Asian Cup defending champions Qatar Wednesday submitted their official bid to host the 2027 edition of the tournament, officials said, hoping to stage the competition for the third time.

Qatar will seek to host the 2032 Olympic Games, it said on Monday, joining a crowded field and raising questions about scorching summer temperatures and underwhelming attendances at past events.

Privacy concerns over Qatar's coronavirus contact tracing app, a tool that is mandatory on pain of prison, have prompted a rare backlash and forced officials to offer reassurance and concessions.

Like other governments around the world, Qatar has turned to mobile phones to trace people's movements and track who they come into contact with, allowing officials to monitor coronavirus infections and alert people at risk of contagion.

Twenty-three staff at a hospital in Qatar were injured when tents being used to boost capacity in response to coronavirus collapsed in a fierce storm, local media reported Friday.

Towering over the Qatari desert, American sculpture artist Richard Serra's four steel monoliths called "East-West/West-East" look virtually unassailable.

Providing neutral space for talks on ending Afghanistan's 18-year conflict has boosted Qatar's international profile and helped it defy a painful embargo enforced by neighbours and former allies.

Qatar responded cautiously Wednesday to US President Donald Trump's Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, saying it welcomed efforts to broker "longstanding peace" but warned that was unattainable without concessions to the Palestinians.

The plan grants Israel much of what it has sought in decades of international diplomacy, namely control over Jerusalem as its "undivided" capital, rather than a city to share with the Palestinians. The plan also lets Israel annex West Bank settlements.

Qatar's emir skipped a Gulf summit in Riyadh on Tuesday that had been pilled as a potential  "reconciliation conference" amid signs of a thaw between Doha and a Saudi-led bloc.

Qatar's ruler said Tuesday his gas-rich Gulf state has overcome the economic impact of a regional embargo and will be ready to hold its first national elections within two years.

Qatar will inaugurate the third of its eight World Cup stadiums when the Education City ground hosts the Club World Cup semi-final tie on December 18, FIFA said on Monday.