Dubai government

Qatar Airways has reported $1.2 billion in profits over the past year, buoyed by its role in ferrying fans to the soccer World Cup.

The long-haul airline increased its revenue to $21 billion, a 45 percent increase over the previous year, it said.

Its yearly passenger load reached 31.7 million, a 71 percent increase.

Two images of Sheikha Latifa, a daughter of the ruler of Dubai, have appeared on Instagram in recent days, three months after the BBC aired a video message in which she said she was being held captive in a barricaded villa.

The authorities in Dubai are trying to find out what caused the fire that engulfed the five-star luxury hotel, Address Downtown Hotel on New Year’s Eve.

The fire broke out at about 21:30 local time (17:30 GMT) and appeared to engulf most part of Address Downtown within 10 minutes, as BBC reports.

Fire engulfed a 63-storey skyscraper in downtown Dubai on Dec. 31 night, but there appeared to be no injuries, a civil defense official said.

The Arab coalition battling Iran-backed rebels in Yemen has provided pro-government forces in the besieged city of Taez with dozens of armoured vehicles, military sources and Emirati media reported on Nov. 2.