Just 1,000 people will be able to use the Vodafone Qatar network when it is officially switched on in March, The Peninsula can reveal.

Developers of the soon-to-be-launched online yellow pages for businesses here hope that the business directory will offer an opportunity for e-marketing to boom and bring about a change in business thinking in Qatar.

Qatar’s health care sector has impressed delegates at the Arab Health Congress, UAE, with its innovative projects. Most of the leading medical and educational institutions and organisations in Qatar are participating in the four-day event that concludes today.

Scotching rumours about a possible delay in the delivery of Barwa’s low-rent housing units, the company has reaffirmed that the tenants will get their keys beginning on February 1, as scheduled. All the tenants have been exempted from paying rents for the month of February, as a special gesture of support from the company.

The BBC is facing a growing revolt from its own journalists over its decision not to broadcast the Gaza humanitarian aid appeal, with sources reporting “widespread disgust” within its newsrooms. BBC staff have said they have been told they face the sack if they speak out on the issue and Guardian understands that corporation journalists will today vote on a resolution put forward by the National Union of Journalists condemning the move.

In an unprecedented move, Qatar yesterday confirmed its intention to bid to host the football World Cup in 2018. No Arab country has ever attempted to host the football showpiece event. “I can confirm that the Qatar Football Federation has today sent a letter to FIFA in which it officially declared its candidacy for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups,” Qatar Football Federation Secretary General Saud Al Muhanadi said yesterday. If Qatar fails to win the 2018 bid, it will aim for the 2022 edition.

The Grand Hyatt Doha will have its soft opening by the middle of March with the grand opening to follow right after, a spokesperson said yesterday.

Raising Qatar’s profile as an emerging research hub in the Middle East, the Qatar Cloud Computing Center based in the Education City was officially launched yesterday.