KATHMANDU: A 54-year-old Nepali climber known as “Everest Man” reached the peak of the world’s highest mountain for a record 30th time on Wednesday, three decades after his first summit.

Kami Rita Sherpa, who broke his own record after climbing the 8,849-meter peak for the 29th time earlier this month, has previously said that he was “just working” and did not plan on setting records.

“Kami Rita reached the summit this morning. Now he has made a new record with 30 summits of Everest,” Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, his expedition organizer, told AFP.

But celebrations were overshadowed after a Romanian mountaineer was confirmed dead, and a British climber and Nepali guide were reported missing — the latest casualties highlighting the risks of the sport.

Sherpa first stood on the top of Mount Everest in 1994 when working for a commercial expedition.

Since then he has climbed Everest almost every year, guiding clients.

“I am glad for the record, but records are eventually broken,” he told AFP after his 29th climb on May 12.

“I am more happy that my climbs help Nepal be recognized in the world.”

Nepal has issued more than 900 permits for its mountains this year, including 419 for Everest, earning more than $5 million in royalties. Around 500 climbers and their guides have already reached the summit of Everest after a rope-fixing team reached the peak last month.

This year, China also reopened the Tibetan route to foreigners for the first time since closing it in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring, when temperatures are warm and winds typically calm.

Last year more than 600 climbers made it to the summit of Everest but it was also the deadliest season on the mountain, with 18 fatalities. 

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden believes a Palestinian state should be achieved through negotiations, not unilateral recognition, the White House said on Wednesday after Ireland, Spain and Norway said they would recognize a Palestinian state this month.
Washington’s reaction appeared to signal US dismay that the three European nations announced an intent to proceed with unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, which does not exist in practice.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told a regular news briefing each country could make its own decision on recognition of a Palestinian state, but that Biden thinks direct negotiations by the parties is the best approach.
“President Biden believes that a two-state solution that guarantees Israel’s security and also a future of dignity and security for the Palestinian people is the best way to bring about long-term security and stability for everyone in the region,” Sullivan said.
“President Biden ... has been equally emphatic on the record that that two-state solution should be brought about through direct negotiations through the parties, not for unilateral recognition.”
Sullivan had been asked if the United States was concerned that other nations might follow suit in recognizing a Palestinian state. He said the US would communicate its consistent position to partners “see what unfolds.”

WAR IN GAZA
Decades of US efforts have failed to achieve a “two-state solution” with Israel living alongside a Palestinian state encompassing the West Bank, ruled by the Palestinian Authority (PA), and Gaza, ruled by the Hamas Islamist movement since it seized the coastal strip from the PA in a brief 2007 civil war.
Israel began an offensive in Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since then, health officials in the Hamas-run enclave say.
Israel is now attacking Rafah in southern Gaza, saying it wants to root out Hamas militants. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled Rafah since the start of the assault, and the main access routes for aid into Gaza have been blocked.
Sullivan said he was briefed on Israeli plans to minimize civilian harm in Rafah during a weekend visit to the region, and Washington will track whether the assault causes widespread death and destruction or is more precise and proportional.
“We now have to see what unfolds from here,” he said.
He said aid was flowing in from a pier in Gaza, and that it was wrong for Israel to withhold funds from the West Bank.