Dubai police have made a record drug seizure of some 4.6 million Captagon pills, an amphetamine-like stimulant, worth more than $31 million (23 million euros), the local press reported Monday.

Dubai's police chief, Major General Khamis Mattar al-Mazeina, said the "outstanding operation" codenamed "Nine ball" had dealt a major blow to drug trafficking in the United Arab Emirates, the Khaleej Times newspaper reported.

Dubai beat off opposition from Brazil, Russia and Turkey on Wednesday to win the right to host the 2020 World Expo, sparking celebrations in the Gulf city and a stunning fireworks display at the world's tallest building.

City authorities declared Thursday a school holiday to celebrate the victory.

Dubai on Wednesday beat off opposition from Brazil, Russia and Turkey to win the right to host the 2020 World Expo.

The Gulf city beat Russia's Ekaterinberg in the final round of voting to clinch a prestigious event that is credited with delivering a huge boost to tourism and business in the host city.

Heavy rains and flooding forced the annual airshow in Dubai to close early on its last day Thursday while schools in the desert Gulf state were ordered shut.

"The Dubai Airshow is closed for now, we advise people to refrain from traveling to the site," organizers said in an emailed statement.

Away from the glare of the media where airlines sign multi-billion-dollar contracts, makers of private helicopters and jets for VIPs are busy doing deals at the Dubai airshow and targeting a vibrant Middle East market.

The aerospace companies making and selling these aircraft for the rich, the powerful and for special services, say that customers' requirements are generally the same: Security, robust construction, and performance.

Dubai municipality has dished out 2.8 million dirhams ($762,942) gold in prizes to contestants in a weight-loss challenge, an initiative by the Gulf emirate to fight obesity.

The "Your Weight in Gold" campaign promised one gram of gold for each kilogram shed, provided the contestants lost at least two kilos (4.6 pounds) by August 16, when the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan ended.

Dubai's property sector is making a strong comeback five years after prices in the emirate nosedived, but a surge in demand and bouncing prices have triggered calls to remember the crisis.

Scale models of grandiose developments rolled out at the three-day Cityscape property show, which ends on Thursday, showed the renewed confidence in a market that shed around half of its value.

An Uzbek woman who caused 13 hours of panic at the Dubai public prosecutor's office when she threatened to blow herself up was wearing a fake explosive belt, authorities said Monday.

The woman entered the office with her child on Sunday and said she would detonate explosives strapped to her body unless the authorities forced an Emirati man to admit he is her son's legal father.

A Norwegian woman who narrowly escaped jail after reporting she was raped in Dubai arrived home on Wednesday, telling media that she had acted "stupidly" during her prolonged ordeal.

Marte Dalelv, 24, said in an interview with a local newspaper that she had been tricked into withdrawing her initial rape report, exposing herself to being convicted for consensual extramarital sex.

A Norwegian woman sentenced to prison in Dubai after reporting she was raped was set free with a full pardon on Monday after her case sparked an outcry.

Marte Dalelv, 24, expressed relief at the end of a four-month ordeal which had seen her prosecuted and convicted for extramarital sex, perjury and consuming alcohol without a licence, after she lodged the complaint against her boss.