Spain's Catalonia region will ease restrictions on water use for a wide area including Barcelona after recent rainfall palliated a prolonged drought, regional authorities said Tuesday.

Catalonia declared a drought emergency in February when its reservoirs fell under 16% capacity after nearly three years of below-average rainfall. But steady rain in recent weeks has boosted reserves to nearly 25%. Spain's reservoirs overall are at 66% full.

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Several flights to Dubai were cancelled and diverted Thursday, airport authorities announced, as heavy rains hit the United Arab Emirates for the second time in a month.

An airport authority spokesperson said five inbound flights were diverted overnight, while nine arriving and four departing flights were cancelled.

The torrential rains and deadly floods that have hit Kenya since March have been some of the most catastrophic in the country in recent years.

At least 169 people have died due to the heavy rains, with at least 91 missing, according to the latest government figures.

Human Rights Watch accused Kenyan authorities on Thursday of not responding adequately to ongoing floods that have killed more than 170 people since the start of the rainy season.

The New York-based rights group said the government "has a human rights obligation to prevent foreseeable harm from climate change and extreme weather events and to protect people when a disaster strikes."

Skimming over miles of hills blackened by wildfires west of Athens, Fire Lt. Col. Ioannis Kolovos readies his elite fire crew crouched inside a helicopter.

The 10-member group from the 1st Wildfire Special Operation Unit bristles with tools needed to hold back fires: chainsaws, specialized rakes, weather gauges, computer tablets and earth-scorching drip torches to burn wildfire barriers into the hillside.

The death toll from a collapsed highway in southeastern China climbed to 48 on Thursday as searchers dug for a second day through a treacherous and mountainous area.

One side of the four-lane highway in the city of Meizhou gave way about 2 a.m. on Wednesday after a month of heavy rains in Guangdong province. Twenty-three vehicles fell down a steep slope, some sending up flames as they caught fire. Construction cranes were used to lift out the burnt-out and mutilated vehicles.

Southeast Asia was coping with a weekslong heat wave on Monday as record-high temperatures led to school closings in several countries and urgent health warnings throughout the region.

Millions of students in all public schools across the Philippines were ordered to stay home Monday after authorities canceled in-person classes for two days. The main advice for everyone, everywhere has been to avoid outdoor activities and drink plenty of water, but the young and the elderly were told to be especially careful.

Growing up, Teresa Vicente spent long days in Spain's Mar Menor swimming in transparent waters, cupping seahorses in her hands and partying under the moonlit sky. Out there, she recalled, time stood still.

But over the decades, chronic contamination from mining, development and agricultural runoff turned the once crystal-clear waters of Europe's largest saltwater lagoon into a graveyard. A mass fish die-off in 2019 prompted the professor of philosophy of law at the University of Murcia to take action.

Mexico's taking control of its oil sector from U.S. and British companies is taught in schools and celebrated every year. The 1938 nationalization is a point of pride for millions of Mexicans including President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The popular president hails from the Mexican oil industry's heartland, and 16 years ago he led a fight against energy reforms that were aimed at drawing private investment to the massive state-run oil company, Pemex. This year, the front-runner in the race to replace López Obrador chose the anniversary of Mexico's oil expropriation to announce her energy proposals, which include maintaining large-scale petroleum production by Pemex.