EVEREST CLIMBING RESUMES NEXT WEEK

Climbing will resume on Mount Everest by next week after an earthquake-triggered avalanche that left 18 people dead on the world’s highest peak, a Nepalese government official said on Thursday. Saturday’s avalanche that ripped through base camp

also destroyed ladders through the treacherous Khumbu icefall higher up the

mountain, raising doubts about the future of this year’s climbing season. But tourism

department chief Tulsi Gautam advised climbers against abandoning their expeditions, saying repairs were under way so that the spring season could continue

for another few weeks.