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Prior to Qatar hosting this year’s World Cup, there were looming questions regarding how the country would accommodate guests with sufficient hotel rooms and the lack of alcohol given the country’s conservative ideals. The answer? The booze cruise.

Qatar brought in three MSC ocean liners to serve both as hotels and bars for visitors, ESPN reports. The ships accommodate 6,700 passengers but are only about half full presently.

"When we booked this a couple of years ago, we thought it would be worthwhile, especially with [Qatar's] approach to drinking. It's a safer option," said Mark, a 38-year-old designer of security systems from outside London. "If we do a cruise ship, they can have loads of bars, they'll have loads of restaurants. If everything goes horrendously wrong outside of [this ship], we'll have that safe space to go back to.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ Office of Special Enforcement held a public debate with property owners Monday to outline proposed changes to short-term rental laws, Bloomberg reports. Airbnb hosts in New York City would be required to register their properties with the city and provide names of permanent occupants, a diagram of the listing, the lease and documents proving occupancy.

“San Francisco-based Airbnb has long sparred with New York, one of its biggest domestic markets, where short-term rental rules are among the most restrictive in the country and essentially prohibit rentals of most apartments for fewer than 30 days without the owner present. City officials have argued that illegal rentals can be dangerous, take property off an already strained market and only push prices higher. Airbnb says the rentals provide people with a much-needed source of extra income in an expensive real estate landscape, a position many hosts seemed to validate,” the news outlet reports.

Driftwood Capital has two huge projects in its pipeline: the Dream Hotel Miami at the Riverside Wharf and the Westin Cocoa Beach. At the company’s investor conference, Driftwood executives discussed their strategies for the assets, HNN’s Sean McCracken reports.

"The theme for us is 'Be fearful when others are greedy, but be greedy when others are fearful,'" Chairman and CEO Carlos Rodriguez Sr. said. "Now is that time. It's an opportunity that we have. If you are well-capitalized, you can pounce. Obviously, sharpen your pencils, and be careful, but when the opportunity arises, that's when we can take advantage, and I think we're set up for that."

Health experts are once again recommending people should wear a mask while on public transportation, in airports and on planes as influenza, COVID-19 and the respiratory syncytial virus all hit at the same time, the Washington Post reports.

The Post reports that the 2022-23 flu season is on pace to be the worst in a decade, as there have already been 4,500 deaths caused by the flu. Wearing a “quality medical mask — such as an N95, KN95, or KF94” could go a long way in preventing the spread of the three viruses.

“Masks will help reduce your risk of all respiratory viruses, not just COVID,” said Jay K. Varma, an internal medicine physician, epidemiologist and professor of population health sciences at Weill Cornell Medical College. “They have to be the right quality masks worn consistently and correctly. Even a very small percentage increase in mask-wearing when multiplied by a large population can have a big impact.”

The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims increased by 4,000 for the week ending Dec. 3 compared to the previous week’s number, the Associated Press reports. Despite the increase in jobless claims, the unemployment rate is at 3.7%, a historically-low figure.

“In spite of persistent inflation and rapidly rising interest rates, U.S. employers added 263,000 jobs last month. There are nearly two job openings for every unemployed American,” the AP reports.

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