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26
November

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Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that China would be willing to work together with North Korea for regional and global peace, stability and prosperity, North Korea's state media KCNA reported on Saturday, citing Xi's letter to Kim.

KCNA did not mention North Korea's recent missile launches that have heightened tensions around the Korean peninsula following joint military drills between South Korea and the United States. (Reuters)

26
November

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South Korea's transport ministry plans to meet with the striking truckers union on Monday for negotiations, a ministry official said on Saturday.

Thousands of unionised truckers on Thursday launched their second major strike in less than six months seeking better pay and working conditions. The action is already disrupting supply chains across the world's 10th largest economy, affecting automakers, cement and steel producers.

"We requested dialogue with the union and the truckers union replied that they would meet with us on Monday ... the talk is not yet finalised, but we plan to meet with the union and talk," the ministry official told Reuters.

A union official confirmed Monday's meeting, which would be the first official dialogue between the two sides.

The transport ministry said about 5,400 people attended the strike on Saturday as of 10 a.m. (0100 GMT) in about 150 locations nationwide, down from 9,600 people on the first day of the strike.

 

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol warned on Thursday that the government would consider various options, such as issuing an order to break up the strike, calling it as an illegal and unacceptable move to take the national supply chain "hostage" during an economic crisis.

According to South Korean law, during a serious disruption to transportation the government may issue an order to force transport workers back to their jobs. Failure to comply is punishable by up to three years in jail, or a fine of up to 30 million won ($22,550).

The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) received 53 reports of disrupted logistics from 31 companies since the strike began.

The cement industry estimated an output loss of about 37 billion won ($27.73 million) as of Friday, said lobby group Korea Cement Association. It added that the industry only managed to ship about 20,000 tonnes of cement on Friday, just about 10% of usual daily shipments. (Reuters)

26
November

 

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Qatar has found itself with an unexpected glut of rooms in the World Cup's busy group stage, with online portals showing rooms in at least 42 hotels and Airbnb offering hundreds of options for this weekend.

That's a far cry from pre-tournament warnings by Qatari officials, including Qatar Airways' CEO, and fan groups such as Football Supporters Europe of a shortage, which prompted organisers to arrange extra accommodation in villas, apartments, cruise ships, temporary cabins and even desert camps.

Doha landlords had anticipated a bonanza from 1.2 million visiting fans, with numbers forecast to peak Nov. 24-28, but the surplus has caused rents to slump and will have knock-on effects for the wider property market, some real estate agents said.

Two real estate agents, two accommodation firms and tenants say some landlords in the small Gulf state sought unrealistically high rents in the lead up to the event, which has left thousands of rooms vacant.

 

Many fans have chosen to stay outside Doha and jet in for matches, using up to 500 daily shuttle flights from nearby cities like tourist hub Dubai that Qatar Airways' chief said were laid on partly in response to what he called "a shortage of accommodation".

"We were in contact with half of the city, all the big real estate companies ... They weren't interested," said one accommodation broker who has worked at several global sports events and requested anonymity due to business sensitivities.

The broker cited the example of a two-bedroom Doha apartment that was listed at $1,200 per night in early October. A week before the World Cup began on Nov. 20, the rate was $250 a night, the broker said.

Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, which is the tournament organiser, did not respond to Reuters request for updated availability of rooms or why the anticipated shortage of lodgings did not materialise.

Organisers say a range of accommodation is on offer, from $80 per night rooms on Doha's desert edges to luxury cruise ship cabins, some costing thousands of dollars a day.

For the remaining peak nights, the official accommodation portal on Friday showed rooms available in 42 hotels, villas and apartments, while booking.com showed rooms in 73 properties and Airbnb.com offered 503 "homes".

Eleven days before kick-off, organisers had said there were at least 25,000 rooms available for every night of the World Cup.

PRICE HIKES

In a sign of how the pre-tournament concerns raised expectations among some hoteliers and landlords, Reuters has been told of four instances of late price hikes.

