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Record 274 Climbers Scale Mount Everest in a Single Day from Nepali Side

Climbers walk in a long queue as they head to summit Mount Everest in the Solukhumbu district, also known as the Everest region, Nepal, May 18, 2026. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha/File Photo
Climbers walk in a long queue as they head to summit Mount Everest in the Solukhumbu district, also known as the Everest region, Nepal, May 18, 2026. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha/File Photo
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Record 274 Climbers Scale Mount Everest in a Single Day from Nepali Side

Climbers walk in a long queue as they head to summit Mount Everest in the Solukhumbu district, also known as the Everest region, Nepal, May 18, 2026. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha/File Photo
Climbers walk in a long queue as they head to summit Mount Everest in the Solukhumbu district, also known as the Everest region, Nepal, May 18, 2026. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha/File Photo

A record number of 274 climbers scaled Mount Everest on Wednesday, a hiking official said, the highest number ever to reach the world's tallest peak on the same day from the Nepali side.

The 8,849-meter (29,032 feet) Everest straddles the border between Nepal and the Tibet region of China and can be climbed from both sides.

Expedition ‌operators say ‌there were no climbers on the Tibetan side ‌this ⁠year as Chinese ⁠authorities had not issued any permits.

Rishi Bhandari, secretary general of the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal, said on Thursday the record compared with the previous highest of 223 ascents from the Nepali side on May 22, 2019.

“This is the highest number of climbers in a single day so far,” Bhandari told Reuters, ⁠adding the number could rise as some climbers ‌who had reached the summit ‌might not have informed the base camp about their feat yet.

There ‌are no figures available from China on how many climbers ‌reach the peak, but Bhandari said in the normal climbing season of April and May, about 100 people head to Everest from the Tibetan side.

Department of Tourism official Himal Gautam said he had received ‌preliminary information that more than 250 people climbed the peak on Wednesday.

“We wait for climbers ⁠to return, ⁠give us photographs and other evidence to prove their ascents and provide them with climbing certificates,” Gautam told Reuters. “Only then we will be able to confirm the numbers.”

Nepal has issued 494 permits to climb Everest this year, each costing $15,000.

Mountaineering experts often criticize Nepal for allowing large numbers of climbers on the mountain which sometimes leads to risky traffic jams or long queues in the so-called "death zone" area below the summit, where the level of natural oxygen is dangerously below what is required for human survival.

Nepal has acknowledged risks from congestion and inexperienced climbers by introducing tighter controls and higher fees.

 

 

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Varieties

Russia Unblocks Roblox after Widespread Child Anger

People rest outside the Kremlin on a warm summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 05 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People rest outside the Kremlin on a warm summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 05 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
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Russia Unblocks Roblox after Widespread Child Anger

People rest outside the Kremlin on a warm summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 05 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People rest outside the Kremlin on a warm summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 05 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

Russia has lifted its ban on the popular gaming platform Roblox, after tens of thousands of children and parents sent letters complaining about the measure.

The platform -- which allows users to build their own games and share them with others -- was among Russia's most popular mobile games, tying third with TikTok in usage time among children in early 2025, according to Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based global cybersecurity firm.

In a statement published Wednesday, Russia's digital ministry said Roblox had successfully implemented measures to "protect children, including by launching a mechanism to restrict access to games by age group.”

"Roblox has also committed to continuing to combat the spread of undesirable content on the platform," the statement added.

Russia banned access to the US-owned platform last December, accusing it of distributing extremist materials and promoting "LGBT propaganda.”

A Roblox spokesperson told AFP at the time that the company was committed to safety and respected "local laws and regulations.”

Ekaterina Mizulina, the head of Russia's state-sponsored internet censorship watchdog, said in December she had received "63,000 emails" from disgruntled schoolchildren and parents commenting on the ban.

"This raises a question. Perhaps it's time to look for other ways to combat pedophiles and provocateurs who target children online?" she said.

Around 100 million people use Roblox daily, with under-13s accounting for around 40 percent of its 2024 users, according to the company.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that Roblox's unblocking in Russia "shows that all services can return if they comply with the law,” in comments to the state TASS news agency.

Varieties

Moose Put Down after Wandering Into Central Oslo

People and personell from the wildlife board mill around a dead moose that had strayed into Majorstuen,a inner city area in Oslo, Norway on, June 11, 2026. (Photo by Javad Parsa / NTB / AFP)
People and personell from the wildlife board mill around a dead moose that had strayed into Majorstuen,a inner city area in Oslo, Norway on, June 11, 2026. (Photo by Javad Parsa / NTB / AFP)
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Moose Put Down after Wandering Into Central Oslo

People and personell from the wildlife board mill around a dead moose that had strayed into Majorstuen,a inner city area in Oslo, Norway on, June 11, 2026. (Photo by Javad Parsa / NTB / AFP)
People and personell from the wildlife board mill around a dead moose that had strayed into Majorstuen,a inner city area in Oslo, Norway on, June 11, 2026. (Photo by Javad Parsa / NTB / AFP)

Norwegian police said Thursday that a moose that had wandered into downtown Oslo, drawing curious crowds, had been shot and killed.

