979 revolution that ousted the pro-Western shah.

Launched after the Israel-Hamas ceasefire to monitor the truce and facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid, the Civil-Military Coordination Center for Gaza is struggling to live up to its promises.

The CMCC, a US initiative, is meant to set the stage for the next steps of President Donald Trump's peace plan for the Palestinian territory following more than two years of devastating war.

"At first nobody knew what it was but everyone wanted in," one European diplomat told AFP.