One group of 10 guests who arrived in Qatar from Italy a week before the World Cup started were caught in a row between their hotel and travel firm over a surcharge, their agent said.

Khaya Global told Reuters that in the two weeks before the World Cup it received demands from each of the seven hotels it has under exclusive contract for payments totalling at least $550,000, on top of what it said was more than $10 million it had pre-paid. Reuters has seen invoices for $550,000.

Reuters has not seen the original contract in full, but has reviewed a copy of a hand-written invoice for $40,000 which Khaya boss Volkhard Bauer said was from the Al Mansour Park Inn. Neither the hotel nor its owner responded to a Reuters request to confirm the invoice.

"Never ever, at no World Cup, have I heard anything like this," said Bauer of the last-minute charges. His Khaya agency has block-booked accommodation and sold rooms to fans, FIFA sponsors and other officials at three previous World Cups.

Bauer's weary guests were finally checked in after the agency wired the amount demanded, he told Reuters.

Another hotel, the Waterfront Hotel and Apartments, sent an invoice for $53,700, seen by Reuters, for guests to have extra beds in nine rooms during the tournament, a surcharge increase from an agreed $90 to $250 per night.

Neither hotel nor the owner of both responded to repeated Reuters requests for comment.

EMPTY PEARL

It's not only overseas visitors who have seen costs soar.

While some landlords slashed prices as the tournament neared, many were still trying to secure short-term business at much higher rates, crowding out residents, the accommodation broker and real estate agents said.

Long-term rents in Qatar rose by more than 30% in the third quarter, with some landlords demanding potential tenants sign two-year leases locking them into current prices, a Sept. 30 report by real estate services firm Cushman and Wakefield said.

Reuters spoke to long-term residents at five Doha apartment buildings and two housing compounds who said landlords had in the months before the tournament refused to renew annual contracts and hiked rents.

At The Pearl, a high-end residential neighbourhood built on a man-made island, a 30-year-old Tunisian woman whose lease expired in October said that her apartment owner had told her he would only renew it once the World Cup ended.

He made that conditional on her leaving behind her furniture so he could rent the apartment out as a furnished unit, said the woman, who declined to be named or to identify her landlord.

"I found myself basically forced to say yes to his offer," she said, adding she was wary of committing to costly long-term rates.

But she still needed to rent a temporary apartment as her soccer fan brothers had bought tickets for the tournament. (Reuters)

26
November

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The Taliban's treatment of Afghan women and girls, including their exclusion from parks and gyms as well as schools and universities, may amount to a crime against humanity, a group of U.N. experts said on Friday.

The assessment by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan Richard Bennett and nine other U.N. experts says the treatment of women and girls may amount to "gender persecution" under the Rome Statute to which Afghanistan is a party.

Responding to the assessment, Taliban Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said: "The current collective punishment of innocent Afghans by the U.N. sanctions regime all in the name of women rights and equality amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity."

The U.N. experts said in a statement that women's confinement to their homes was "tantamount to imprisonment", adding that it was likely to lead to increased levels of domestic violence and mental health problems. The experts cited the arrest this month of female activist Zarifa Yaqobi and four male colleagues.

 

They remain in detention, the experts said.

The Taliban took over from a Western-backed government in August 2021. They say they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law.

Western governments have said the Taliban needs to reverse its course on women's rights, including their U-turn on signals they would open girls' high schools, for any path towards formal recognition of the Taliban government.

Separately, a spokesperson for the U.N. human rights office called for the Taliban authorities to immediately halt the use of public floggings in Afghanistan.

Ravina Shamdasani said the office had documented numerous such incidents this month, including a woman and a man lashed 39 times each for spending time alone together outside of marriage.

Balkhi said the Taliban administration considered the statement by the United Nations and others by Western officials were "an insult towards Islam and violation of international principals." (Reuters)