Videos taken by witnesses and published by Norwegian media show the disoriented animal galloping through the streets of the Norwegian capital, weaving around cars and pedestrians.

"For animal welfare reasons, the moose was put down" by the wildlife authorities, AFP quoted the police as saying.

Although such incidents remain rare -- moose tend to avoid metropolitan areas -- this is the second such incident recorded in two days in Scandinavia.

On Tuesday, a young moose was put down in Sweden after it strayed into the streets of Stockholm.

Varieties

WWI Soldier's Postcard from Home Helps Unite his Family after a Century

A poppy wreath and a photo next to the grave of Private Thomas Redvers Whitaker during a burial ceremony for six British soldiers of World War I, at the CWGC's Tyne Cot Cemetery in Zonnebeke, Belgium, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
A poppy wreath and a photo next to the grave of Private Thomas Redvers Whitaker during a burial ceremony for six British soldiers of World War I, at the CWGC's Tyne Cot Cemetery in Zonnebeke, Belgium, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
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WWI Soldier's Postcard from Home Helps Unite his Family after a Century

A poppy wreath and a photo next to the grave of Private Thomas Redvers Whitaker during a burial ceremony for six British soldiers of World War I, at the CWGC's Tyne Cot Cemetery in Zonnebeke, Belgium, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
A poppy wreath and a photo next to the grave of Private Thomas Redvers Whitaker during a burial ceremony for six British soldiers of World War I, at the CWGC's Tyne Cot Cemetery in Zonnebeke, Belgium, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

A postcard belonging to a World War I soldier whose body was found with five comrades during an excavation has helped reunite distant descendants more than a century after his death on the Western Front.

Dozens of mourners attended a memorial service in western Belgium on Wednesday during which six new white marble headstones were dedicated to the British soldiers whose remains were recently identified through the use of archival research and DNA analysis, The Associated Press reported.

The six burials at the Tyne Cot Cemetery included that of Pvt. Thomas Whitaker, who died in the trenches carrying a postcard from Bradford, in north east England, where some of his relations still live.

At the ceremony were three members of the Whitaker family. Under sunshine piercing the gray drizzle, Joe Whitaker, 22, read aloud a poem written in honor of his great-great-uncle: “At peace in foreign hills, he finally drifts away to sleep, his mind on Bradford mills.”

The soldier's postcard proved to be a crucial piece of evidence that helped British government researchers establish his identity and ultimately linked Joe's family with another, estranged, branch of the Whitaker family.

Joe said: “The thought that (Thomas) might have been thinking of home, comforted by this postcard that he kept on him from Bradford — we were all quite taken aback by that.”

He said writing a poem “felt like the right thing to do.”

Alexia Clark, a commemorations case worker at the UK Ministry of Defense’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), said the six soldiers were found during an excavation in western Belgium. But the discovery of the postcard on one of them proved to be a crucial “hint.”

She added: “And then actually when we looked at the missing list and went, ‘Oh we have got one from Bradford! Great, there’s a strong chance that he is going to be one of them.‘”

By matching the postcard with other found artifacts, including a Lewis Gun and uniforms, the JCCC researchers — known as “the war detectives” -- were able to zero in on a likely group of men from the more than half a million British soldiers still missing from World War I.

The team contacted potential relatives for DNA samples, and the analysis confirmed the identity not only of Thomas Whitaker, but also privates Horace Frederick Cook, Frederick Martin, Charles Richard Russels, Courtney Darvill Hart and Joseph Turnley -- all members of 2/4 Battalion Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment.

Paul Turnley was presented with a British flag folded into a triangle given by the military in honor of the sacrifice of his relation, Pvt. Joseph Turnley.

“Just a privileged to be laying a relative of ours to rest, to watch, to be present and then to be passed the flag... it was the greatest treasure actually,” said Paul, in tribute to his grandfather’s cousin.

As nearby cows, students and bike riders watched along an adjacent farm road, a military musician played a martial lament on a cornet, while prayers were said by the Rev. Adéle Rees.

Then Pvt. Jone Wainile of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment honor guard read the poignant Kohima Epitaph: “When you go home tell them of us and say, ‘For your tomorrow, we gave our today.’”

Paul Whitaker said: “My children, my grandchildren, anyone, can come and know where Thomas is, and that is a lovely thing to have. It’s just a real privilege to have Thomas be one of the ones that has been found.”